Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) 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. In 2023, she starred in Giving Hope: The Ni'Cola Mitchell Story on Lifetime.
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.
In 2011, Ali received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles.[4][5]
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.[6] The case was dismissed in February 2017.[7]
Ali graduated from The Buckley School in 1997. Ali attended Harvard University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies and Government in 2002.[9] On a celebrity edition of the game show The Chase, which aired February 3, 2015, Ali stated that her major was political science.
In March 2016, Ali revealed that she was engaged to Vaughn Rasberry, an assistant professor of English at Stanford University, whom she had met on eHarmony,[12] and they announced that they were expecting their first child.[13] She and Rasberry married on July 17, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California.[14][15] The couple have two sons.[16][17] Rasberry has since become an associate professor and associate vice provost for graduate education at Stanford.[18]
^ abWheaton, Robert (August–September 2011). Wheaton, Robert (ed.). "Caribbean Heritage Salute in Hollywood". CaribPress Newsmagazine. Los Angeles: 21. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
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