Name
Tatyana Ali
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1979-01-24 (47 years old)
Place of Birth
Long Island, New York, USA
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
6.4
When an exclusive clique of teenage socialites accidentally murder their best friend on th...
5.875
Australian outback expert protects his New York love from gangsters who've followed her do...
7.404
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a co...
5.958
Chinese kid Julian, who was adopted by the black family of Joe and Annabelle Lee -- and As...
6.6
The lives of three women have a commonality: adoption. Karen is a physical therapist who r...
7.272
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observ...
4.6
Two old pals attend an old friends funeral and find there is more to his death than him be...
6.554
This is the story of four African-American "yuppies" (a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, and a ...
- 2000 Brother as Latifa
- 2021 A Picture Perfect Holiday as Gaby
- 2001 The Brothers as Cherie Smith
- 2023 Giving Hope: The Ni'cola Mitchell Story as Ni'cola Mitchell
- 1997 Kiss the Girls as Janell Cross
- 2005 Back in the Day as Alicia
- 2009 Mother and Child as Maria
- 1987 Eddie Murphy Raw as Singing Child
- 2003 National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze as Claire
- 1999 Jawbreaker as Brenda
- 2022 Vanished: Searching for My Sister as Jada Stallworth/Kayla Davis
- 1988 Wow, You're A Cartoonist! as Child Cartoonist
- 2008 Nora's Hair Salon II: A Cut Above as Lilliana
- 2023 The Holiday Proposal Plan as Sonny Kravitz
- 2004 Nora's Hair Salon as Lilleana
- 2012 Dysfunctional Friends as Alex
- 2005 Domino One as Laeticia Richards
- 1996 Fall into Darkness as Sharon McKay
- 2013 24 Hour Love as Simply
- 2014 Locker 13 as Lucy
- 2013 Dear Secret Santa as Jennifer
- 2007 The List as Cynthia
- 2008 Hotel California as Jessie
- 1999 The Clown at Midnight as Monica
- 2015 Light Girls as Self
- 1988 Crocodile Dundee II as Park Girl
- 2012 Home Again as Marva Johnson
- 2015 Fatal Flip as Roslyn
- 2015 November Rule as Leah
- 1997 Fakin' Da Funk as Karyn
- 2014 A Very Larry Christmas as Nicole
- 2016 Second Sight as Clara
- 2015 Supermodel as Lauren
- 2017 The Good Nanny as Monica Thorne
- 2017 Wrapped Up In Christmas as Heather Nash
- 2018 Christmas Everlasting as Lucy Toomey
- 2018 Jingle Belle as Belle Williams
- 2015 Dancing Man the Documentary as Self
- 2019 Deadly Match as Professor Savoy
- 2013 23rd Psalm: Redemption as Stacey Wayne
- 2018 Doe as Rachel Hutton
- 2019 Christmas Hotel as Erin
- 2010 Pete Smalls Is Dead as Cocktail Waitress
- 2013 The Last Letter as Jillian
- 2014 Comeback Dad as Nima
- 2020 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion as Self
- 2006 Glory Road as Tina
- 2014 The Divorce as Victoria
- 2020 The Reason as Macey
- 2000 Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano as Self
- 1996 Kidz in the Wood as Rita
- 2010 Privileged as Talia
- 1992 The Jaleel White Special as Ramona
- 2026 Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? as Linda Nelson
- 1995 In the House ( 1 episode ) as Ashley Banks
- 2002 Half & Half ( 1 episode ) as Olivia
- 2002 Fastlane ( 1 episode ) as Shelly
- 1993 Living Single ( 1 episode )
- 1993 Getting By ( 1 episode )
- 2010 Love That Girl! ( 30 episodes ) as Tyana Jones
- 1992 Are You Afraid of the Dark? ( 1 episode ) as Laura Turner
- 1990 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ( 148 episodes ) as Ashley Banks
- 1992 Name Your Adventure ( 1 episode ) as Host
- 1958 Brains & Brawn ( 1 episode ) as Host
- 2012 The Eric Andre Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2013 Second Generation Wayans ( 10 episodes ) as Maya
- 2021 Celebrity Wheel of Fortune ( 1 episode ) as Self - Contestant
- 2018 Fancy Nancy ( 123 episodes ) as Bree’s Mom (voice)
- 1999 Teen Choice Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1998 The Magic Hour ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2020 Secret Celebrity RuPaul's Drag Race ( 8 episodes ) as Chakra 7 - Contestant
- 2021 Abbott Elementary ( 6 episodes ) as Crystal
- 2009 Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 2015 My Big Fat Fabulous Life ( 1 episode ) as Self - Event Host
- 1984 The Cosby Show ( 1 episode ) as Girl
- 2022 Bel-Air ( 4 episodes ) as Ms. Hughes
- 2012 Key & Peele ( 1 episode ) as Heresa
- 2024 Perimeter ( 4 episodes ) as Connie Dawn
- 2025 Celebrity Weakest Link ( 1 episode ) as Self - Contestant
- 2006 Child Star Confidential ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2017 Steve ( 1 episode ) as Self
