Tatyana Ali extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Tatyana Ali
Birth name	Tatyana Marisol Ali1
Also known as	Ty, Taty
Born	January 24, 1979 (1979-01-24) (age 29)1
Origin	North Bellmore, Long Island, New York, U.S.A.1
Genre(s)	R&B Soul Dance-Pop
Occupation(s)	Film, Television actress Singer
Years active	1985 — present (actress) 1997 — present (singer)
Label(s)	MJJ/Work/SME Records (1997—2001)
Associated acts	Will Smith
Website	http://www.tatyanaalionline.com

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her role as Ashley Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 Filmography 3 Television Work 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Chart Performance 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Early life

Ali was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1979. Her mother Sonia was a nurse from Panama, while her father Sheriff Ali was a New York police detective of Indo-Trinidadian descent. She has two younger sisters, Anastasia and Kimberly. She attended Saw Mill Road Elementary School and Grand Avenue Middle School in Bellmore, New York Marymount High School in West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, and The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. In 2002, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Government and African American Studies from Harvard University.²

Career

By the age of seven, Ali had begun her singing career. She was a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985, even appearing with Herbie Hancock in a musical number. By age five, she won Star Search two times. She made her breakthrough when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the popular television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. She sang on various episodes of the show, including Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Rob Jay of Nspyre Music Productions. Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on Fresh Prince the next few years.

In the penultimate season of Fresh Prince in 1996, Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which was certified gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song "Daydreamin'", produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart. The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out", featuring Will Smith, which peaked at #3 and is her biggest hit to date; and "Everytime", which was her third top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at #20. She made an appearance in Smith's album Willennium for the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte.

In 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and starred in the music video for Nick Cannon and Anthony Hamilton's "Can I Live?" as Cannon's mother.

In 2007, she appeared in the short films Wilted, How To Have A Girl, The Malibu Myth, and First Sight, which were made during the reality show On the Lot.³

She is currently on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne.⁴

She ranked #74 on VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars".

In early 2008, she lent her vocal talents to 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 gained coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABC’s World News Now.

She is currently preparing to release her second album, which she describes as "an independent effort".⁵ The album is titled "The Light". Much of the album's production was being handled by famed Tupac producer Johnny "J".⁶

She is also producing and starring in the web show, BUPPIES.⁷

Personal life

Ali dated American actor Jonathan Brandis from 1995 to 2001,² with whom she co-starred in the TV movie Fall into Darkness.

Ali traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign. Ali headed voter registration drives at college campuses, including many historically black colleges and universities.

Filmography

• Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)
• Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
• Fakin' Da Funk (1997)
• Kiss the Girls (1997)
• The Clown at Midnight (1998)
• Jawbreaker (1999)
• Brother (2000)
• The Brothers (2001)
• National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze (2003)
• Nora's Hair Salon (2004)
• Domino One (2005)
• Back in the Day (2005)
• Glory Road (2006)
• The List (2007)
• Nora's Hair Salon II (2008)
• Hotel California (2008)

Upcoming:

• Locker 13 (2009)
• Privileged (2009)

Television Work

• Sesame Street (cast member from 1985 - 1990)
• Wally and the Valentines (1989)
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990 - 1996)
• Name Your Adventure (1993 - 1995)
• Kidz in the Wood (1996)
• Fall Into Darkness (1996)
• The Young and the Restless (cast member from 2007 - 2008)

Discography

Albums

• 1998: Kiss The Sky (#47 US, #41 UK)
• 2008: The Light⁵

Chart Performance

Year	Song	U.S.	U.S. R&B	UK	NZ8	FRA9	NET10	Album
1998	"Day Dreamin'"	6	5	6	3	—	—	Kiss The Sky
	"Boy You Knock Me Out" (featuring Will Smith)	—	68	3	12	32	77
1999	"Everytime"	118	73	20	—	—	—
	"Kiss The Sky" (featuring Marion)	9	—	—	—	—	—
2008	"It's All Right"	—	—	—	—	—	—	The Light

References

External links

• Tatyana Ali at MySpace
• Tatyana Ali at the Internet Movie Database
• Tatyana Ali at Allmovie
• Tatyana Ali's Official Website