# Tyson Beckford

Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is a Jamaican-American 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. Beckford has been described as one of the most successful black male supermodels of all time, achieving fame and huge contracts similar to the female models who had huge success in the 1990s.

## Early life

Beckford was born in Rochester, New York, on December 19, 1970, to a Jamaican mother, Hillary Dixon Hall, and a Panamanian father of Jamaican and Chinese-Jamaican descent, Lloyd Beckford.
Soon after he was born, his mother took the family back to Jamaica, where they lived for seven years before returning to Rochester, New York, where he attended and graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School. During his school years, Tyson was often teased about his looks.

## Career

In 1992, Erik Lauren Counsel of the hip hop magazine The Source approached Beckford "in Washington Square Park" about being "in a style piece" in the magazine New York City. In an August 2021 VLADTV interview, Beckford clarified that nobody named Jeff Jones "discovered him" and said that "the person who gets the credit is Erik."
Confusion about his discovery might have happened after a 2005 People magazine interview, when Beckford stated that his career began as he was "minding his own business" in Manhattan's Washington Square Park, when scouts from the hip hop magazine The Source asked him to pose. "I'm thinkin', 'Yeah, this is some porno magazine,'" he recalled, "but everything was legit."
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 cable television music channel VH1 and 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. He was ranked at number 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 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.
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.
He was one of the judges on the British version of America's Next Top Model.

## Personal life

On June 6, 2005, Beckford was injured during a vehicle accident in Secaucus, New Jersey, in which his 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 struck a utility pole and caught fire. 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 son (born 1998) from a relationship with stylist April Roomet, who appears on the E! Television program Candy Girls. Beckford is an ambassador for the nonprofit Kick 4 Life, an organization that uses the power of soccer to engage vulnerable youth in holistic care and support in Lesotho.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Boricua's Bond | - | |
| 2001 | Zoolander | Himself | |
| 2002 | Trois 2: Pandora's Box | Lance Racine | |
| 2002 | Gully | Man / Prisoner | |
| 2003 | Biker Boyz | Donny | |
| 2004 | Gas | Karl | |
| 2005 | Searching for Bobby D | Jerome | |
| 2005 | Into the Blue | Primo | |
| 2005 | Wait | Charles | Short |
| 2008 | Kings of the Evening | Homer Hobbs | |
| 2008 | Hotel California | Al | |
| 2014 | Addicted | Corey | |
| 2015 | Chocolate City | Adrian 'Rude Boy' | |
| 2015 | Supermodel | Alex | |
| 2022 | Singleholic | Manuele | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | My Wife and Kids | Hunter | Episode: "The Kyles Go to Hawaii: Part 1 & 2" |
| 2002-03 | Hollywood Squares | Himself/Panelist | Recurring Guest |
| 2003 | I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | Himself | Cast Member: season 1 |
| 2003 | Half & Half | Sexy Guy | Episode: "The Big 'I Have a Dream' Episode" |
| 2004 | MTV Cribs | Himself | Episode: "Nov 21, 2004" |
| 2005 | Making the Video | Motorcyclist | Episode: "Britney Spears: Toxic" |
| 2006 | Urbanation (Travel) | Himself | Episode: "New York 3" |
| 2006 | Queer Eye | Himself | Episode: "Messenger to Model Material: Jesan H" |
| 2007-11 | America's Next Top Model | Himself/Guest Judge | Recurring Guest Judge |
| 2008 | Tim Gunn's Guide to Style | Himself | Episode: "Erica" |
| 2008-09 | Make Me a Supermodel | Himself/host | Main Host |
| 2012 | The Choice | Himself | Episode: "Season Finale" |
| 2013 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Himself | Episode: "Secrets Revealed" |
| 2014 | SWV Reunited | Himself | Episode: "SWV's Comeback" |
| 2014 | FNL's Flashback Friday | Himself | Episode: "Tyson Beckford" |
| 2014 | The Face | Himself | Episode: "Runway Dinner Party" |
| 2016 | The Characters | Himself | Episode: "Natasha Rothwell" |
| 2016-17 | Hollywood Game Night | Himself/Celebrity Player | Episode: "That's Mighty Biggs of You" & "A RuPaul Awakening" |
| 2017 | Match Game | Himself | Episode: "Adam Carolla/Jenna Fischer/Tyson Beckford/Caroline Rhea/Jay Pharoah/Ana Gasteyer" |
| 2017 | Hip Hop Squares | Himself/Contestant | Recurring Guest |
| 2017 | 90's House | Himself | Episode: "The one with the Big Finale" |
| 2019 | Huge in France | Himself | Episode: "Épisode Deux" |
| 2020 | Legendary | Himself/Guest Judge | Episode: "Once Upon a Time" |
| 2023 | Dancing with the Stars | Himself/Contestant | Season 32 |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1992 | "Anything" | SWV |
| 1993 | "Go West" | Pet Shop Boys |
| 1993 | "Breathe Again" | Toni Braxton |
| 1994 | "Slow Down" | Trisha Covington |
| 1995 | "Live Niguz" | Onyx |
| 1995 | "Ice Cream" | Raekwon |
| 1995 | "My Up and Down" | Adina Howard |
| 1995 | "One More Chance" | The Notorious B.I.G. |
| 1996 | "Un-Break My Heart" | Toni Braxton |
| 1997 | "Anywhere You Want" | Simbi Khali |
| 1998 | "Horse & Carriage" | Cam'ron |
| 1998 | "What'cha Wanna Do?" | Mia X |
| 1998 | "The Way It's Going Down" | Shaq |
| 1998 | "Raise the Roof" | Luke |
| 2003 | "21 Questions" | 50 Cent |
| 2003 | "Act a Fool" | Ludacris |
| 2003 | "Industry" | Wyclef Jean |
| "Say How I Feel" | Rhian Benson |
| 2004 | "Toxic" | Britney Spears |
| 2007 | "China Wine" | Sun aka Geisha |
| 2008 | "How It Was Supposed to Be" | Ryan Leslie |
| 2008 | "Go Hard" | DJ Khaled |
| 2014 | "With Your Love" | Yola Araújo |
| 2015 | "Infinity" | Mariah Carey |
| 2022 | "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" | Lizzo |