140 million USD (2006)
| website = http://www.tyrabanks.com/ TyraBanks.com
| measurements= 35.5-23.5-35.5
| height = 5'10.5" (179 cm)
| weight = 145
| hair color = Brown
| eye color = Green/Hazel
| ethnicity = African-American
| nationality = American
}}
'''Tyra Lynne Banks''' (born December 4, 1973) is a popular American supermodel, television personality, author, actress, executive producer, and talk show host, who's best known for her role since 2003 as both the host and judge of ''
America's Next Top Model''. Banks is widely-recognized as one of the most famous fashion models in the world and she is part of a group of supermodels of African descent. Banks is best known as one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels.
Early life
Banks was born in Los Angeles, California to Don Banks and Carolyn London. She was raised in Inglewood, California with her brother Devin, and attended Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girls, independent Catholic private school in Los Angeles. Growing up, she was very thin and often teased; she was considered to be an "ugly duckling." Banks later said that this was a very difficult time for her and she developed a "very strong self-image problem." Banks has publicly stated that she has an extreme fear of dolphins. http://tyrashow.warnerbros.com/show_recaps/show_recap_tue22.html
In 1991, Banks was about to begin her freshman year at Claremont McKenna College when Elite Model Management gave the 17-year-old her first modeling job. Prior to this entry into the fashion world, Banks had been rejected several times for modeling assignments. In fact, she states that she did not deem her first job to be the start of a long career in fashion: "An agent saw pictures of me and said that I was the only girl she wanted to take back to Paris... I didn't leave thinking I was going to be some big fashion model. I just wanted to make money for college." http://www.papermag.com/cgi-bin/frameset/magazine.cgi?thismonth.html
Career
Modeling
thumb|left|275px|Banks in a Victoria's Secret promotion in England during the spring of 1998.
Banks' career took off when she made the move from high-fashion to a commercial market. She was the first African-American to be featured on the covers of GQ, Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, but is most famous for her work as a Victoria's Secret model. In 1997 she won the prestigious Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year. Banks has done runway shows in Paris, Milan, and the U.S. She has been featured in a variety of magazines, commercials, and billboards. Her modeling credits include runway and/or print work for
