Born in the Bronx, spent part of his childhood in Jamaica, and finished growing up in Rochester, New York, Tyson Beckford has managed to stay still long enough to be one of the hottest male models to every grace planet Earth. Discovered in Washington Square Park in 1992 by hip-hop magazine The Source to appear in a fashion spread, a year later, he was signed to be the primary model for Ralph Lauren’s Polo line of male sportswear. His beautiful face (with Jamaican and...
Born in the Bronx, spent part of his childhood in Jamaica, and finished growing up in Rochester, New York, Tyson Beckford has managed to stay still long enough to be one of the hottest male models to every grace planet Earth. Discovered in Washington Square Park in 1992 by hip-hop magazine The Source to appear in a fashion spread, a year later, he was signed to be the primary model for Ralph Lauren’s Polo line of male sportswear. His beautiful face (with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry) and chiseled body (with muscles to explore), earned him a lot of attention, and he was declared VH1’s man of the year in 1995, and made Peoplemag’s list of 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. He was in two of Toni Braxton’s music videos (“Breathe Again,” “Un-Break My Heart”), one for 50 Cent (“21 Questions”), one for Britney Spears (“Toxic”), and one for Mariah Carey (“Infinity”). Thankfully, Mr. Beckford made the leap into television and movies, too, so we could further admire him in action. He made his debut in the Boricua’s Bond (2000), then starred as himself in Zoolander (2001). He flaunted his protruding posterior as Lance Racine in Pandora’s Box (2002), and more of his body as Corey in Addicted (2014). Where he really shines, though, is playing Adrian “Rude Boy” in the movie Chocolate City (2015), where he plays an exotic dancer and strips down to tiny boxer briefs that leave very little to the imagination. But just in case you have absolutely no imagination, he obligingly cups his junk through the fabric so you know just what he’s working with. It’s impressive, as is the rest of Tyson.