Tyra was born in Los Angeles on December 4th, 1973, to a very loving and supportive family. Despite the fact that her parents divorced when she was very young, her mother and various family members instilled a high degree of family values and expectations. Her mother would read to her all the time, and Tyra loved to read more than anything else. When she was a young girl, it was almost like an addiction for her. She could spend hours inside bookstores.Growing up in Los Angeles, Tyra was able to take full advantage of the Southern California lifestyle.

Tyra was a tall, skinny and awkward adolescent. She was constantly teased by her brother, Devin and her classmates, and often ran home crying to her mother for comfort. She became a "boring bookworm". She really didn't feel comfortable in her skinny body, so she ate a lot of fattening foods. She filled out her skinny frame, began to work out and finally decided to become a model.

She began her modeling career at the age of 17 with the Elite agency after flirting with attending college at Loyola Marymount. The 5'11" beauty was quickly discovered in Los Angeles and offered a healthy contract with cosmetics company Cover Girl becoming only the third African-American woman in the world to secure such an opportunity. Tyra has the biggest boobs on the catwalk and they are real, she says. "I was a 34C when I was 17".

At the age of 23, Tyra Banks was the first black model to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Soon Tyra began to diversify her activities, having a small part in the British television movie, Inferno as a supermodel, and then appearing on Will Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in a recurring supporting role. Tyra's first real movie role came in John Singleton's Higher Learning.

Tyra chose not to act in just anything. Instead, she continued her meteoric rise in the modeling ranks, appearing on the covers of several magazines. She made People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful list not once, but twice, and even wrote a revealing book about her life, Tyra's Beauty Inside & Out.

She has a love for children, animals and the environment. She also feels very strong about a good education. And that's what makes her stand out as a good role model. Tyra currently is promoting a line of greeting cards for Children + Families, an organization dedicated to helping abused and neglected kids.

She has gone on record stating that she often eats barbecued ribs, fried chicken wings, ice cream, and fast-food. She plays lots of sports, particularly basketball and tennis, and makes sure she always has fun while exercising.

In 2000, Banks landed a high-profile gig in the critically dismissed but lively Jerry Bruckheimer production Coyote Ugly, playing a sexy barmaid in a role that showcased all of her assets in one tidy package.