Aisha Nilaja Tyler (born September 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, director, and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate wit ...

'', Dr. Tara Lewis in ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', Mother Nature in ''The Santa Clause'' films, and voicing Lana Kane in '' Archer'', as well as recurring roles on ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', ''

Talk Soup ''Talk Soup'' is a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, and aired until August 2002. ''Talk Soup'' aired selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows—ranging from daytime entries like '' The ...

'', and ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

''. She co-hosted seasons two through seven of CBS's '' The Talk'', for which she won a

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host is an award annually presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 42nd D ...

. Since 2013, she has hosted '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. She also hosted

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...

's E3 press conferences and has lent her voice to the video games '' Halo: Reach'', '' Gears of War 3'', and '' Watch Dogs''.

Early life

Tyler was born on September 18, 1970, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, the daughter of Robin Gregory, a teacher, and James Tyler, a photographer. The family spent one year in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and later spent time living in an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

, California. Her parents separated when she was ten years old, after which her father raised her. Her maternal great-grandfather was Thomas Montgomery Gregory, a dramatist and educator, and her great-great-grandfather was Howard University professor James Monroe Gregory. She pursued an early interest in comedy at McAteer High School in San Francisco, which had a special program called "School of the Arts," now named "Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts". Tyler attended high school with

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as ''Lawn Dogs'' (1997 ...

and Margaret Cho. She had a crush on Rockwell and followed him into acting class one day, leading to her interest in improv and sketch. Tyler graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1992. She was a member of The Tabard, a co-ed fraternity. At Dartmouth, she co-founded and sang in the Dartmouth Rockapellas, an all-female

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group devoted to spreading social awareness through song. After briefly working for a San Francisco advertising firm, she toured the country pursuing a comedy career then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1996.

Career

Tyler's career in television took off in 2001 with jobs as the host of ''

'' and the reality-dating series ''

The Fifth Wheel ''The 5th Wheel'' was an American dating Reality television, reality series that aired in Broadcast syndication, syndication from 2001 to 2004. The show was initially hosted by comedian Aisha Tyler, but when Tyler left after completing the first ...

'', although ''Talk Soup'' was canceled the following year and Tyler left ''The Fifth Wheel'' in 2002 to pursue other interests. Tyler has devoted a significant amount of her time to independent projects, including a role in the play ''Moose Mating'', for which she received an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

. She also wrote, directed, and starred in the independent short film ''The Whipper''. Moving into acting, Tyler featured in ''

'' as Dr. Charlie Wheeler,

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

's and then Ross's girlfriend, in the ninth and tenth seasons. She followed this up with guest spots on ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Detec ...

'' and ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', as well as balancing season-long recurring roles on both ''

'' and '' 24'' during the 2004–2005 television season. She also filmed her own talk show pilot for ABC and a sitcom pilot for CBS, neither of which was picked up. She has guest-starred on '' MADtv''. Following her regular role on the CBS series ''

'' during its first season, Tyler appeared in several films, including '' The Santa Clause 2'', '' The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'', ''

.45 This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a ...

'', and the comedy '' Balls of Fury''. In 2007, she filmed the thriller '' Death Sentence'' and the crime drama '' Black Water Transit''. She also continues to appear on television, with appearances on ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 200 ...

'', '' Reno 911!'', ''

The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band * ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...

'', and as a guest film critic on several episodes of '' At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper'', filling in for the absent

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

while he recuperated from surgery. The Ladies of TV 2012

Tyler has moved into print media as a regular contributor to '' Glamour'', ''

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

'', and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' magazines. Her first book, ''Swerve: A Guide to the Sweet Life for Postmodern Girls'', was released in January 2004. Tyler plays on the ''

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...

'' in the Hollywood Home games for the Futures Without Violence charity. She also made a guest appearance on

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's single " Slow Jamz," which featured Twista and

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

. Philanthropy and charity work are very important to Tyler, and she regularly does volunteer work for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in ...

. Tyler appeared in a nude pictorial, along with other celebrities, in the May 2006 issue of '' Allure''. The annual Nude Issue raises money to combat

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

. In May 2009, it was announced that ABC had given Tyler her own talk show pilot, ''The Aisha Tyler Show''. In early May 2010, she presented the "Welcome to the Beta" video for '' Halo: Reach''. She also voiced a minor character in the game. In 2009, she began her starring role voicing Lana Kane in the FX series '' Archer'', which premiered on January 14, 2010 and has run for a total of 11 seasons as of 2020. In August 2010, Tyler began appearing in a recurring guest spot on '' The Stephanie Miller Show''. The segment is named "Tuesdays With Tyler." Tyler appears either in-studio or via phone when she is not otherwise committed to one of her acting roles. While

Hal Sparks Hal Harry Magee Sparks III (born September 25, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, political commentator, television and radio host and television personality. He made contributions to VH1, hosting E!'s ''Talk Soup'', and p ...

was out of the country, Tyler filled in as the third member of the Stephanie Miller Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour on three shows in August 2011. Also in 2009, Tyler performed her stand-up comedy routine live at the Fillmore Theatre. Starting on July 26, 2011, Tyler started her own weekly podcast, '' Girl on Guy'', where she interviews her favorite celebrity friends and discusses topics guys love. ''Girl on Guy'' is available on her website for download using

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

, mp3, and RSS. The show launched as the No. 4 comedy podcast on

and currently is the No. 2 comedy podcast and the No. 7 overall podcast on iTunes. The first weekly installment of ''Girl on Guy'' featured guest H. Jon Benjamin, the second featured the host of

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smal ...

's former show '' InfoMania''

Brett Erlich Brett Evan Erlich (born March 1, 1982) is an American political comedian featured as a writer, producer and host on TV shows and Web sites. He is the executive producer of ''The Young Turks'' network, where he also appears as a host of "Happy Hal ...

on August 1, 2011, and the third featured ''Archer'' creator

Adam Reed Adam Brooks Reed (born January 8, 1970) is an American voice actor, animator, screenwriter, television producer and television director. Reed created, writes, and voice acts the FX adult animated comedy series ''Archer'', which premiered in Sep ...

on August 9, 2011. In October 2011, it was announced that Tyler would join the cast of '' The Talk'' as a permanent co-host, replacing

Holly Robinson Peete Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete (born September 18, 1964) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama ''21 Jump Street'', Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', and Dr ...

. Her first full week as a co-host was from October 24 through October 28, 2011. Tyler is known for being expressive and outspoken on The Talk, especially about

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

culture and stereotypes,

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

rights, and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

. Tyler presented

's press conference at E3

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

in June, which received some backlash from fans who didn't believe Tyler was a gamer. This caused Tyler to respond with a poem about how she has been playing video games "since you were a twinge in the left side of your daddy's underoos." She returned to host the publisher's press conference the following year. Tyler's second book, ''Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation'', debuted in July 2013, later becoming a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller; it was inspired by questions asked of guests on ''Girl on Guy''. In March 2013, Tyler was confirmed to be the new host of the American version of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. She also appears briefly as herself in the video game '' Watch Dogs'' and is featured in the music video for the

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

song "

Tacky Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

." Tyler was also the original voice for the character Daisy Fitzroy in the 2013 video game '' BioShock Infinite'', but her recordings were not used and the role went to Kimberly Brooks. She was nominated for Personality of 2014 in Golden Joystick Award 2014. In June 2015, it was announced that Tyler landed a recurring role on the eleventh season of ''

'' as Dr. Tara Lewis. Although she served as a temporary replacement for

Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series '' Kids I ...

, who was on maternity leave, her status was elevated to a main cast member in season 12. In 2016, Tyler started a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign to fund her directorial feature film debut, '' Axis''. The film was shot over seven days in May 2016. ''Axis'' was released via video-on-demand on April 10, 2018. On the June 15, 2017, episode of '' The Talk'', Tyler announced that she would be leaving the show at the end of the seventh season due to her busy schedule with three other television shows and directing films. She said she would return as a guest host and promote her various projects.

Personal life

Tyler married attorney Jeff Tietjens in 1992 or 1994 (sources differ). The pair separated in January 2015 and Tietjens filed for divorce in April 2016. It was finalized in May 2017. Tyler is a descendant of white 19th-century Texas congressman

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor o ...

through his son, Hugh Hancock. Hugh, a graduate of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

, was a prominent activist in the African-American community of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and leader in the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. Tyler is a vocal advocate for the rights of the

community.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Web

Music videos

Director

Published works

* *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Aisha 1970 births 20th-century African-American women 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American memoirists Activists from California Actresses from San Francisco African-American actresses African-American female comedians African-American film directors African-American film producers African-American screenwriters African-American television talk show hosts African-American women writers American film actresses American film editors American film producers American music video directors American podcasters American stand-up comedians American television actresses American television talk show hosts American video game actresses American voice actresses American women comedians American women film directors American women film editors American women film producers American women podcasters American women screenwriters American women memoirists Comedians from California Dartmouth College alumni Film directors from San Francisco LGBT rights activists from the United States Living people Science fiction fans Screenwriters from California Writers from San Francisco