Tyson Beckford Movies and Career Information

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. 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. 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"