Tatyana Ali
born on 24/1/1979 in Long Island, NY, United States
Tatyana Ali
| Tatyana Ali | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 24 1979 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her role as Ashley Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.[1]
Early life
Tatyana Marisol Ali was born in Long Island, New York. Her mother Sonia was a nurse and is of African American and Panamanian descent. Her father Sherriff Ali is of Indo-Trinidadian descent. She has two younger sisters, Anastasia and Kimberly.
She attended Grand Avenue Junior High School in Bellmore, New York, Marymount High School in West Los Angeles, California, and The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. In 2002, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and African American studies from Harvard University.[2]
Career
By the age of six, Ali had begun her acting career. She was a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985, even appearing with Herbie Hancock in a musical number. She also appeared on Star Search two times.
She made her breakthrough when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. She sang on various episodes of the show, including a heavily altered Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song, "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Robert Jerald of N'Spyre Music Productions. Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air the next few years.
In the final season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995-1996, Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which was certified gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song "Daydreamin'", produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart.
The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out", featuring Will Smith, which peaked at #3 and is her biggest hit to date; and "Everytime", which was her third top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at #20. She made an appearance in Smith's album Willennium for the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte.
Along with her musical career, Tatyana kept acting in many films. She had the chance to work with recognized film directors such as Takeshi Kitano (Brother), Rodrigo Garcia (Mother and Child), among others.
In 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and starred in the music video for Nick Cannon and Anthony Hamilton's "Can I Live?" as Cannon's mother.
In early 2008, she performed on the song Yes We Can, a Will.i.am project supporting Barack Obamas presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video which gained coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABCs World News Now.
She is currently preparing to release her second album, which she describes as "an independent effort".[3] The album is titled "The Light". Much of the album's production was being handled by famed Tupac Shakur's producer Johnny "J".
She also performed the title song, "Sunny Valentine" along with Terrence Quaites for the indie film, "Rockin' Meera" directed by Param Gill in 2005.
She is also producing and starring in the BET web show, Buppies. She is currently on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne.[4]
Ali currently can be seen in the show, Love That Girl! on TV One. She stars as Tyana (which comes from the last five letters of her name). When asked if the character has any similarities to her, Tatyana said in a recent CaribPress interview, "She's a bit neurotic and I hope I am not quite like that."[1].
"One thing that I do love about her is that she is really multidimensional," she went on to say in the same interview. "I think it's nice to have a female character that is portrayed in (a) really holistic way."[1]
Tatyana also played in "Nora's Hair Salon" and "Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above."
In 2011, Tatyana received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles.[1][5]
Personal life
Ali dated the actor Jonathan Brandis.[2]
Ali traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign. Ali headed voter registration drives at college campuses.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Eddie Murphy Raw | Eddie's Sister | Sketch Segment |
| 1988 | Crocodile Dundee II | Park Girl | |
| 1988 | Wow, You're a Cartoonist! | Child Cartoonist | Short film Direct-to-Video release |
| 1997 | Fakin' da Funk | Karyn | |
| 1997 | Kiss the Girls | Janell Cross | |
| 1998 | The Clown at Midnight | Monica | |
| 1999 | Jawbreaker | Brenda | |
| 2000 | Brother | Latifa | |
| 2001 | The Brothers | Cherie Smith | |
| 2003 | National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze | Claire | |
| 2004 | Nora's Hair Salon | Lilleana | |
| 2005 | Back in the Day | Alicia Packer | |
| 2005 | Domino One | Laeticia Richards | |
| 2006 | Glory Road | Tina Malichi | |
| 2006 | A Warm Place | Clair Andrews | Short film |
| 2007 | The List | Cynthia | |
| 2008 | Down & Out | Short film | |
| 2008 | Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above | Lilleana | |
| 2008 | Hotel California | Jessie | |
| 2009 | Mother and Child | Maria | |
| 2011 | Love That Girl! | Tyana | |
| 2010 | Privileged | Talia | awaiting release |
| 2010 | Locker 13 | Lucy | awaiting release |
| 2010 | The Misguided Adventures of Dating in Hollywood | Troi | pre-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985, 1990 |
Sesame Street | Tatyana | 4 episodes |
| 1989 | Wally and the Valentines | Jamaica Valentine | TV-Special |
| 1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Michelle | Episode: Life After Death |
| 1989 | The Cosby Show | Girl | Episode: Shall We Dance? |
| 1990 1996 |
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Ashley Banks | 148 episodes |
| 1993 | Getting By | Nicole Alexander | Episode: Turnabout Dance |
| 1994 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Laura Turner/Connie Turner | Episode: The Tale of the Quicksilver |
| 1994 | TV's Funniest Families | Host | TV-Special |
| 1995 | In the House | Ashley Banks | Episode: Dog Catchers |
| 1996 | Living Single | Stephanie James | Episode: Whatever Happened to Baby Sister? |
| 1996 | Kidz in the Wood | Rita | TV-Movie |
| 1996 | Fall Into Darkness | Sharon McKay | TV-Movie |
| 1997 | 413 Hope St. | Kai | Episode: Heartbeat |
| 2002 | Fastlane | Shelly | Episode: Girls Own Juice |
| 2003 | Half & Half | Olivia | Episode: The Big Condom-nation Episode |
| 2007 | On the Lot | Girl | Episode: 11 Cut to 10 & 10 Directors Compete Segment: First Sight |
| 2007-2010 | The Young and the Restless | Roxanne | |
| 2010 present |
Love That Girl! | Tyana Jones | Lead role |
Discography
- Albums
- 1998: Kiss the Sky (#47 US, #41 UK, Certified Gold)
- Chart Performance
| Year | Song | U.S. | U.S. R&B | UK[6] | NZ[7] | FRA[8] | NET[9] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Day Dreamin'" | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | Kiss The Sky | ||
| "Boy You Knock Me Out" (featuring Will Smith) | 68 | 3 | 12 | 32 | 77 | |||
| 1999 | "Everytime" | 118 | 73 | 20 | ||||
| "Kiss the Sky" (featuring Marion) | 9 | |||||||
| 2005 | "Can I Live" | - | - | - | - | Nick Cannon-Music Video |
Awards and nominations
- NAACP Image Awards
- 1996: Won, "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 2010: Nominated, "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama" The Young and the Restless
- 2011: Nominated, "Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series" - Love That Girl!
- 2011: Won, "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama" The Young and the Restless
- Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
- 1996: Nominated, "Favorite Television Actress" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Young Artist Award
- 1991: Won, "Best Young Actress Starring in a New Television Series" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1992: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1993: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1994: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" Name Your Adventure"
- YoungStar Award
- 1997: Won, "Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series" The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Caribbean Heritage Organization
- 2011: Recipient, Living Legacy Award[1][5]
References
- 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 (August/September 2011)"The talented Ms. Ali:an interview with Tatyana". CaribPress Newsmagazine.
- 2.0 2.1 Tatyana Ali. Tatyana Ali. Askmen.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-02.
- Tatyana Ali. Tatyanaalionline.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-02.
- "The Young and the Restless" Episode #1.8728 (2007)
- 5.0 5.1 (August/September 2011)"Caribbean Heritage Salute in Hollywood". CaribPress Newsmagazine.
- The Official Charts Company. ali/ TATYANA ALI - The Official Charts Company. TheOfficialCharts.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-22.
- Steffen Hung. New Zealand charts portal. Charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2010-08-02.
- Steffen Hung (1999-03-13). Les charts français. lescharts.com. Retrieved on 2010-07-26.
- Steffen Hung. Dutch charts portal. Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on 2010-08-02.
External links
- Official website
- Tatyana Ali at the Internet Movie Database
- Tatyana Ali at All Movie Guide
This article uses material from the article Tatyana Ali from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.