Tyson Beckford

Tyson Beckford
Tyson Beckford at FashionWeekLive in San Francisco, March 15, 2007.
Born	Tyson Collin Henderson (1970-12-19) December 19, 1970 The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Modeling information
Height	5'11.5"
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown

Tyson Craig Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is an American male model and actor, best known as a Ralph Lauren model. He is currently the host of the Bravo program Make Me a Supermodel.

Biography

Beckford was born on December 19, 1970 to a Jamaican father of Panamanian descent and a Jamaican mother. He grew up in Rochester, New York and attended Bay Trail Middle School in nearby Penfield, New York. He then graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School in the affluent suburb of Pittsford as a participant in the Urban-Suburban Program, a busing program designed to give educational opportunities to urban youth in the city's surrounding suburban school districts. Beckford was a member of his high school football and track teams. He is also the cousin of Los Angeles Lakers' forward Ron Artest.

In 1992, he was recruited to hip hop magazine The Source by a talent scout, Jeff Jones, who has been credited with 'discovering' Beckford in New York City. In 1993, Beckford was recruited by Ralph Lauren as the front model for the company's Polo line of male sportswear.

Career

Beckford was named "Man of the Year" in 1995 by the cable television music channel VH1 & one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine. He is represented by Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, California, and Independent Models in London, England. He was ranked at #38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.

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.

Beckford is currently co-hosting the modeling contest Make Me a Supermodel on the television channel Bravo with fellow supermodel Niki Taylor. The show has chosen Nicole Trunfio to join Beckford as a mentor to the model contestants for the show's upcoming second season. New judges include designer Catherine Malandrino, model Jenny Shimizu, photographer Perou and model scout Marlon.

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.

Personal life

On June 7, 2005, Beckford was injured following a car accident in Secaucus, New Jersey. Shortly before 5:00am, he lost control of his 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 and struck a utility pole. The vehicle caught fire immediately after the collision, but Beckford was able to pull himself out before the red pick-up became fully engulfed in flames. He was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center and hospitalized for head trauma and cuts. During an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Tyson claimed the accident had a profound effect on his spirituality.

Beckford has been a resident of the New Jersey communities of Edgewater and West New York.

Beckford has a 10-year-old son, Jordan, from a previous relationship with designer April Roomet, who appears on the E! television program, "Candy Girls".

Beckford's current girlfriend is aspiring model and former Make Me A Supermodel contestant Shanina Shaik.

Filmography

• Boricua's Bond (2000)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Shottas (2002)
• Pandora's Box (2002)
• Gully (2002)
• Biker Boyz (2003)
• Searching for Bobby D (2004)
• Gas (2004)
• Into the Blue (2005)
• Dream Street (late 2006 early 2007)
• Kings of the Evening (2008)
• Hotel California (2008)

Television

• Superbikes as himself
• America's Next Top Model as a Guest Judge
• Project Runway as a Guest Judge
• Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as himself
• My Wife and Kids
• Make Me a Supermodel as himself
• I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! as himself
• Candy Girls as himself
• Germany's Next Top Model as a Guest Judge
• Running Russell Simmons as himself

Music Videos

• Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again"
• Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart"
• Raekwon's "Ice Cream"
• 50 Cent's "21 Questions"
• Trisha Covington's "Slow Down"
• Britney Spears' "Toxic"
• Ludacris's "Act A Fool"
• Adina Howard's "My Up and Down"
• Cam'ron's "Horse and Carriage"
• SWV's "Anything"
• Rhian Benson's "Say How I Feel"
• Pet Shop Boys' "Go West"
• Sun aka Geisha's "China Wine"
• The Notorious B.I.G.'s "One More Chance"
• Ryan Leslie's "How It Was Supposed To Be"
• DJ Khaled's "Go Hard"
• Mia X's "Whatcha Gonna Do"
• Luke's "Raise the Roof"

External links

• Official website
• "Tyson Beckford: Producer". The 1 Second Film. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• Tyson Beckford at IMDb
• Tyson Beckford at AllMovie