What do you do when you’ve gone as far as you possibly can as a swimwear and lingerie model and Mother Nature is looking at her watch on your time?

You become the next Oprah!

At least that’s the plan for Tyra Banks, who is appearing to have some success at this media mogul thing. Tyra isn’t earning $225 million a year and controlling the minds of American housewives like Ms. Winfrey… yet remember that Oprah is 52 years old and Tyra’s only 34 – and hot! Tyra’s annual paycheck is reported by Forbes to be now a mere $18 million a year.

She’s done what most models never do: Her work as an actress, producer, writer, and talk show host have eclipsed the simple description of supermodel. Get in her way and she’ll run you over.

There’s even been speculation that Oprah has been grooming Tyra to take over her talk show.

Girl on Film

Tyra hit the fashion world like a curvier, more down-to-earth version of Naomi Campbell, who had been the sole black supermodel for six years before the young hot shot entered the scene. She claims Campbell would get her thrown off of fashion shows, making her career more difficult. The two reconciled on Tyra’s talk show years later.

Tyra signed with the Elite Modeling Agency in her senior year of high school. It probably didn’t hurt that her mother is a professional photographer and worked as her manager.

She made history as the first black model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She called it “a decision to recognise and celebrate black beauty.” We’re sure Tyra also opened a lot of doors for black models in an industry dominated by toothpick-thin white chicks when she became a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model.

Her modelling days seem to be fading, but we’ll always have those old magazines and catalogs to visually recall Tyra at the peak of her physical prowess.

Tyra The Thespian

No, we said Thespian. Get your mind out of the gutter! She’s actually had a respectable movie career with roles in Love Stinks, Love & Basketball, Coyote Ugly, Halloween: Resurrection, Eight Crazy Nights, and Larceny. And don’t forget her appearances on the TV shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, New York Undercover, Life-Size (opposite a young Lindsey Lohan), Felicity, Soul Food, All of Us, and American Dreams.

Would Tyra be up for an Oscar if she kept pursuing a movie career after 2004? We doubt it, but who’s to say this woman couldn’t achieve anything she wanted?

Like Reality, Only More Interesting

Tyra was on to something in 2003 when she combined the culture’s fascination with hot models and its obsession with reality shows such as Survivor to bring us America’s Next Top Model. The show’s still on the air, although it arguably has not produced any TOP models during its run. We’re not complaining, though – Savvy would have probably never met featured model Sarah Racey Tabrizi if not for Tyra giving the half-Persian hottie a shot at TV fame.

Yes, thank you, Tyra, for giving men a weekly reason to tune in and fantasize about girls half our age -- and for giving those girls a reason to buy in to the whole fantasy that they can conquer the fashion world simply by humiliating themselves in assorted outlandish challenges for our viewing pleasure. Would anyone else like another serving of blurred bare breasts and runny mascara?

A year after it was a hit, Tyra executive produced an Australian version of ANTM that is also still on the air.

Talk, Talk, Talk

In the fall of 2005, Tyra gave Oprah some competition when her Bankable Productions launched The Tyra Banks Show, a program where the most entertaining draw has often by Tyra’s own outrageousness.

For example, when Tyra recently encouraged a group of girls to take off their jeans (to get replacement jeans that fit them better) and joined in by stripping down to her own shirt and panties in what we are sure was a gesture of sisterhood rather than a strategy for sweeps.

We’re sure it is no small task to convince female viewers that you feel their pain – especially when they’ve been feeling worthless by comparison when their boyfriends and husbands oogle your skinny ass in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition or those Victoria’s Secret commercials! Yet, all it took was an unflattering photo of her in a swimsuit and vicious tabloid comments to convince womankind that Tyra was just like them.

Her Singing Career… Or Some Facsimile Thereof

She started a singing career (sort of) by recording a dance song called Shake Ya Body. She paid $30,000 of her own money to finance the music video, which appeared on America’s Next Top Model.

Tyra… Stick to your talents, girlfriend.

What She’s Doing Now

She’s reportedly set to do another reality TV show where the aim is to find a fashion magazine editor. The show is described as The Apprentice meets The Devil Wears Prada and will air on the CW Network in the US this spring. Tyra also announced in late 2007 that she is planning to adopt a child. When she’ll have time to clean up slobber is anyone’s guess. Oh right, she’s been watching men slobber over her for years.

Did You Know?
- Tyra was born Dec. 4, 1973 in Los Angeles, California as Tyra Lynne Banks.
- She dated John Singleton and Sacramento Kings player Chris Webber.
- She was named one of the “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” by People Magazine in 1994.
- She awards an annual scholarship.
- She did print ads for Yves Saint Laurent and Cover Girl.
- Her nickname is BBQ.
- She created a leadership and life skills development program for disadvantaged teen girls in Los Angeles called TZONE.
- She doesn’t drink alcohol.
- She wears a size 9 shoe.
- She’s allergic to dogs.
- Her parents divorced when she was six years old.
- When she was 11, she grew four inches and lost 30 pounds.
- Her friends used to call her The Black Widow because she used to break up with men she was dating before they would break up with her.
- As a model, she had the following restrictions: No frontal nudity, no birds, no cats, no fish, no cigarettes, no alcohol.
- She wore braces to straighten her teeth.
- She applied to five colleges with the intention of majoring in film and TV production.
- As a student in popular LA Catholic girls’ school Immaculate Heart High, she claims that her classmates made fun of her because of her height and weight.

_______

On the Web:

http://tyrabanks.com/

- All images and information were sourced from web sites deemed to be within the public domain.