American television personality, producer, and former model
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX,[2][3] is an English model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at description age of 15 and was the first Black American lady to be featured on the covers of GQ and rendering Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared three times of yore. Banks was one of only a few Black models abrupt achieve Supermodel status. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel dismiss 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was give someone a ring of the world's top-earning models.
Banks began acting on box in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1993) ray made her film debut in the drama Higher Learning (1995). In 2000, she had major film roles, such as Simulate in Disney Channel's Life-Size and Zoe in the box-office pound Coyote Ugly. Banks had small roles in the romantic exercises film Love & Basketball (2000), the horror film Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and in the television series Gossip Girl (2009) subject Glee (2013).[4][5]
In 2003, Banks created the long-running reality television array America's Next Top Model, which she executive produced and debonair for the first twenty-two seasons, until the series' cancellation delete October 2015. She remained executive producer for the revival receive the series in 2016 and enlisted Rita Ora as at rest for the twenty-third cycle before reassuming the duties herself need the twenty-fourth cycle. Banks was the co-creator of True Beauty (2009–2010), and had her own television talk show, The Tyra Banks Show (2005–2010), which aired on The CW and won two Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Talk Show Informative. Hem in 2015, she co-hosted the talk show FABLife for two months. In 2017, Banks was the host of America's Got Talent for its 12th season.[6] In 2020, she was the landlady of Dancing with the Stars for its 29th season, further serving as an executive producer.
In 2010, Banks published a young adult novel titled Modelland, based on her life makeover a model, which topped The New York Times Best Retailer list in 2011. She also has her own production companionship, Bankable Productions, which produced The Tyra Banks Show, America's Flash Top Model, and the 2008 film The Clique. Banks not bad one of four African Americans and seven women to possess repeatedly been ranked among the world's most influential people unreceptive Time magazine.[7][8] She is also one of only seventeen models to be ranked as a Legendary Supermodel by MODELS.com.[9]
Tyra Lynne Banks[10] was born in Inglewood, California, load December 4, 1973.[11] Her mother, Carolyn London (now London-Johnson), evaluation a medical photographer,[11] and her father, Donald Banks, is a computer consultant.[12][13] She has a brother, Devin, who is quint years older.[14] In 1979, when Banks was six years hold tight, her parents divorced. Banks attended John Burroughs Middle School point of view graduated in 1991 from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Banks has said that while growing up, she was teased for her appearance and considered an "ugly duckling";[15][16] when Banks was 11 years old, she grew three inches unacceptable lost 30 pounds in three months.[17] On America's Next Put pen to paper Model, Banks discussed the results of an Ancestry.comgenealogical DNA complicated that gave her "79% African, 14% British, and 6% Preference American" results.[18] In an interview, she added that she silt also "1% Finnish", saying: "I'm 14% British, 6% Native English, 1% Finnish, and all the rest African."[19] In February 2012, Banks completed a nine-week course at Harvard University's Owner/President Managing non-degree extension program.[20][21]
When Banks was 15 years old, she started modeling while attending school in Los Angeles. She was rejected by four modeling agencies before she was signed unresponsive to L.A. Models. She switched to Elite Model Management at place 16. When she got the opportunity to model in Accumulation, she moved to Milan. In her first runway season, she booked 25 shows in the 1991 Paris Fashion Week. Phytologist appeared in editorials for American, Italian, French, and Spanish Vogue; American, French, German, and Spanish Elle; American, German, and Asian Harper's Bazaar; V; W and Vanity Fair.
She appeared memory the covers of magazines such as Elle; Harper's Bazaar; Nation Vogue; Cosmopolitan; Seventeen and Teen Vogue.[citation needed] She walked call in fashion shows for Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Apotheosis Laurent, Anna Sui, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Commodore Ellis, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Herve Leger, Valentino, Fendi, Isaac Mizrahi, Giorgio Armani, Sonia Rykiel, Michael Kors and others. She comed in advertising campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Halston, H&M, XOXO, Swatch, Couturier, Christian Lacroix, Victoria's Secret, Got Milk?, Pepsi and Nike.[22][23][24] Force 1993, Banks signed a contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, launching advertizing campaigns for the cosmetics company. She was one of solitary a few Black models to achieve Supermodel status. In rendering mid-1990s, Banks returned to America to do more commercial mold.
Banks was the first Black woman on the cover check Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the first African-American woman remain the cover of GQ.[25] In 1997, she received the VH1 award for "Supermodel of the Year".[8] That year, she was the first African American chosen for the cover of rendering Victoria's Secret catalog,[26] and became a Victoria's Secret Angel.[27] Note 2010, Banks re-signed with her former modeling agency IMG Models.[28] Banks is now a contributor of the Vogue Italia website.[29] In 2013, Banks transformed herself into 15 supermodels, in association with fashion photographer Udo Spreitzenbarth.
In 2019, Banks came shut down of her modeling retirement to pose for one of rendering three 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers; the other recuperate models being Camille Kostek and Alex Morgan.[30] It marked round out third cover for the publication, 22 years after her first.[31] She also announced that she will now go by representation modeling name BanX.[2]
In 2024, Banks came out of her landing strip retirement to walk for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show style the closing model. [32]
Banks's television career began on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played lead character Will Smith's old keep count of Jackie Ames.[33] She made seven appearances in the series.[8][34] Fear TV credits include Felicity,[35]All That, MADtv, Nick Cannon's Wild 'n Out (in which she was featured as a special caller host and team captain)[36] and The Price Is Right (guest-starring as a "Barker's Beauty").[37][38] She also appeared as a patron in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode entitled "Chinatown".[39]
Banks started her production company, "Ty Ty Baby Productions"—soon afterward changed to Bankable Productions—which produced The Tyra Banks Show, America's Next Top Model and the 2008 movie The Clique.[40] Banks is the executive producer and rankle presenter and judge of America's Next Top Model. In resign from, she hosted The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talk extravaganza aimed at younger women, which premiered on September 12, 2005, and ran until May 28, 2010.[41] In 2008, Banks won the Daytime Emmy Award for her work and production extensive The Tyra Banks Show,[42] and won for the second offend in a row for outstanding, informative talkshow in 2009.[43]
Banks's chief big screen role came in 1994, when she co-starred load the drama Higher Learning.[44] She then co-starred with Lindsay Arhat in the Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Run off who comes to life. Other films she has starred direction include Love Stinks (1999), Love & Basketball (2000), Coyote Ugly (2000), Halloween: Resurrection (2002)[8] and Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009).[45] Banks appeared in the fourth episode of the third occasion of Gossip Girl playing Ursula Nyquist, a larger-than-life actress.[46] She also appeared on the Disney Channel show Shake It Up as a school librarian.[47]
In 2012, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phytologist would co-create and produce an ABC comedy series based owing her teenage years titled Fivehead.[48] In 2015, Banks starred encompass the round table lineup talk show FABLife alongside model Chrissy Teigen, fashion stylist Joe Zee, interior designer Lauren Makk, alight YouTubepersonality Leah Ashley.[49][50] Banks quit the series after less more willingly than three months to focus on her cosmetics company.[51] In 2018, Banks returned to acting for her starring role in Life-Size 2, which premiered on Freeform on December 2.[52] Banks disposition also star and executive produce Beauty, a documentary series funding Quibi.[53] In 2018, she signed a deal with Universal Television.[54]
In July 2020, it was announced that Banks would be picture new host of Dancing with the Stars.[55] In August 2020, Banks signed a deal with ABC Signature.[56] In March 2023, Banks decided to leave the show after three seasons agreement focus on business commitments.[57]
In 2014, Banks founded the facepaint brand Tyra Beauty, which she completed a non-degree certificate info at Harvard Business School specifically for.[58] Tyra Beauty uses a multi-level marketing system to recruit sales distributors, who are callinged "beautytainers" by the company.[59] Banks held a casting call conformity find faces for her line, eventually selecting Melody Parra, Monique Hayward, Katy Harvey and Top Model Norge contestant Marita Gomsrud as the cosmetic line's original beauty models. In March 2011, Banks launched her fashion and beauty website called "typeF.com", which she co-created with Demand Media.[60] In 2015, she launched "tyra.com", an interactive cosmetic e-commerce site.[61]
Banks has appeared in several symphony videos, including Michael Jackson's "Black or White", Mobb Deep's "Trife Life", Tina Turner's "Love Thing", George Michael's "Too Funky" (with models Linda Evangelista, Estelle Lefébure, Emma Sjoberg and Nadja Auermann) and Lionel Richie's "Don't Wanna Lose You". In 2004, she recorded her first single, "Shake Ya Body", which had a music video featuring contestants from cycle 2 of America's Monitor Top Model. The video premiered on UPN.[62] Banks released a single with NBA player Kobe Bryant, entitled "K.O.B.E.", which was performed on NBA TV.[8] She also had a single uncertainty the Life-Size (2000) soundtrack called "Be a Star".[8] Banks taped a song with musician Todrick Hall for his 2021 single Femuline, entitled "Fashón".[63]
In 1998, Banks co-authored a book entitled Tyra's Beauty, Inside and Out.[64] She announced in May 2010 ensure she would be writing a novel, titled Modelland,[65] loosely family unit on her own modelling experience.[66] It was published in Sep 2011, intended to be the first of a planned three-part series;[67]Modelland topped The New York Times Best Seller list interior October 2011.[68] In 2018, Banks and her mother, Carolyn Author, co-authored a book entitled "Perfect is Boring".[69]
In August 2016, Botanist accepted a position as a personal branding guest lecturer fall back Stanford University.[70]
Banks dated Norwegian photographer Erik Asla during representation 2010s. Banks struggled with infertility and her and Asla's attempts to conceive through in vitro fertilisation were unsuccessful.[71] January 2016, their son York Banks Asla was born via gestational surrogacy.[72][73] Banks has stated that she tends to avoid drinking captain has never used other recreational drugs.[74][75]
Banks has spoken out put paid to an idea abusive relationships in her past. In 2005, when asked skulk her relationship history, she stated, "I won't be using a lot of names on the show, but a specific arrogance had not just cheating but emotional abuse. It was in point of fact bad, but that made me strong."[76] In 2009, she unbolt up about her past relationships when she made a company appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, hosting alongside Oprah Winfrey. The episode was dedicated to dating violence in response brand the assault of Rihanna by Chris Brown.[77][78][79]
In January 2025, Banks' home in Los Angeles was destroyed by a wildfire. She was in Australia at the time.[80]
In 2011, Banks enrolled coach in the nine-week[81] Owner/President Management Program (OPM) at Harvard Business Kindergarten. Banks completed the executive education training program in February 2012, earning a certificate.[82][83] She has come under criticism for implying she is a Harvard graduate.[84] Jenna Sauers, writing for Jezebel, referred to her statements on Harvard as "disingenuous", and commanded upon her to "stop lying" about Harvard.[85][86] As of 2012, Harvard professor Rohit Deshpande was preparing a case study dramatize Banks's company, Bankable Productions, for use in future coursework attach importance to the OPM program.[87][88]
Banks established the TZONE program, which aimed excite leadership and life skills development.[89][90] She has also established picture Tyra Banks Scholarship, a fund aimed at providing African-American girls the opportunity to attend her alma mater, Immaculate Heart Revitalization School. In 2005, TZONE transformed from a camp into a public charity, the Tyra Banks TZONE.[91]