Tyra Banks

Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first African American woman to be featured on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared three times. Banks was one of only a few Black models to achieve Supermodel status. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was one of the world's top-earning models.

Banks began acting on television in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1993) and made her film debut in the drama Higher Learning (1995). In 2000, she had major film roles, such as Eve in Disney Channel's Life-Size and Zoe in the box-office hit Coyote Ugly. Banks had small roles in the romantic sports film Love & Basketball (2000), the horror film Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and in the television series Gossip Girl (2009) and Glee (2013).

In 2003, Banks created the long-running reality television series America's Next Top Model, which she executive produced and presented for the first twenty-two seasons, until the series' cancellation in October 2015. She remained executive producer for the revival of the series in 2016 and enlisted Rita Ora as host for the twenty-third cycle before reassuming the duties herself for 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. In 2015, she co-hosted the talk show FABLife for two months. In 2017 and 2018, Banks was the host of America's Got Talent for its 12th and 13th seasons. In 2020, she was the host of Dancing with the Stars for its 29th season, also serving as an executive producer.

In 2010, Banks published a young adult novel titled Modelland, based on her life as a model, which topped The New York Times Best Seller list in 2011. She also has her own production company, Bankable Productions, which produced The Tyra Banks Show, America's Next Top Model, and the 2008 film The Clique. Banks is one of four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly been ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine. She is also one of only seventeen models to be ranked as a Legendary Supermodel by MODELS.com.

Tyra Lynne Banks was born in Inglewood, California on December 4, 1973. Her mother, Carolyn London (now London-Johnson), is a medical photographer, and her father, Donald Banks, is a computer consultant. She has a brother, Devin, who is five years older. In 1979, when Banks was six years old, her parents divorced. She attended John Burroughs Middle School and graduated in 1991 from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Banks said that while growing up, she was teased for her appearance and considered an "ugly duckling"; when she was 11 years old, she grew three inches and lost 30 pounds in three months. On America's Next Top Model, Banks discussed the results of an Ancestry.com genealogical DNA test saying that she is "79% African, 14% British, and 6% Native American." In an interview, she added that she is also "1% Finnish", saying: "I'm 14% British, 6% Native American, 1% Finnish, and all the rest African." In February 2012, Banks completed a nine-week course in Harvard University's Owner/President Management non-degree extension program.

When Banks was 15 years old, she started modeling while attending Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. She was rejected by four modeling agencies before she was signed by L.A. Models. She switched to Elite Model Management at age 16. When she got the opportunity to model in Europe, she moved to Milan. In her first runway season, she booked 25 shows in the 1991 Paris Fashion Week. She appeared in editorials for American, Italian, French, and Spanish Vogue; American, French, German, and Spanish Elle; American, German, and Malaysian Harper's Bazaar; V; W, and Vanity Fair.

She appeared on the covers of magazines including Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Spanish Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Seventeen.^{[citation needed]} She walked in fashion shows for Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Anna Sui, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Herve Leger, Valentino, Fendi, Isaac Mizrahi, Giorgio Armani, Sonia Rykiel, Michael Kors, and others. She appeared in advertising campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Halston, H&M, XOXO, Swatch, Versace, Christian Lacroix, Victoria's Secret, Got Milk?, Pepsi, and Nike. In 1993, Banks signed a contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, launching advertising campaigns for the cosmetics company. She was one of only a few Black models to achieve supermodel status. In the mid-1990s, Banks returned to the U.S. to do commercial modeling.

Banks was the first Black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the first African-American woman on the cover of GQ. In 1997, she received the VH1 award for "Supermodel of the Year". Also in 1997, she was the first African American chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog and became a Victoria's Secret Angel. In 2010, she re-signed with her former modeling agency IMG Models. Banks is a contributor of the Vogue Italia website. In 2013, she transformed herself into looking like 15 supermodels, in collaboration with fashion photographer Udo Spreitzenbarth.