THROWBACKTHISDAY, DEC 19; Is Tyson Beckford's Birthday

                              

 

Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is an American fashion model and actor, best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model.

Beckford was born in Rochester, New York on December 19, 1970 to a Jamaican father and Jamaican mother of Panamanian, Afro-Jamaican and Chinese 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.

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.

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 Soul Artist Management in New York City and D'management Group in Milan.^[3] He was ranked at #38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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. In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice.

 

THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 45 years and TBT Blog wish him a happy birthday.