Tyra Lynne Banks, who was born on December 4, 1973, is an American television personality, producer, businesswoman, actress, author, and former model. She is also known professionally as BanX. Banks is widely considered to be one of the most important people in fashion and entertainment. In the 1990s, she broke down racial barriers in the modeling industry and then went on to have a successful career as a producer and host behind the camera. She is still building her empire in 2025 with businesses in beauty, food, and movie production.
Life in the Beginning
Tyra Banks was born in Inglewood, California, to Carolyn London, who worked as a medical photographer, and Donald Banks, who worked as a computer consultant. Her parents split up when she was six years old, and her mother and older brother Devin raised her most of the time. Banks went to John Burroughs Middle School and then Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. She got straight A’s, but she often felt bad about her tall, skinny frame and was made fun of by her classmates.
Banks wanted to work in film production instead of modeling since she was a child. She had planned to go to Loyola Marymount University, but she put it off when she got modeling offers in Europe.
Breaking Down Barriers in the Modeling Business
Banks started modeling when she was 15 and still in high school. She first turned down offers from several agencies before signing with L.A. Models and then moving to Elite Model Management. She moved to Milan in 1991, when she was only 17, and made her debut during Paris Fashion Week. As a new model, she booked an unprecedented 25 runway shows, a record for a first-season model.
When Banks got back to the U.S., she started working in commercial and high-fashion. She was the first person in the industry to push for diversity:
The first African American woman to be on the cover of GQ (1996) and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (1997 and again in 2019).
One of the first Victoria’s Secret Angels (1997–2005), she helped make the brand famous around the world.
She was in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue three times and was one of the highest-paid models in the world.
Banks had become a “supermodel” by the early 2000s, joining the ranks of famous models like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. She stopped modeling on the runway in 2005 to do other things, but she made a triumphant return at the age of 50 to close the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Empire of Television and Production
Banks made a smooth move to television by starting Bankable Productions, which later changed its name to SMiZE Productions. She made it big in 2003 with America’s Next Top Model (ANTM), which she created, hosted, and executive produced for 22 cycles. The show changed reality TV by focusing on aspiring models and promoting body diversity and fierce competition, even when it caused some controversy. It was on UPN/The CW until 2015 and then came back on VH1.
She hosted The Tyra Banks Show from 2005 to 2010. The show won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Informative Talk Show in 2008 and 2009. The show talked about things like body image, self-esteem, and relationships, and Banks often used her own life as an example.
She has also hosted Dancing with the Stars (2020–2022), co-created True Beauty (2009–2010), and appeared on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Felicity, and Gossip Girl. In recent years, she has talked about past criticisms of ANTM (like insensitive challenges) in public speeches and on social media. She has admitted to making “off choices” while also talking about how hard she has worked to make the show more inclusive.
Banks was on the rebooted Hollywood Squares game show in 2025 and will be the star of a Netflix documentary looking back on ANTM’s legacy.
Acting, writing, and other projects
In Higher Learning (1995), Banks made her first movie. She became more well-known in Coyote Ugly (2000). She was also in Disney’s Life-Size (2000) with Lindsay Lohan and Tropic Thunder (2008).
Modelland, a fantasy novel for young adults based on her time as a model, came out in 2010 and quickly rose to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2012, Banks finished the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School and helped create a course on personal branding at Stanford University.
Business and starting your own business
Banks started TYRA Beauty, a line of cosmetics that focuses on empowerment, in 2014. She is a smart businesswoman. She started Smize & Dream, an ice cream brand, in 2020. The name comes from her trademark “smize,” which means “smile with your eyes.” By 2025, it had grown to include “hot ice cream” (sippable melted scoops) and stores in Australia and planned stores in the United States.
Sadly, the Palisades Fire destroyed her Los Angeles home in January 2025 while she was away.
In November 2025, her company, SMiZE Productions, said they were making a movie about Sally Hansen, the woman who started the nail polish business.
Life and Legacy
In 2016, Banks and her then-boyfriend Erik Asla welcomed their son, York Banks Asla, through a surrogate. She has been honest about her problems with getting pregnant and has spoken out for women’s rights.
Banks has been named one of Time magazine’s most powerful people several times and is known as a “Legendary Supermodel” by MODELS.com. She is a strong supporter of body positivity and diversity.
Tyra Banks is still a cultural icon at 51 (as of late 2025). She is fierce, creative, and unapologetically complex. Her mantra, “Smize your way to the top!” continues to inspire generations.
