Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is a Jamaican-American model and actor best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model. He was also the host of both seasons of the Bravo program Make Me a Supermodel. Beckford has been described as one of the most successful black male supermodels of all time, achieving fame and huge contracts similar to the female models who had huge success in the 1990s.
Tyson Beckford | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Beckford at FashionWeekLive in San Francisco, 2007 | |
| Born | December 19, 1970 |
| Children | 1 |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Brown |
Early life
editBeckford was born in Rochester, New York, on December 19, 1970, to a Jamaican mother, Hillary Dixon Hall, and a Panamanian father of Jamaican and Chinese-Jamaican descent, Lloyd Beckford.
Soon after he was born, his mother took the family back to Jamaica, where they lived for seven years before moving to Rochester, New York, where he attended and graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School. During his school years, Tyson was often teased about his looks.[1]
Career
editIn 1992, Erik Lauren Counsel of the hip hop magazine The Source approached Beckford "in Washington Square Park" about being "in a style piece" in the magazine New York City.[2] In an August 2021 VLADTV interview, Beckford clarified that nobody named Jeff Jones "discovered him" and said that "the person who gets the credit is Erik."[3][4]
Confusion about his discovery might have happened after a 2005 People magazine interview, when Beckford stated that his career began as he was "minding his own business" in Manhattan's Washington Square Park, when scouts from the hip hop magazine The Source asked him to pose. "I'm thinkin', 'Yeah, this is some porno magazine,'" he recalled, "but everything was legit."[5]
In 1993, Beckford was recruited by Ralph Lauren as the front model for the company's Polo line of male sportswear.[6]
Beckford was named "Man of the Year" in 1995 by cable television music channel VH1 and one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine. He is represented by Soul Artist Management in New York City and D'management Group in Milan.[7] He was ranked at number 38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.[8]
In 2003, he appeared on the ABC network's celebrity reality game show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In September 2008, he supported the National RESPECT! Campaign against domestic violence, recording a voice message for the Giverespect.org Web site, speaking about the importance of respect for others.[9]
Beckford co-hosted the modeling contest Make Me a Supermodel on the television channel Bravo with fellow supermodel Niki Taylor. The show chose Nicole Trunfio to join Beckford as a mentor to the model contestants for the show's second season. Other judges included designer Catherine Malandrino, model Jenny Shimizu, photographer Perou, and model scout Marlon.[10]
Beckford judged and mentored the contestants of the first few episodes of the Australian version of Make Me a Supermodel with model and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins.[citation needed] In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice.[11]
He was one of the judges on the British version of America's Next Top Model.
Personal life
editOn June 6, 2005, Beckford was injured during a vehicle accident in Secaucus, New Jersey, in which his 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 struck a utility pole and caught fire. He was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center and hospitalized for head trauma and cuts.[12]
During an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Tyson claimed the accident had a profound effect on his spirituality.[13][14]
Beckford has been a resident of the New Jersey communities of Edgewater[15] and West New York.[16]
Beckford has a son (born 1998) from a relationship with stylist April Roomet, who appears on the E! Television program Candy Girls.[17][18] Beckford is an ambassador for the nonprofit Kick 4 Life, an organization that uses the power of soccer to engage vulnerable youth in holistic care and support in Lesotho.[19]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Boricua's Bond | - | |
| 2001 | Zoolander | Himself | |
| 2002 | Trois 2: Pandora's Box | Lance Racine | |
| Gully | Man / Prisoner | ||
| 2003 | Biker Boyz | Donny | |
| 2004 | Gas | Karl | |
| 2005 | Searching for Bobby D | Jerome | |
| Into the Blue | Primo | ||
| Wait | Charles | Short | |
| 2008 | Kings of the Evening | Homer Hobbs | |
| Hotel California | Al | ||
| 2014 | Addicted | Corey | |
| 2015 | Chocolate City | Adrian 'Rude Boy' | |
| Supermodel | Alex | ||
| 2022 | Singleholic | Manuele |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | My Wife and Kids | Hunter | Episode: "The Kyles Go to Hawaii: Part 1 & 2" |
| 2002-03 | Hollywood Squares | Himself/Panelist | Recurring Guest |
| 2003 | I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | Himself | Cast Member: season 1 |
| Half & Half | Sexy Guy | Episode: "The Big 'I Have a Dream' Episode" | |
| 2004 | MTV Cribs | Himself | Episode: "Nov 21, 2004" |
| 2005 | Making the Video | Motorcyclist | Episode: "Britney Spears: Toxic" |
| 2006 | Urbanation (Travel) | Himself | Episode: "New York 3" |
| Queer Eye | Himself | Episode: "Messenger to Model Material: Jesan H" | |
| 2007-11 | America's Next Top Model | Himself/Guest Judge | Recurring Guest Judge |
| 2008 | Tim Gunn's Guide to Style | Himself | Episode: "Erica" |
| 2008-09 | Make Me a Supermodel | Himself/host | Main Host |
| 2012 | The Choice | Himself | Episode: "Season Finale" |
| 2013 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Himself | Episode: "Secrets Revealed" |
| 2014 | SWV Reunited | Himself | Episode: "SWV's Comeback" |
| FNL's Flashback Friday | Himself | Episode: "Tyson Beckford" | |
| The Face | Himself | Episode: "Runway Dinner Party" | |
| 2016 | The Characters | Himself | Episode: "Natasha Rothwell" |
| 2016-17 | Hollywood Game Night | Himself/Celebrity Player | Episode: "That's Mighty Biggs of You" & "A RuPaul Awakening" |
| 2017 | Match Game | Himself | Episode: "Adam Carolla/Jenna Fischer/Tyson Beckford/Caroline Rhea/Jay Pharoah/Ana Gasteyer" |
| Hip Hop Squares | Himself/Contestant | Recurring Guest | |
| 90's House | Himself | Episode: "The one with the Big Finale" | |
| 2019 | Huge in France | Himself | Episode: "Épisode Deux" |
| 2020 | Legendary | Himself/Guest Judge | Episode: "Once Upon a Time" |
| 2023 | Dancing with the Stars | Himself/Contestant | Season 32 |
Music videos
edit| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Anything" | SWV |
| 1993 | "Go West" | Pet Shop Boys |
| "Breathe Again" | Toni Braxton | |
| 1994 | "Slow Down" | Trisha Covington |
| 1995 | "Live Niguz" | Onyx |
| "Ice Cream" | Raekwon | |
| "My Up and Down" | Adina Howard | |
| "One More Chance" | The Notorious B.I.G. | |
| 1996 | "Un-Break My Heart" | Toni Braxton |
| 1997 | "Anywhere You Want" | Simbi Khali |
| 1998 | "Horse & Carriage" | Cam'ron |
| "What'cha Wanna Do?" | Mia X | |
| "The Way It's Going Down" | Shaq | |
| "Raise the Roof" | Luke | |
| 2003 | "21 Questions" | 50 Cent |
| "Act a Fool" | Ludacris | |
| "Industry" | Wyclef Jean | |
| "Say How I Feel" | Rhian Benson | |
| 2004 | "Toxic" | Britney Spears |
| 2007 | "China Wine" | Sun aka Geisha |
| 2008 | "How It Was Supposed to Be" | Ryan Leslie |
| "Go Hard" | DJ Khaled | |
| 2014 | "With Your Love" | Yola Araújo |
| 2015 | "Infinity" | Mariah Carey |
| 2022 | "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" | Lizzo |
References
edit- ^ "BEST Tyson Beckford Model Bio: Chinese Ethnicity, Parents, Mother, Father Lloyd, Nationality, Age, Height". Arogundade.
- ^ "Tyson Beckford on Being Face of Polo, Dating Kim K, Kanye & Chris Brown Beef (Full Interview)". YouTube.com. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ "Tyson Beckford on Being Face of Polo, Dating Kim K, Kanye & Chris Brown Beef (Full Interview)". YouTube.com. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ "Tyson Beckford on Getting Discovered as a Model on the Street by Source Magazine". YouTube.com. August 2021.
- ^ Silverman, Stephen. "ModelTyson Beckford Escapes Burning Truck". People Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2005.
- ^ "Tyson Beckford's Workout Regimen for the Runway" Archived May 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 28, 2015
- ^ "Tyson Beckford – Profile". Models.com. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ^ Notedguys.com Archived October 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Send a celebrity voice message". GiveRespect.org. September 2008.
- ^ Nguyen, Hanh. "'Make Me a Supermodel' Returns With Tyson, New Judges". Zap2it. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
- ^ Hibberd, James (May 8, 2012). "Fox's 'The Choice' cast revealed! Joe Jonas, Dean Cain, The Situation, many more -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ Times, NY (June 8, 2005). "Metro Briefing New Jersey: Secaucus: Model Hurt in Truck Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2005.
- ^ "Beckford Sobs As He Recalls Car Blaze". Contact Music. October 21, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ^ Winfrey, Oprah. "How Does it Feel?". Oprah.com. Retrieved June 8, 2005.
- ^ "Miss Thing". Blender. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
Edgewater, New Jersey — home to Tyson Beckford
- ^ "Tyson Beckford injured in New Jersey truck accident". USA Today.
- ^ "Candy Girls". EOnline. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ "TV Stylist Reveals Beckford Is Her Son's Father". contactmusic.com. March 20, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- ^ Duffy, Nick (August 2, 2018). "Tyson Beckford hits back after Kim Kardashian implies he's gay". PinkNews. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
External links
edit- Official website
- Tyson Beckford at IMDb
- Tyson Beckford at AllMovie
- Tyson Beckford at SKAM Artist