• Faith: Christian - Catholic
• Career: Actress
• Birthday:  December 04, 1973

Tyra Banks is a television personality, producer, actress, writer, and model. Born in Inglewood, California, she started her career as a model when she was 15 years old and was the first Black woman to be featured on the covers of GQ, and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared three times. She 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, she was one of the world’s top-earning models. Banks started acting on TV in the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and made her film debut in “Higher Learning.” In 2000, she had major film roles, like Eve in “Life-Size” and Zoe in “Coyote Ugly.”

She also had small roles in movies like “Love & Basketball,” “Halloween: Resurrection,” and on the TV shows “Glee” and “Gossip Girl.” In 2003, Banks created the long-running reality TV series "America’s Next Top Model,” which she executive produced and presented for the first 22 seasons until the series’ cancellation in October 2015. She remained executive producer for the series revival in 2016 and enlisted Rita Ora as the host for the 23rd cycle before reassuming the duties herself for the 24th cycle. She was the co-creator of “True Beauty” and had her TV talk show “The Tyra Banks Show,” which aired on the CW and won two Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Talk Show Informative. In 2015, Banks co-hosted the talk show “FABLife” for two months, and in 2017, she hosted “America’s Got Talent” for its 12th season.

In 2020, Banks was the host of “Dancing with the Stars” for its 29thh season, also serving as executive producer. In 2010, she published a young adult novel called 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 film “The Clique.” She’s one of four Black people and seven women to have repeatedly been ranked among the world’s influential people by Time magazine. She’s also one of only 17 models to be ranked as a Legendary Supermodel by MODELS.com. Banks was born in Inglewood, California, in 1973. She has an older brother, Devin. When Banks was six years old, her parents divorced.

She attended John Burroughs Middle School and graduated from Immaculate Heart High School in 1991. She’s said that while growing up, she was teased for her appearance and considered an “ugly duckling.” However, when she was 11 years old, she grew three inches and lost 30 pounds in 90 days. In 2012, Banks completed a nine-week course at Harvard University’s Owner/President Management non-degree extension program.

What religion is Tyra Banks?

Tyra Banks identifies as Catholic. She attended a Catholic high school, and she “prayed hard” for her son, whom she had via surrogacy. In an Instagram post, Banks said, "The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here," with a photo showing a baby's traditional hospital hat. "He's got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy's mouth and chin."