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Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is a
popular American supermodel, television personality, author, actress, executive
producer, and talk show host, who's best known for her role since 2003 as both
the host and judge of America's Next Top Model. Banks is widely-recognized as
one of the most famous fashion models in the world and she is part of a group of
supermodels of African descent. Banks is best known as one of the original
Victoria's Secret Angels.
****
Born: December 4, 1973
Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Talk show host, television personality,
actress, supermodel, authour, executive producer
Salary: 18 million [1]
Net worth: 140 million USD (2006)
Website: TyraBanks.com
****
Early life
Banks was born in Los Angeles, California to Don
Banks and Carolyn London. She was raised in Inglewood, California with her
brother Devin, and attended Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girls,
independent Catholic private school in Los Angeles. Growing up, she was very
thin and often teased; she was considered to be an "ugly duckling." Banks later
said that this was a very difficult time for her and she developed a "very
strong self-image problem." Banks has publicly stated that she has an extreme
fear of dolphins. [2]
In 1991, Banks was about to begin her freshman year
at Claremont McKenna College when Elite Model Management gave the 17-year-old
her first modeling job. Prior to this entry into the fashion world, Banks had
been rejected several times for modeling assignments. In fact, she states that
she did not deem her first job to be the start of a long career in fashion: "An
agent saw pictures of me and said that I was the only girl she wanted to take
back to Paris... I didn't leave thinking I was going to be some big fashion
model. I just wanted to make money for college." [3]
Career
Modeling
Banks' career took off when she made the move from
high-fashion to a commercial market. She was the first African-American to be
featured on the covers of GQ, Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, but is most
famous for her work as a Victoria's Secret model. In 1997 she won the
prestigious Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year. Banks has done runway
shows in Paris, Milan, and the U.S. She has been featured in a variety of
magazines, commercials, and billboards. Her modeling credits include runway
and/or print work for CoverGirl, Swatch, Pepsi, Nike, XOXO, LensCrafters, Tommy
Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint-Laurent,
Chanel, Escada, Anna Sui, Liz Claiborne and Richard Tyler. Banks has graced
international fashion magazines, including the covers of Vogue, ELLE, Amica,
ELLEgirl, L'Officiel, Harper's Bazaar, Photo, Cosmopolitan and Sports
Illustrated.
In a time when waif fashion models were in
prominence, Banks stood out with a more voluptuous physique at 5ft 11in tall and
reported measurements of 34½-23½-35½. Banks had to work hard to persuade fashion
designers that her physique was well-suited to the catwalk and ultimately walked
for the best haute couture designers all over the world. Later on in her career,
Banks decided that the world of high-fashion was no longer something she wished
to pursue and so began seeking work in the commercial side of fashion. She says:
"I was proactive [...] I told my agency to call Victoria's Secret, and I told
them to call Sports Illustrated [...] I said my body is changing, and
seamstresses are calling me 'grosso' in Italian, and I know what the hell that
means. And I'm not about to starve."
Banks addressed her physique in an interview with
The Sun, saying, "I am totally against plastic surgery. A lot of people think I
have breast implants because I have the biggest boobs in the business. But I was
a 34C when I was 17… They stay up when I wear a push-up bra. But if people could
see me when I come home and take off my bra, how could they think these are
fake?". She is known for being openly proud of her body, once commenting, "Some
models are quite flat-chested so they can run around without bouncing. I can't
[…] Black women don't have the same body image problems as white women. They are
proud of their bodies. Black men love big butts, and they cannot lie."
Despite her phenomenal success as a supermodel,
Banks began venturing from modeling to becoming a media personality after 2000.
She is the host, head judge, and an executive producer of the UPN television
show America's Next Top Model. She also receives executive producer credits for
all ANTM spinoffs. Banks also enjoyed a brief stint as a recording artist and
during season two of America's Next Top Model the contestants danced in her
first music video for the single Shake Ya Body ( Music Video) produced by
experienced record producer Darkchild. Banks also acts as the patron for TZONE,
a leadership program created by Banks for young girls that according to the
organization, "reinforces core values of trust and support, challenges teen
girls to resist negative social pressures, and enhances
self-empowerment—inspiring girls to become confident leaders in their
communities." She has also established the Tyra Banks Scholarship, a fund aimed
at providing African-American girls the opportunity to attend her alma mater,
Immaculate Heart High School. Currently ranked #4 out of 25 as the Sexiest
Supermodels in the world, by models.com.
Banks retired from modeling in 2005. She made her
final walk down the runway at the 2005 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Television
Banks' television career began on the fourth season
of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played Jackie, Will's
ex-girlfriend. She also appeared on Felicity. As well as her role as executive
producer, host and head judge of the hit TV show America's Next Top Model, she
currently hosts The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talk show which premiered in the
United States on September 12, 2005 and has just been given the greenlight for a
second season. The show features stories about everyday people mixed in with
celebrity interviews, much like the early format of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Under the slogan "Every woman has a story," Banks promoted her show using
emotional flashbacks to her own childhood and adolescence. Many of the episodes
deal with issues facing women today and how she loves using the term "dookie" to
describe feces. She has also starred in an old episode of MADtv. Banks' has also
starred as the ficticous brought to life doll 'Eve' in the Disney film
Life-Size, along side Lindsay Lohan.
Music
Banks appeared in Michael Jackson's "Black or
White" video in a scene in which Glen Chin morphs into her, and with fellow
supermodel Linda Evangelista, in George Michael's "Too Funky" video. In 2004,
she recorded her first and, only single, Shake Ya Body (Music Video). She had a
failed pop career, which she commented about in ANTM, "I don't know what I was
thinking! ...models don't sing!" She has also had a single with NBA star Kobe
Bryant, "K.O.B.E.," and has a single/soundtrack from the Disney movie Life-Size,
called "Be A Star". In total, she has recorded three songs.
Film
Banks has had minor roles in many films over the
years. Her debut in film came in 1995 when she co-starred in the critically
acclaimed drama Higher Learning. She also co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in the
Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Eve who comes to life. She
co-starred in 1999's Love Stinks, 2000's Coyote Ugly and 2002's Halloween:
Resurrection – the eighth film in the Halloween franchise.
Personal
Banks has had a number of high-profile
relationships with men, including director John Singleton, investment banker
Craig Davis, basketballer Chris Webber, and Seal.
Banks has expressed her preference for a
relationship with a 'normal guy' in order to escape the pressures of being
together with another well-known celebrity and the media scrutiny that comes
with it. She says she wants a man who "knows how to appreciate natural curves
when he sees them."
On May 8, 2006, Banks was named as one of the
world's 100 most influential people in TIME magazine.
Filmography
Supermodels in the Rainforest: Costa Rica (1995) as
herself
Higher Learning (1995) as Deja
A Woman Like That (1997)
Love Stinks (1999) as Holly Garnett
The Apartment Complex (1999) as Unkown Name
Life-Size (2000) as Eve
Love & Basketball (2000) as Kyra Kessler
Coyote Ugly (2000) as Zoe
Halloween: Resurrection (2002) as Nora Winston
Eight Crazy Nights (2002) (voice) as Victoria's
Secret Gown
TV Series/Movies
Inferno (1992)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1993) "You've Got to
Be a Football Hero", "Take My Cousin... Please", "Fresh Prince After Dark",
"Blood Is Thicker Than Mud", "Father of the Year", "All Guts, No Glory", "Where
There's a Will, There's a Way" as Jackie Ames
New York Undercover (1997) "Descell", "Hubris",
"Outrage" as Natasha Claybourne
The Hughleys (1999) "Sap and the Star" as Nicole
The Apartment Complex (1999)
Mad TV (2000) "Episode #5.25" as Katisha, "Episode
#5.17"
Felicity (2000) "A Good Egg", "Kissing Mr.
Covington", "One Ball, Two Strikes" as Jane Scott
Soul Food (2001) "Ordinary Pain" as Nina Joseph
America's Next Top Model (2003-present) as
Executive Producer, Host
Marple: The Body in the Library (2004) as Executive
Producer
American Dreams (2004)
Larceny (2004)
All of Us (2004) "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" as
Roni
The Tyra Banks Show (2005-present) as Executive
Producer, Host''
The Price Is Right (February 2006) as a guest
Barker's Beauty
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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