Untold Heros & heroines: Tyson Beckford

Beckford was born on December 19, 1970 to a Black Jamaican father of Panamanian descent and a Black Jamaican mother with some Chinese heritage. 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.

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 Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, California, and Independent Models in London, England. He was ranked at #38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.[2]

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.[3]

Beckford is currently co-hosting the modeling contest Make Me a Supermodel on the television channel Bravo with fellow supermodel Niki Taylor. The show has chosen Nicole Trunfio to join Beckford as a mentor to the model contestants for the show's upcoming second season. New judges include designer Catherine Malandrino, model Jenny Shimizu, photographer Perou and model scout Marlon[4].

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 June 2005, Beckford was injured in a car accident near his home. His vehicle caught fire, and Beckford was able to pull himself out before it became fully engulfed in flames[5]. Tyson claimed the accident had a profound effect on his spirituality on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Beckford has been a resident of the New Jersey communities of Edgewater[6] and West New York[5].

Tyson has a 10-year-old son, Jordan, from a previous relationship with designer April Roomet, who appears on the E! television program, "Candy Girls".[7][8].

Beckford owns a custom tuned 2004 Nissan 350z which puts out 625 HP @ 6,000 RPM. He also recently purchased a Nissan GT-R[