Tatyana Ali
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Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American born actress and singer. Tatyana is half Hispanic and half Indian; her mother Sonia Ali is from Panama while her father, Sheriff Ali, from Trinidad and Tobago is Indo-Trinidadian. Ali herself is a native of Long Island, New York.
At the age of four, Ali began singing, and by seven she won the Star Search television contest two times.
Ali's breakthrough came when she was cast as "Ashley Banks" for the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
She sang on various episodes, and Will Smith asked her if she ever considered seriously pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career and her job playing Ashley for the next few years.
In the penultimate season of Fresh Prince, she began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which made it to Billboard's top 100, peaking at #6. The album spawned the hit song Daydreaming.
Ali once dated American actor Jonathan Brandis († 2003).
In 2002, Ali graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University.
Soonafter, she found relative difficulty getting back into show business. But as of 2005, she completed work on the film Gloria Road and is recording her sophomore album.
Ali's acting credits also include:
- Sesame Street
- Fences (Broadway play)
- Orfeo Del Campo (also a Broadway play)
- Eddie Murphy's RAW
- Crocodile Dundee II
- The Cosby Show (guest appearances)
- The Mickey Mouse Club (guest appearances)
- Kino's Daytrip
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?
- Mr. Foster's Field Trip (television movie)
- Fall Into Darkness
- Faking the Funk
- In the House
- Kiss the Girls
- Gloria Road