Tyra Banks is an African-American supermodel and television personality who is considered one of the top models in the world.
Banks was born in Los Angeles, California and attended Immaculate Heart High School. In 1991, Banks was just weeks away from starting her freshman year at Loyola Marymount University when Elite Modeling Agency gave the 17-year-old her first modeling job. Instead of heading to school, Tyra headed to Paris for fashion shows and soon became internationally known. She has been featured in a wide array of magazines, commercials, and billboards. Her modeling credits include Cover Girl, Swatch, Pepsi, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Dolce & Gabbana, among many others.
Banks was the first African-American to be featured on the covers of Gentlemen's Quarterly, Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, and the Victoria's Secret catalog. In particular, Tyra is famous for her Victoria's Secret work. In 1997, Tyra won the prestigious Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year.
Banks has expanded from modeling into television. Banks is the host, chief judge, and executive producer (with Ken Mok) of the UPN television show America's Next Top Model. With rising ratings, the show has become very popular as viewers cheer for their favorite model contestant during the weekly competitions and eliminations.
Banks has also been working on a musical career. In season two of America's Next Top Model the contestants danced in her first music video. Since then, she has been in the studio working with experienced record producers such as Darkchild; her next single will be called "Baby".
Her daytime talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, will premiere on September 12, 2005 in the US television market.
