Tyra Banks Biography

Savvy supermodel Tyra Banks was born on December 4, 1973, in Los Angeles, California. In her early teens, Tyra was often teased for her thinness – she reportedly had a growth spurt at age eleven, which resulted in four inches of extra height and a loss of thirty pounds. Just as Tyra was about to begin her freshman year at Claremont McKenna College, Elite Model Management discovered the teen and offered Tyra her first modeling gig. Tyra was skeptical that the job would lead to a sustainable career in modeling, as she had previously been rejected from several modeling auditions. To her surprise, she was soon after offered a contract with top cosmetics label, Cover Girl.

As her career took-off during the early 90s, Tyra began to break ground for other African-American women in the modeling industry – she became the first African-American to be featured on the cover of GQ magazine as well as Sports Illustrated (swimsuit issue). She then gained further recognition for her work as a Victoria's Secret model. By 1997, Tyra had won the Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year.

Tyra has been credited with projecting an alternative image to the traditional waif or “heroin chic” look that has dominated the runways for decades. Although she has been accused by the media of having breast implants, Tyra maintains that her voluptuous figure is natural and that she was a size 34C at age seventeen. 

In 2003, Tyra became the host, head judge, and an executive producer of the reality show America's Next Top Model, one of the highest rated shows on the UPN network. Tyra also currently hosts The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talk show which premiered in 2005. The show has been compared to The Oprah Winfrey Show, which Tyra often made frequent appearances on, and was rumored to be preparing to take over once Oprah’s contract expires. Tyra’s talk show is often parodied on the internet for her tendency to revert the subject of conversation back to herself and her own experiences when interviewing a guest.