Biography

Tyra Banks

Posted on Sep 16, 2020, Modified : Sep 20, 2020 manish

Well, Tyra Banks, at a point, was a struggler who got rejected many times to be a model before entering the world of fashion. However, Tyra didn’t quit, and now she is one of the most fantastic models and Television actress of all time.

Quick Info
Full Name	Tyra Lynne Banks
Date of Birth	4th December 1973
Birth Place	Inglewood, California
Parents	Donald Banks (Father) Carolyn London (Mother)
Profession	Model, Actor, Author, Businessperson, TV personality, Screenwriter, Singer
Partner(s)	Erik Asla (2013-2017)
Age	46 years
Height	5 ft 10 in
Children	1
Net Worth	US $90 million

Struggling is a part of our lives. We work through our lives collapsing, sometimes even failing miserably and sometimes without any success. If we don’t struggle in our life, there is no point in enjoying the life you have. The excitement that the struggling phase provides can’t exceed any amount to what you already have.

In this article, you will see the biography of the famous model Tyra Banks.

EARLY LIFE

Tyra Banks, born in Inglewood, California, is the daughter of Carolyn London, a photographer, and Donald Banks, an IT specialist. She has an older brother, Devin Banks, who works on Air Force One. Tyra’s parents divorced the year Tyra turned six. Banks later said that this was a challenging time in her life, and developed a relatively significant concern about her image.

Tyra’s continued her studies at John Burroughs Middle School and Immaculate Heart School in Los Angeles from which she graduated in 1991. Tyra Banks was allowed to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for training as a film producer, but preferred to pursue her modeling career.

CAREER

MODELING

Tyra’s modeling career took off when she was 17 after signing a contract with the Elite agency and flew to Paris in 1993. Her presence and ease on the catwalks allowed her to be the inspiration model for several big brands, namely Swatch, XOXO, LensCrafters, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Escada, Anna Sui, Michael Kors, Liz Claiborne, and Isaac Mizrahi. In 1994 and 1996, Tyra Banks listed as a people of the fifty most beautiful people in the universe.

After returning to the United States in 1997, she was the first African American to pose for GQ and Sports Illustrated magazines. In the same year, she was chosen for the cover of Victoria’s Secret catalog, making her the first African-American model to be honored, but above she was the face of Victoria’s Secret for seven years from 1998 to 2005

Also, she has been on the cover of several magazines, including Italian Maxim in 1999, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine. In September 2009, she was also on the outside of Hampton Paper. In 2009, Tyra Banks became in the second position of ten sexiest women in the universe. She later performed a catwalk at the anniversary of Victoria’s Secret fashion program in November of 2005.

TELEVISION

Tyra Banks’s first debut was on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series. She played the role of Jackie Ames, an ex-girlfriend of Will Smith, for seven episodes on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince. She has also acted in other shows such as Felicity, MADtv, Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘n Out. Additionally, Tyra has also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Price Is Right, The Jimmy Kimmel Show, Larry King, The Rachel Ray Show in 2009. She also played a role in a sitcom Hannah Montana, in 2009.

Aside from her role as executive producer and presenter of the television show America’s Next Top Model, she began hosting The Tyra Banks Show. This talk show premiered in the United States on 12th September 2005. It was much like the Initial format of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Furthermore, The program opened in the United States until May 2010.

In 2010 she played the role of Ursula Nyquist in the 4th episode of season 3 of the series Gossip Girl. She also made an appearance as a librarian on the Disney Channel’s Shake It Up teen series. In 2013, she made an appearance in the sixth episode of season 5 of Glee, where Tyra Banks played the director of a model agency.

In 2020, Tyra will be the new host of the show Dancing with the stars in the 29th season.

BOOKS AND MUSIC VIDEOS

In 1998, Banks published her first book titled Tyra’s Beauty, Inside and Out, which is an article to help women in matters of beauty, esteem, self-confidence.

Banks also had an interest in music videos. She has done her single Shake Ya Body which became very popular on every social platform. She was also featured in Black or White by Michael Jackson. Additionally, Tyra Banks appeared in Love Thing’ Viny’ and Too Funky music videos.

AGE, HEIGHT, NATIONALITY, AND OTHER FACTS

Tyra was born on 4th December 1973 in Inglewood, California, of the United States. As of this writing, she is currently 46 years old. Tyra was American born and hence holds the nationality of American. She belongs to Afro-American ethnicity, and her religion is Christian.

Tyra stands at the height of 5 feet and 10 inches, and currently, she weighs around 73 Kg (151 lbs. in a pound). She has a very charming personality and has black hair, but usually, she colors her hair as blonde. She has gorgeous dark brown eyes that attract most of her fans. Along with an attractive personality, Tyra also has a great sense of humor, which can bee is seen on a different television show of her.

Tyra was recognized as African, British, and Native American ancestry after a DNA test. Banks was just 15 when she showed her interest in modeling and started modeling at the same age. Tyra Banks is also the first African American to be on the cover page of GQ (Gentleman’s Quarterly).

PERSONAL LIFE

Talking about Tyra Banks’ personal life, she had a relationship with Norwegian photographer Erik Asla from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, her only son, York Banks Asla, was born through surrogacy and is Banks’ biological son.

Tyra banks have a history of an abusive relationship in the past, which made her strong. She hasn’t particularly mentioned the relation; however, she has told that it wasn’t just about cheating, but her partner physically and emotionally abused her.