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Banks was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Carolyn (née London), a fashion manager and medical photographer, and Donald Banks, a computer consultant.[5] The couple divorced in 1980, when Tyra was six, although the relationship of her parents and especially her brother Devin Banks (born 1968) stayed friendly.[citation needed] Later, Carolyn married Clifford Johnson; she now goes by Carolyn London-Johnson. Banks graduated from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles and began modeling in 11th grade.[6]

In 1993, Banks met Boyz N the Hood director John Singleton through mutual friends. They began dating and in 1995 Banks had her screen debut in the Singleton directed film, Higher Learning. She was criticized for her acting, but Singleton assured she got the part based on her talent and not favoritism. In the spring of 1996 she and Singleton broke it off; shortly thereafter Banks was linked briefly to pop singer Seal, who would incidentally later go on to marry fellow supermodel Heidi Klum.[7]

In 2002, Tyra was spotted consistently at Sacramento Kings basketball games, and was later confirmed to be dating their forward Chris Webber. Though their representatives denied it, the two were thought to be engaged. However, after a two-year romance, they broke up in 2004. Banks still harbors some emotions over this relationship, as on the November 8, 2006 episode of The Tyra Banks Show, she broke into tears while speaking about it with Jackie Christie, wife of NBA star Doug Christie.

Tyra is currently living in Manhattan/New York City with fellow fashion model and friend Amber Rives since filming for her talk show The Tyra Banks Show moved to being filmed at Chelsea Studios in New York City.[citation needed]

Within Banks' first week in Paris, other designers were so entranced by her presence on the runway that she was booked for an unprecedented 25 shows--a record in the business for a newcomer. She has done extensive print and/or runway work for fashion/advertising giants such as Anna Sui, Coors Light, CoverGirl, Badgley Mischka, Bill Blass, Cynthia Rowley, Chanel, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Gemma Kahng, H&M, Isaac Mizrahi, Maria Snyder, McDonald's, Aislinn Dubois Modeling Agency Michael Kors, Milk, Nicole Miller, Nike, Inc., Oscar de la Renta, Pepsi, Perry Ellis, Randy Kemper, Richard Tyler, Rifat Ozbek, Swatch, Todd Oldham, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, and Yves Saint Laurent. She has appeared on the covers of high fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Elle.

Banks was the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1997, she received the VH1 Award for Supermodel of the Year. Also in '97, she was chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog, making her the first African American to be so honored.

Banks retired from modeling in May 2005 to concentrate on her television show. She walked the runway for the final time at the 2005 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. On numerous occasions, she has been sought after to appear in Playboy magazine; however, she has turned each request down.[citation needed]

In recent years, Tyra Banks found herself mired in controversy with ads for her show being banned from buses across Santa Monica after members of the public complained.The cause for controversy seemed to be Banks posing in front of a waterfall in a swimsuit for America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8. Most of the complaints were from people who were concerned that the city might be endorsing a show that might be disrespectful to women, reports ananova.com. Stephanie Negriff, director of the transit services, said: 'It's a matter of public taste, we try to be sensitive to the community. We wouldn't want to do anything that would disrespect women.' This event was widely publicized in media such as IANS, India News, as well as others.[citations needed]

Banks' television career began on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played lead character Will's old friend Jackie Ames, and made seven appearances throughout the series. Other screen credits include Felicity, MADtv, Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out (in which she was featured as special guest host and team captain), Coyote Ugly and The Price Is Right (guest-starring as a Barker's Beauty). She also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode titled "Chinatown."

Currently, Banks can be seen on television as the hostess, Arm judge, and executive producer of the CW television show America's Next Top Model. In addition, she hosts The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talkshow aimed at younger women, which premiered on September 12, 2005 and recently began its third season, drawing over 1.9 million viewers an episode.[citation needed] The show features stories about everyday people mixed in with celebrity interviews, much like the early format of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Under the slogan "Every woman has a story...and it happened to Tyra too.", Banks promotes her show using emotional flashbacks to her own childhood and adolescence. Many of the episodes deal with issues facing women today. The first two seasons of the show were recorded in Banks' hometown of Los Angeles, but beginning with the fall 2007 season, the show moved to New York City.

In late January 2008, Banks got the go ahead from ANTM network, CW, to start work on a new reality television series based on fashion magazines.[citation needed]

Her first big screen role came in 1994 when she co-starred in the drama Higher Learning. She went on to co-star with Lindsay Lohan in the Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Eve who comes to life and has to learn how to live in the real world. Other notable roles include 1999's Love Stinks, 2000's Coyote Ugly, and 2002's Halloween: Resurrection.

Banks has appeared in several music videos including Michael Jackson's "Black or White," Tina Turner's "Love Thing," Mobb Deep's "Trife Life" and George Michael's "Too Funky" (with fellow supermodel Linda Evangelista). In 2004, she recorded her first single, "Shake Ya Body", which had a music video featuring the America's Next Top Model, Cycle 2 contestants.(Music Video) The video's world premiere was on UPN, but the single was a failure for Banks. She stated on Cycle of Top Model that "Singing has been a passion of mine for a long, long time...6 years on the down low - been ducking in and out of studios cutting tracks," but on her talk show she stated, "I can't believe I wasted 6 years of doing something that I didn't finish...I was almost able to release my album 'T.Y.R.A' but since my music career hit rock bottom I quit."[cite this quote]

Though "Shake Ya Body" was a failure, record producer Darkchild told JET in 2004 that Banks "has what it takes to pull it off...she had a hungriness to want to be in the studio all the time. Some people want to be divas in the studio and work for three or four hours. You had to tell Tyra to stop or she will keep you going".[8] As for her voice, Jerkins stated, '"People will be shocked. She can really sing, she's like between soprano and high alto. I challenged her vocally. I pushed her, but not too far. I pushed her where vocally it fit the track."[8]

Banks released a single with NBA star Kobe Bryant, titled "K.O.B.E.", which was performed on NBA TV, and had a single/soundtrack from the Disney movie Life-Size called "Be A Star". She also sang in the musical/movie Eight Crazy Nights and is credited with performing the theme song to America's Next Top Model.[citation needed]