Tyra Banks Biography

Born:	4 December 1973 (age 33) Los Angeles, California
Occupation:	Talk show hostess, supermodel, author, actress

Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an African-American retired supermodel, television personality, author, actress, executive producer, and talk show host. She is well known for her role as the host and judge of the reality television show America's Next Top Model. Banks is widely recognized as one of the world's premier fashion models, and was one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels.

Early life

Tyra 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 "ugly." 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 a severe fear of dolphins.

In 1991, Banks was about to begin her freshman year at Loyola Marymount University when Elite Model Management gave the 17-year-old her first modeling job. But Banks began modeling at age 5. Prior to this entry into the fashion world, Banks had been rejected several times for modeling assignments. Some had fallaciously noted some drawback to Banks' high forehead. In fact, she states that she did not consider 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."

Personal

Though Banks has been romantically involved with a number of public figures (including director John Singleton, investment banker Craig Davis, basketball player Chris Webber, and Seal), she has stated that she prefers to date non-celebrities, as she strongly dislikes and wishes to avoid the intense pressure and media scrutiny that come with being in a relationship with another famous person.

On May 8, 2006, Banks was named as one of the world's 100 most influential people by TIME magazine.

She has an extreme phobia of dolphins, a fear she faced in her daytime talk show .

Banks recently stated that she would not allow any future photographs of herself to be digitally touched up; rather, she will rely solely on makeup and hairstyling to enhance her appearance.

According to the December 4, 2006 edition of Entertainment Tonight, she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up.

TV Series/Movies

Inferno (1992)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1993)
Higher Learning (1995)
New York Undercover (1997) "Descell", "Hubris", "Outrage" as Natasha Claybourne
The Hughleys (1999) "Sap and the Star" as Nicole
The Apartment Complex (1999)
Coyote Ugly (2000)
Life-Size (2000)
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.