BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " TYSON BECKFORD " IS A FASHION MODEL AND ACTOR BEST KNOWN AS A RALPH LAUREN POLO MODEL : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

                       BLACK                   SOCIAL                 HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is an American fashion 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.

Early life

Beckford was born in Rochester, New York on December 19, 1970 to a mother of Chinese and Afro-Jamaican descent and a father ofAfro-Panamanian descent. Soon after he was born his mother took the family back to Jamaica, where they lived for seven years before returning to New York, finally settling in Harlem. During his school years Tyson was often teased about his looks.^[1]

Career

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.^{[citation needed]} In 1993, Beckford was recruited by Ralph Lauren as the front model for the company's Polo line of male sportswear.^{[citation needed]}

Early photo of model Tyson Beckford for Ralph Lauren Corporationby Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

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 bySoul Artist Management in New York City and D'management Group in Milan.^[2] He was ranked at #38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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 2004Dodge 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

Beckford has been a resident of the New Jersey communities of Edgewater^[9] and West New York.^[7]

Beckford has a son, Jordan Beckford (born in 1998), from a previous relationship with celebrity stylist April Roomet, who appears on the E! Television program Candy Girls.^[10][11]He split from his long-time girlfriend Shanina Shaik in 2013.

Beckford is an Ambassador for the non-profit Kick4Life , an organization that uses the power of soccer to engage vulnerable youth in holistic care and support in Lesotho, southern Africa.

Filmography

• Boricua's Bond (2000)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Shottas (2002)
• Trois 2: 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)
• Addicted (2014)

Television

• Superbikes as himself
• America's Next Top Model, Cycle 17 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
• "Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model" as a Judge

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"