Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original series Love That Girl!, and played a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2007 to 2013.
Tatyana Ali | |
---|---|
![]() Ali at the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards in 2010 | |
Born | Tatyana Marisol Ali (1979-01-24) January 24, 1979 (age 43) North Bellmore, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater | Harvard University (2002) |
Occupation |
|
Years active | 1987–present |
Spouse | Vaughn Rasberry (m. 2016) |
Children | 2 |
Musical career | |
Genres | R&B |
Labels |
|
Musical artist |
Ali was born in North Bellmore, New York.[1] She is of mixed African and Indian descent or Dougla, born to an Indo-Trinidadian father and an Afro-Panamanian mother.[2]
In 1985, 6-year-old Ali began her acting career as a regular performer on the PBS children's educational program Sesame Street. Her tenure included an appearance with jazz great Herbie Hancock, who demonstrated his Fairlight CMI synthesizer using a sample of Ali's voice. She also appeared in two episodes of Star Search, one of which featured her performance of a cover of Marvin Gaye's and Tammi Terrell's hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
She made her breakthrough in 1990 when she was cast as Ashley Banks on the NBC television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a role she played throughout the series' entire run, from 1990 to 1996.
Ali's 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, Ali 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, and spawned the Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins-produced hit single "Daydreamin'", released July 21, 1998, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also appeared on the UK Singles Chart. The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out" featuring Will Smith—which peaked at No. 3 and is her biggest hit to date—and "Everytime", which was her third top-20 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 20. She made an appearance on Smith's album Willennium on the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte. She performed the title song "Sunny Valentine" along with Terrence Quaites for the indie film Rockin' Meera in 2005. 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, Ali released an EP titled Hello, whose first single was "Wait For It", which she performed on The Arsenio Hall Show on February 4, 2014.
Apart from her musical career, Ali 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. Ali 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, Ali received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles.[3][4]
In July 2016, Ali sued Warner Bros. claiming that the company stole her idea for the show The Real after she pitched the concept in December 2012.[5] The case was dismissed in February 2017.[6]
She dated actor Jonathan Brandis from 1995 to 1998.[7]
Ali attended Harvard University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies and Government in 2002.[8] On a celebrity edition of the game show The Chase, which aired February 3, 2015, Ali stated that her major was political science.
She traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, and headed voter registration drives at college campuses.[9][10]
In March 2016, Ali revealed that she was engaged to Dr. Vaughn Rasberry, assistant professor of English at Stanford University, whom she had met on eHarmony,[11] and they announced that they were expecting their first child.[12] She and Rasberry married on July 17, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California.[13][14] The couple has two sons.[15][16]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Eddie Murphy Raw | Eddie's Sister | |
1988 | Crocodile Dundee II | Park Girl | |
Wow, You're a Cartoonist! | Child Cartoonist | Video short | |
1989 | Wally and the Valentines | Jamaica Valentine | TV movie |
1996 | Kidz in the Wood | Rita | TV movie |
Fall Into Darkness | Sharon McKay | TV movie | |
1997 | Kiss the Girls | Janell Cross | |
Fakin' da Funk | Karyn | ||
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 | Domino One | Laeticia Richards | |
Back in the Day | Alicia Packer | ||
2006 | Glory Road | Tina Malichi | |
A Warm Place | Clair Andrews | Short | |
2007 | The List | Cynthia | |
2008 | Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above | Lilleana | |
Hotel California | Jessie | ||
2009 | Mother and Child | Maria | |
2010 | Pete Smalls Is Dead | Cocktail Waitress | |
Privileged | Talia | Video | |
2011 | Geo n Rat | Det. Erica Anderson | Short |
23rd Psalm: Redemption | Stacey Wayne | ||
2012 | Dysfunctional Friends | Alex | |
Home Again | Marva Johnson | ||
2013 | 24 Hour Love | Simply | |
The Last Letter | Jillian | ||
Dear Secret Santa | Jennifer | TV movie | |
A Very Larry Christmas | Nicole | ||
2014 | The Divorce | Victoria | |
The Black Bachelor | Short | ||
Locker 13 | Lucy | ||
Comeback Dad | Nima | ||
Hello | Short | ||
2015 | Save for Now | Woman | Short |
November Rule | Leah | ||
Fatal Flip | Roslyn | TV movie | |
Supermodel | Lauren | ||
Teachers | Ms. Faith Mayfield | Short | |
2016 | Second Sight | Clara | TV movie |
Samaria | Audrey | Short | |
It Snows All the Time | Technologist | ||
2017 | Nanny's Nightmare | Monica Thorne | TV movie |
Graham: A Dog's Story | Stella | Short | |
Wrapped Up in Christmas | Heather Nash | ||
2018 | Doe | Rachel | |
Christmas Everlasting | Lucy | TV movie | |
Jingle Belle | Belle Williams | TV movie | |
2019 | College Dating App | Professor Savoy | TV movie |
Christmas Hotel | Erin | TV movie | |
2020 | The Reason | Macey | |
2021 | A Picture Perfect Holiday | Gaby | TV movie |
2022 | Vanished: Searching for My Sister | Jada / Kayla | TV movie |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1984–97 | Sesame Street | Tatyana | Recurring Role |
1987 | Star Search | Contestant | Season 5 |
1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Michelle | Episode: "Life After Death" |
The Cosby Show | Girl | Episode: "Shall We Dance?" | |
1990–96 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Ashley Banks | Main Cast |
1992 | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? | Herself | Episode: "The Nefarious Nobel Napper" |
1993 | Getting By | Nicole Alexander / Vanessa | 2 Episodes |
1994 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Laura Turner / Connie Turner | Episode: "The Tale of the Quicksilver" |
TV's Funniest Families | Herself/Host | Special | |
1995 | In the House | Ashley Banks | Episode: "Dog Catchers" |
1996 | Living Single | Stephanie James | Episode: "Whatever Happened to Baby Sister?" |
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 | Boulevard of Broken Dreams | Herself | Episode: "Jonathan Brandis" |
On the Lot | Herself | Episode: "First Sight" | |
2007–13 | The Young and the Restless | Roxanne | Recurring Cast |
2009–10 | Buppies | Quinci | Main Cast |
2010–12 | Love That Girl! | Tyana Jones | Main Cast: Season 1–3 |
2012 | The Eric Andre Show | Herself | Episode: "Tatyana Ali" |
2013 | Second Generation Wayans | Maya | Main Cast |
2015 | Key & Peele | Heresa | Episode: "Hollywood Sequel Doctor" |
2016 | Zoe Ever After | Ashley King | 2 Episodes |
2017 | American Koko | N'Shay | Episode: "The Stig" |
2018 | Hollywood Darlings | Tatyana | Episode: "Big White Lies" |
The Bobby Brown Story | Sarah Flint | Episode: "Part One" | |
2018–22 | Fancy Nancy | Mrs. James (voice) | Main Cast |
2022 | RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race | Chakra 7 | Season 2, Runner-up |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [17] |
US R&B [18] |
UK [19] |
UK R&B [20] | |||||||||||
Kiss the Sky |
|
106 | 47 | 41 | 6 | |||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Hello[21] |
|
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [22] |
US R&B [23] |
BEL [24] |
FRA [25] |
IRL [26] |
NL [27] |
NZ [28] |
UK [19] |
UK R&B [29] | ||||||
"Daydreamin'" | 1998 | 6 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 6 | 3 | Kiss the Sky | |||
"Boy You Knock Me Out" (featuring Will Smith) |
— | 68 | 56 | 32 | 19 | 77 | 12 | 3 | 1 | |||||
"Everytime" | 1999 | — | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 4 | ||||
"Wait for It"[33] | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hello | |||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Other Artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Love The Way You Love Me" | 1999 | — | More! |
"Precious Wings" | The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland[34] | ||
"Who Am I" | Will Smith and MC Lyte | Willennium | |
"Getting Closer" | Kel Spencer | Wild Wild West | |
"Candy Girl" | 2007 | Kanary Diamonds | Puro Fuego[35] |
"Wanna Groove" | 2009 | Inverse | So Far[36] |
"Move It, Shake It" | Just Matter and Nieve | Love N' Dancing[37] | |
"Bathtub Gin" | The Cherokee Rhythm Section | ||
"Joy to the World" | 2013 | — | Dear Secret Santa[38] |
"Kiss the Sky" | 2015 | The Legacy of R&B Slow Jamz | |
"He Loves Me" | 2016 | The Legacy of Nu Soul | |
"Ghost Town" | 2017 | Music to Inspire[39] | |
![]() | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2015) |
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series | |
---|---|
|
RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seasons |
| ||||
Contestants |
| ||||
Mentors |
| ||||
Judges |
|
General | |
---|---|
National libraries | |
Other |
|