Tyson Beckford model
Birth Date
December 19, 1970
Nationality
United States
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Natural hair color
Black
Eye color
Brown
Height
6 ft 1 in | 185 cm
Tyson Beckford for Ralph Lauren Underwear for Men
Chest
39 in | 99 cm
Hips
37 in | 93 cm
Waist
32 in | 81 cm
Shoe size
12 US | 46 EU
Tyson Beckford for Polo Sport Ralph Lauren Cologne for Men
Facts Age
Tyson Beckford was born in Rochester, New York, United States, on December 19, 1970, is an American male model and actor. He was discovered by model scout Jeff Jones, in New York's Washington Square Park in 1992.
He became the first black man in advertising campaign for Ralph Lauren in 1993, modelling for the brand for five years.
Long time highly ranked on Top Icons Men and Supers Men List by models.com.
Vogue named Tyson the greatest male model of all time.
Beckford's hobbies include racing and cars.
He is of Afro-Asian descent.
Graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School.
He was in relationships with celebrity stylist April Roomet (1997-1999), they have one son, Jordan Beckford.
He dated Australian model Shanina Shaik (2008-2015).
Lives in Harlem, New York City and Jamaica.
Music Videos
Featured in several music videos including:
Toni Braxton "Unbreak My Heart" (1996)
Britney Spears "Toxic" (2004)
Pet Shop Boys "Go West" (1993)
The Notorious B.I.G. "One More Chance" (1995)
Toni Braxton "Breathe Again" (1993)
Ludacris "Act a Fool" (2003)
Mariah Carey "Infinity" (2015)
50 Cent "21 Questions" (2003)
Best Movies
He made his big screen debut in drama film Boricua's Bond (2000).
Zoolander (2001) action comedy in role as Himself
Pandora's Box (2002) thriller romance in role as Lance Racine
Biker Boyz (2003) action drama in role as Donny
Gas (2004) comedy in role as Karl
Searching for Bobby D (2005) adventure comedy in role as Jerome
Into the Blue (2005) action thriller in role as Primo
Kings of the Evening (2008) drama in role as Homer Hobbs
Hotel California (2008) action thriller in role as Al
Dream Street (2010) urban drama
Addicted (2014) drama thriller in role as Corey
Chocolate City (2015) drama in role as Adrian 'Rude Boy'
Supermodel (2015) drama in role as Alex
Singleholic (2020) romance in role as Manuele
Editorials
And Men Magazine, Cosmopolitan U.S., Attitude, 7TH Man, V Man, WWD Magazine, Vogue, GQ Germany, Glass Magazine, OOB Magazine, IO Donna, New York Times, Details, Paper Magazine, Esquire U.S., Essence, UPTOWN Magazine, Krave.
Advertising campaigns
Barneys, Polo Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Pirelli P Zero.
Fashion Shows
Walked runway for Alexander Wang, Greg Lauren, David Tlale, H&M, Fashion for Relief, Michael Costello, Chris Aire, amfAR.
Agencies
Represented by agencies New York Soul Artist Management, Milan d'management group, Hamburg PMA.
Tyson Beckford for Ralph Lauren Polo Sport Spring Summer
Quotes
I remember walking into Ralph Lauren for the first time, and seeing only white guys there. I was the only black guy in the whole casting. And they'd give me that look, like what are you doing here.
People think you’re like, you whisk around a fancy car. Like, nah, I used to take the train to go shoot Ralph Lauren ads. It’s not all that glamorous, but the pay-off is great.
In fashion, there's a lack of strong male images. And there's a huge lack of strong African American images. I noticed over the past thirteen years, Ralph and those guys have used guys that looked similar to me. And I was happy for those guys, but eventually I said, 'Enough is enough, I'm just going to go in and take my job back.'
People still come up to me. Little kids come up and say, "Hey! You were in Zoolander!" It's like, "How old are you? How do you know about Zoolander?" To me, it's amazing, and I would love to do it again.
