Tyra Banks was born in Los Angeles California on December 4, 1973. After graduating from high school she was planning to attend Loyola Marymount University when Elite Modeling Agency signed her. Tyra moved to Paris for a year and modeled for many of the big names in fashion including Ralph Lauren and Chanel. She then moved back to the States and continued her rise in the modeling industry.

At the age of 20 Tyra became the first black woman to sign for a cosmetic company. Later she would become the first African American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated 's Swimsuit issue, the cover of GQ magazine and the Victoria’s Secret catalog.

Tyra began to diversify her career with a small part in the British television movie "Inferno" as a supermodel. Tyra's feature film debut came in John Singleton's "Higher Learning." She played Omar Epps’s track-running girlfriend and though it was a small role the critics were impressed by the intensity she brought to the screen. She even did some distance-running training in order to turn in a more believable performance. Other film credits include "Love & Basketball," "Coyote Ugly," "Halloween: Resurrection" and the made for television Disney movie "Life Size."

Tyra’s television guest appearances include "New York Undercover," "The Hughleys" and "Soul Food." She had recurring roles in "Felicity" and "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air." Tyra is creator, writer and producer of the hit UPN reality series "America’s Next Top Model" and she has her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.

Tyra's film credits include the following:


Check out the following sites for additional information about Tyra:

Tyra Banks@Internet Movie Database
Tyra Banks Online
Wonderful Tyra Banks Site
The Tyra Banks Fanlisting
Tyra Banks@UPN.com
The Tyra Banks Show
Tyra Banks@Wikipedia
Tyra Banks FanPage
TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World

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