Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an American television personality, Daytime Emmy nominated, author, actress, singer, executive producer, talk show hostess, and retired model . She first emerged to prominence as a cover model for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels. She's best known as the hostess/judge of the reality television show America's Next Top Model, since its 2003 debut on UPN (later CW), and is currently hosting her own daytime talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. TIME magazine named her as one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2006.
