Tyra Banks
Name:Tyra Lynne Banks
Date of Birth: 4th December 1973
Place of Birth: Inglewood, California, USA
Height: 5 foot 11 inches, 177.5cm
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an American supermodel, television personality, and talk show host. She first emerged to prominence on the catwalks of Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, and New York, but her work in the commercial world was her breakthrough. She is best known as hostess/judge of the reality television show America's Next Top Model since its 2003 debut, and is currently hosting her own Daytime Emmy Award-nominated talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. Banks is one of only four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine.
Banks was born in Inglewood, California to Carolyn Banks (née London), a business manager and medical photographer, and Donald Banks, a computer consultant. The couple divorced in 1980, when Tyra was six, although the relationship of her parents and especially her brother Devin (born 1968) stayed friendly. Later, Carolyn married Clifford Johnson; she now goes by Carolyn London-Johnson.
Banks attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, California, a popular Catholic girls' school, where she insists that her classmates made fun of her because of her height and weight. Prior to graduating in 1991, she wanted to pursue modeling. She was accepted to Loyola Marymount University. However, instead of attending the university, she moved to Paris to pursue her modeling career.
Within Banks' first week in Paris, other designers were so entranced by her presence on the runway that she was booked for an unprecedented 25 shows--a record in the business for a newcomer. She has done extensive print and/or runway work for fashion/advertising giants such as Anna Sui, Coors Light, CoverGirl, Badgley Mischka, Bill Blass, Cynthia Rowley, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Gemma Kahng, H&M, Isaac Mizrahi, Maria Snyder, McDonald's, Michael Kors, Milk, Nicole Miller, Nike, Inc., Oscar de la Renta, Pepsi, Perry Ellis, Randy Kemper, Richard Tyler, Rifat Ozbek, Swatch, Todd Oldham, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, XOXO, and Yves Saint Laurent. She has appeared on the covers of high fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. Banks was the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1997, she received the Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year. Also in '97, she was chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog, making her the first African American to be so honored. Banks retired from modeling in May 2005 to concentrate on her television show. She walked the runway for the final time at the 2005 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. On numerous occasions, she has been sought after to appear in Playboy magazine; however, she has turned each request down.
Banks' television career began on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played lead character Will's ex-girlfriend Jackie Ames, and made eight appearances throughout the series. Other screen credits include Felicity, MADtv, Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out (in which she was featured as special guest host and team captain), and The Price Is Right (guest-starring as a Barker's Beauty).
Currently, Banks can be seen on television as the hostess, head judge, and executive producer of the UPN (now the CW) television show America's Next Top Model. In addition, she hosts The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talkshow aimed at younger women, which premiered on September 12, 2005 and recently began its third season, drawing over 1.9 million viewers an episode. The show features stories about everyday people mixed in with celebrity interviews, much like the early format of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Under the slogan "Every woman has a story...and it happened to Tyra too", Banks promotes her show using emotional flashbacks to her own childhood and adolescence. Many of the episodes deal with issues facing women today. The first two seasons of the show were taped in Banks' hometown of Los Angeles, but beginning with the fall 2007 season, the show moved to New York City.
On the big screen, Banks has had minor roles in a few movies. Her first big screen role came in 1994 when she co-starred in the drama Higher Learning. She went on to co-star with Lindsay Lohan in the Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Eve who comes to life. Other notable roles include 1999's Love Stinks, 2000's Coyote Ugly, and 2002's Halloween: Resurrection.
Banks has appeared in several music videos including Michael Jackson's "Black or White",Tina Turner's "Love Thing", and George Michael's "Too Funky" (with fellow supermodel Linda Evangelista). In 2004, she recorded her first single, "Shake Ya Body", which had a music video featuring the America's Next Top Model, Cycle 2 contestants.(Music Video) The video's world premiere was aired on UPN, but the single was a failure for Banks. She stated on Cycle 2 of Top Model that "Singing has been a passion of mine for a long, long time...6 years on the down low - been ducking in and out of studios cutting tracks," but on her talk show she stated, "I can't believe I wasted 6 years of doing something that I didn't finish...I was almost able to release my album 'T.Y.R.A' but since my music career hit rock bottom I quit." On her show, she commented to Carmen Electra, "Girl, that makes the two of us with music videos that people didn't like."
Though "Shake Ya Body" was a failure, record producer Darkchild told JET in 2004 that Banks "has what it takes to pull it off...she had a hungriness to want to be in the studio all the time. Some people want to be divas in the studio and work for three or four hours. You had to tell Tyra to stop or she will keep you going". As for her voice, Jerkins stated, '"People will be shocked. She can really sing, she's like between soprano and high alto. I challenged her vocally. I pushed her, but not too far. I pushed her where vocally it fit the track."
Banks released a single with NBA star Kobe Bryant, titled "K.O.B.E.", which was performed on NBA TV, and had a single/soundtrack from the Disney movie Life-Size called "Be A Star". She also sang in the musical/movie Eight Crazy Nights.
The Lady of the Manor
17th December 2007
Agent Provocateur is pushing the boundaries of lingerie adverts once again with a campaign that seems more targeted to a Lads Mag reader than to female lingerie buyers. 
The Lady of the Manor takes us on an interactive journey of decadence and debauchery inside the aristocratic world of the Manor, the lady of the house, and her scantily clad maids. Cleary targeted at the male lingerie buyer complete with schoolboy fantasies of frolics and spankings with the servants. 
Click any of the images to vist The Lady of the Manor interactive story book.
Carmen Electra
Name: Carmen Electra (originally Tara Leigh Patrick)
Date of Birth: 20th April 1972
Place of Birth: Sharonville, Ohio, USA.
Height: 5 Foot 4 inches, 160cm
Electra was born in Sharonville, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Harry Patrick, an entertainer and guitarist. Her mother died of a brain tumor in 1998. She had an older sister, Debbie, who died from a heart attack, also in 1998. Tara graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville.
Electra moved to California in 1991, where she met Prince who persuaded her to change her name to Carmen Electra. Soon after, she signed a recording contract with Prince's company Paisley Park Records, marking the start of a short-lived singing career.
In 1995, Electra started appearing in various television programs. Then, in May of 1996 she was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy magazine, the first of several. This exposure led to higher profile television appearances, including Baywatch (cast member from 1997-1998) and MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Electra moved to California in 1991, where she met Prince who persuaded her to change her name to Carmen Electra. Soon after, she signed a recording contract with Prince's company Paisley Park Records, marking the start of a short-lived singing career.
In 1995, Electra started appearing in various television programs. Then, in May of 1996 she was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy magazine, the first of several. This exposure led to higher profile television appearances, including Baywatch (cast member from 1997-1998) and MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Electra became so popular among readers of Playboy that she was featured in the magazine three more times, with her second appearance in June 1997. She subsequently graced the cover twice, in December 2000 and April 2003. In the Playboy Cyber Club, she was the first woman invited to be a celebrity guest photographer; she chose Playmate Jennifer Walcott as her subject model.
Electra has appeared in several films, such as Good Burger (1997), The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999), the horror spoof Scary Movie (2000) and also appeared in Scary Movie 4 (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Date Movie (2006), the remake of the 1970s TV show Starsky & Hutch (2004) and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She won an MTV Movie Award (best kiss) for Starsky & Hutch. Her acting work is generally panned by critics.
In 1999, she appeared in the Bloodhound Gang's music video of "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope." In 2005, she joined the voice cast of the animated series Tripping the Rift, replacing Gina Gershon as the voice of the sexy android "Six". Also in 2005, she began the Naked Women's Wrestling League, acting as the commissioner for the professional wrestling promotion. In late 2006, Carmen began to be featured in commercials by Taco Bell.
Electra is the current spokesmodel for Ritz Camera Centers, appearing in their television and print ads with CEO David Ritz. She is featured in some video spoofs of Lonelygirl15 that are advertising Epic Movie. Electra has her own line of prepaid and gift MasterCards and is a spokeperson for Payment Data Systems, Inc.
She is a playable character in the video game Def Jam: Fight for New York and is one of the celebrity challenges in the video game ESPN NFL 2K5, along with Steve-O, Jamie Kennedy and others. Electra has been confirmed as a competitor on NBC's Celebrity version of The Apprentice. This version of The Apprentice is currently scheduled to begin in early 2008 as a mid-season replacement.
Electra portrayed Velvita, a.k.a. lonelygirl362436, as a spoof of lonelygirl15 as an Epic Movie teaser. Carmen Electra Aerobic Striptease is a five-disc DVD exercise series that combines teaching classic stripping moves with a low impact cardio workout.
Embrace is a comic book putatively written by Electra for London Night Studios. "Glam Slam Ulysses" Interactive Musical Theatrical Production,” conceived by Prince, choreographed by Jamie King. Debuted at Prince's legendary Glam Slam L.A. nightclub.
Electra also appeared in commercials for Maxim Men's Hair Color products (2004-2005) and Taco Bell (2006-2007).
Electra first rock and pop star relationship was Prince, though the relationship was short lived. Electra was previously romantically involved with rap star B-Real of Cypress Hill from 1995 to 1998. It was revealed when B-Real and Electra were both on The Howard Stern Show that B-Real had eaten breast implants.
Electra achieved publicity during her on-again, off-again marriage to basketball star Dennis Rodman from 1998 to 1999. The wedding to Rodman took place at Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later, she had a brief affair with Tommy Lee, the ex-husband of Pamela Anderson.
On November 22, 2003, Electra married Dave Navarro, former lead guitarist for the rock bands Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The couple documented their courtship and marriage in an MTV celebreality show called 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave. On 17 July 2006, she and Navarro announced their separation. Their rep confirmed their separation to Star Magazine. Electra filed for divorce on 10 August. It was finalized on February 20, 2007.
In 2006, Electra stated that when she was eight years old she had a "little girl crush" on Joan Jett. In 2007, tabloid sources linked the two of them together romantically. However, Electra's spokeswoman has insisted "They are just friends." In June 2007, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel asked Electra if her relationship with Jett was romantic. Electra stated; "We're just friends". She went on to say that she collects tabloid articles that suggest she and Jett are dating because she is a fan of Jett and finds them amusing as well.