Aisha Tyler Movies
Born September 18th, 1970, actress, comedian, author, reality-show host, and occasional scriptwriter
Aisha Tyler came of age in San Francisco and studied poly sci at Dartmouth College before mounting a (brief) career as an advertising executive in her hometown. Dissatisfied by this pursuit, and pining to launch herself as a full-time entertainer,
Tyler "dropped out" of the corporate world and hit the road with a solo standup comedy act in the mid-'90s.
Around 2001 -- after five years in Los Angeles with occasional standup bookings and concomitantly limited acclaim and recognition --
Tyler landed two huge breaks, first as the host of the irreverent Talk Soup during that program's final year (a position she inherited from
Greg Kinnear,
John Henson, and others), and then as the primary host of the dating series
The 5th Wheel. Riding the crest of popularity generated by reality television during the first several years of the millennium,
Wheel coupled the unscripted spontaneity of
The Real World and
Survivor with the format of the dating series
Blind Date. Its premise involved setting two couples up on blind dates, having them "swap" partners, and adding an unforeseen fifth member (the "wheel" of the title) to stir things up and add provocation. The program placed a greater emphasis on erotic and suggestive content than
Blind and -- perhaps as a result -- it unsurprisingly became a massive, runaway hit.
The ever-ambitious
Tyler, however, continued to expand her horizons. She maintained a short tenure with
Wheel and quickly moved on to other endeavors, placing a particularly strong emphasis on television work. This included a stint as Charlie (the only recurring African-American cast member) in the final two seasons of the popular sitcom
Friends, and a recurring role as covert terrorist Marianne Taylor on the weekly suspenser
24.
Tyler also portrayed attorney Andrea Moreno (who dies in a car crash but is then "ushered" over to the other side by
Jennifer Love Hewitt's psychic) in the
first season (2005-2006) of the supernatural drama
The Ghost Whisperer. After that,
Tyler segued into feature-film work, with bit roles in such pictures as
The Santa Clause 3 and
.45.
Six feet tall and one of the most physically breathtaking young actresses of her generation,
Tyler frequently provides beauty tips in such magazines as Ebony and Glamour; she is also an outspoken proponent of physical fitness and a strenuous exerciser who pushes herself to an almost unimaginable degree. A February 2007 issue of In Style magazine reported, "In addition to scaling walls,
Tyler runs, uses a rowing machine, lifts weights, snowboards and scuba dives. But for her, nothing beats the mental rush of rock climbing." In 2004,
Tyler also authored and published the best-seller Swerve: Reckless Observations of a Postmodern Girl, a free-form, witty expostulation on such "hot" topics as men, bikini waxing, reality television, dating wars, sex, and body image.
After filming several unremarkable movies throughout the mid-2000s, the actress found success on Archer, a television series that features Tyler as a dedicated but deadly agent for ISIS, a secret intelligence unit in New York City. After filming several unremarkable movies throughout 2007, the actress found success on Archer, a television series that features Tyler as a dedicated but deadly agent for ISIS, a secret intelligence unit in New York City. The show originally aired on the FX Network in 2010, and was picked up for a second season in 2011. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi