Tatyana Ali

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Female

Birthday 1979-01-24 (45 years old)

Place of Birth Long Island, New York, USA

Also Known As Tatyana M. Ali, Tatyana Marisol Ali

Tatyana Ali

Biography

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and singer. She's best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. At the age of four she started singing and got a taste of fame when she begged her mother to take her to an audition for Sesame Street. In 1985, as a 6-year-old, she began her acting career as a regular performer on the PBS children's educational program Sesame Street. She went on to perform in many productions in her native city, New York, including the Broadway show Fences--with James Earl Jones and, later, Billy Dee Williams--and the off-Broadway show Orfeo del Campo. When she was seven, she appeared on Star Search and won twice, receiving a four-star rating when she appeared for a second time. At age 11, she moved from New York to Los Angeles to establish her career and not long afterwords landed her breakthrough role as Ashley Banks, Will Smith's character's cousin, on the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996). While filming The Fresh Prince, she also had side projects, including guest roles in television shows such as The Cosby Show (1984), The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1989) (aka The Mickey Mouse Club), Kyno's Storytime (1992), Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990), and Foster's Field Trip (1994). Her vocal talent was featured on several episodes of Fresh Prince in later seasons, prompting the show's star Will Smith to ask her if she would seriously consider pursuing a musical career. She ultimately decided, for the time being, to continue to concentrate on her acting career. In the series' final season, however, she performed several songs, and she began to be cleaned for her musical debut, the culmination of which was her debut album Kiss The Sky in 1998. It was certified gold in early 1999, only months after its release. "Boy You Knock Me Out" featuring Will Smith—which peaked at No. 3 and is her biggest hit to date. She made an appearance on Smith's album Willennium on the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte. In early 2008, she performed on the song "Yes We Can", a will.i.am project supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video, which garnered coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABC's World News Now. In January 2014, she released an EP titled Hello. Apart from her musical career, she continued to land roles in films such as The Brothers, Glory Road, and Nora's Hair Salon (and its sequel), among others. From 2009 to 2010 she produced and starred in the BET web series Buppies. She was on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne from 2007 to 2013. She starred in the TV One original series Love That Girl! as Tyana (whose name was derived from Ali's given name). In 2013, she co-starred as Maya in the BET comedy Second Generation Wayans, alongside Craig Wayans and Damien Dante Wayans. In 2011, she received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles.

Known For

Actor

2024
Perimeter

as Connie Dawn

2023
The Holiday Proposal Plan

as Sonny Kravitz

2022
Vanished: Searching for My Sister

as Jada Stallworth/Kayla Davis

2022
Bel-Air

as Ms. Hughes

2021
2021
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune

as Self - Contestant

2020
The Reason

as Macey

2020
Secret Celebrity RuPaul's Drag Race

as Self - Contestant / Chakra 7

2019
2019
Deadly Match

as Professor Savoy

2018
Jingle Belle

as Belle Williams

2018
Christmas Everlasting

as Lucy Toomey

2018
Doe

as Rachel Hutton

2018
Fancy Nancy

as Bree’s Mom (voice)

2018
Fancy Nancy (Duplicated)

as Bree's Mom (voice)

2017
Wrapped Up In Christmas

as Heather Nash

2017
The Good Nanny

as Monica Thorne

2016
Second Sight

as Clara

2015
Supermodel

as Lauren

2015
Fatal Flip

as Roslyn

2015
2015
Light Girls

as Self

2015
My Big Fat Fabulous Life

as Self - Event Host

2014
Comeback Dad

as Nima

2014
Locker 13

as Lucy

2014
The Divorce

as Victoria

2013
The Last Letter

as Jillian

2013
Dear Secret Santa

as Jennifer

2013
23rd Psalm: Redemption

as Stacey Wayne

2013
24 Hour Love

as Simply

2012
Home Again

as Marva Johnson

2012
Key & Peele

as Heresa

2010
Pete Smalls Is Dead

as Cocktail Waitress

2010
Love That Girl!

as Tyana Jones

2009
2008
2007
The List

as Cynthia

2006
Glory Road

as Tina

2005
Back in the Day

as Alicia

2005
Domino One

as Laeticia Richards

2004
Nora's Hair Salon

as Lilleana

2002
Half & Half

as Olivia

2002
Fastlane

as Shelly

2001
The Brothers

as Cherie Smith

2000
Brother

as Latifa

1999
Jawbreaker

as Brenda

1999
Teen Choice Awards

as Self - Presenter

1998
1998
1997
Kiss the Girls

as Janell Cross

1997
1996
Fall Into Darkness

as Sharon McKay

1996
1995
In the House

as Ashley Banks

1990
1988
Wow, You're A Cartoonist!

as Child Cartoonist

1988
Crocodile Dundee II

as Park Girl

1987
Eddie Murphy Raw

as Singing Child

1984
1958

Producer

2018
Jingle Belle

as Executive Producer