Biography

Tyra Banks

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Overview

Born
December 4, 1973 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth name
Tyra Lynne Banks
Nicknames
- BBQ
- TyTy
Height
5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

Mini bio

Tyra Lynne Banks aka BanX is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, actress, and entrepreneur originally from Inglewood, California. She is widely recognized as a pioneering figure in the fashion industry and entertainment, notably as the first Black woman to appear on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, where she appeared three times. Banks achieved supermodel status in the 1990s and early 2000s, becoming a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005 and one of the highest-earning models globally during that period.

Her early life included attending Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, and she began modeling at age 15 after signing with Elite Model Management. Banks quickly rose to international prominence, gracing covers of major fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar, and breaking racial barriers in the industry. Transitioning into acting, she appeared in television and film roles including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Higher Learning, and Coyote Ugly.

Banks expanded her career into television production and hosting, creating the influential reality series America's Next Top Model in 2003, which ran for over a decade and became a cultural phenomenon promoting diversity and mentoring aspiring models. She also hosted The Tyra Banks Show, earning two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work. Beyond entertainment, Banks launched TYRA Beauty, a cosmetics line emphasizing empowerment and self-confidence, and founded Bankable Productions. She pursued further education at Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program and co-developed a course on personal branding at Stanford University.

Throughout her multifaceted career, Banks has been an advocate for diversity, positive body image, and empowerment, leaving a lasting impact on fashion, television, and popular culture as a trailblazer and media mogul.
- IMDb mini biography by: Angel

Family

Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademark

Green eyes
Statuesque, model-like figure

Trivia

Until season 4 of America's Next Top Model (2003), she would spend an hour with every girl who got kicked off the show, talking with them in private. The producers asked her to stop this.
Does not drink alcohol.
As a model, she had the following restrictions: - No Frontal Nudity - No Birds - No Cats - No Fish - No Cigarettes - No Alcohol.
Says her favorite cycle of America's Next Top Model (2003) is Cycle 1, because the girls did not know what to expect.
Her mother, Carolyn London, is a professional photographer, and worked as her manager.

Quotes

Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It's about accepting all of yourself. You've got to learn to accept the fool in you as well as the part that's got it goin' on.
Black women have always been these vixens, these animalistic, erotic women. Why can't we be the sexy All-American girl next door?
Believe it or not, I just really know how to pose well. It took me five years to learn what my best angles are.
[on Adrianne Curry's complaints that she did not receive what was promised her as the winner of America's Next Top Model (2003).] I have an invested interest in all the girls. I take Adrianne's struggles to bed with me at night. Adrianne's problem was that she went to Europe to try to make it and nobody knew who she was there. So it was like starting over. But after a girl leaves the show it's really up to her to be aggressive and try to succeed.
I'm a perfectionist. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's OK if there are flaws here and there.