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Aisha Tyler
Tyler at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Aisha Nilaja Tyler

(1970-09-18) September 18, 1970 (age 54)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materDartmouth College (1992)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
  • talk show host
  • author
  • producer
  • writer
  • director
Years active1996–present
Spouse
Jeff Tietjens
​
​
(m. 1992; div. 2017)​
Websitewww.aishatyler.com

Aisha Nilaja Tyler (born September 18, 1970)[1] is an American actress, comedian, director, and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of Ghost Whisperer, Dr. Tara Lewis in Criminal Minds, Mother Nature in The Santa Clause films, and voicing Lana Kane in Archer, as well as recurring roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Talk Soup, and Friends.

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. Since 2013, she hosts Whose Line Is It Anyway?.[2] She also hosted Ubisoft'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, California, the daughter of Robin Gregory, a teacher, and James Tyler, a photographer.[3] The family spent one year in Ethiopia and later spent time living in an ashram in Oakland, California. Her parents separated when she was 10 years old, after which she was raised by her father.[4] Her maternal great-grandfather was Thomas Montgomery Gregory, a dramatist and educator, and her great-great-grandfather was Howard University professor James Monroe Gregory.[5]

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.[6] Tyler attended high school with Sam Rockwell 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.[7]

Tyler graduated from Dartmouth College in 1992.[8][9] She was a member of The Tabard, a co-ed fraternity.[10] At Dartmouth, she co-founded and sang in the Dartmouth Rockapellas, an all-female a cappella group devoted to spreading social awareness through song.[10]

After briefly working for a San Francisco advertising firm, she toured the country pursuing a comedy career[11] then moving to Los Angeles in 1996.[12]

Career

Tyler signing at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York

Tyler's career in television took off in 2001 with jobs as the host of Talk Soup[13] and the reality-dating series The Fifth Wheel, 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. She also wrote, directed, and starred in the independent short film The Whipper. Moving into acting, Tyler featured in Friends as Dr. Charlie Wheeler, Joey's and then Ross's girlfriend, in the ninth and tenth seasons.[14] She followed this up with guest spots on CSI: Miami and Nip/Tuck, as well as balancing season-long recurring roles on both CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 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.[15]

Following her regular role on the CBS series Ghost Whisperer during its first season, Tyler appeared in several films, including The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, .45, 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, Reno 911!, The Boondocks, and as a guest film critic on several episodes of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, filling in for the absent Roger Ebert while he recuperated from surgery.

The Talk co-hosts Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne, Sara Gilbert, and Sheryl Underwood in 2012

Tyler has moved into print media as a regular contributor to Glamour, Jane, and Entertainment Weekly magazines. Her first book, Swerve: A Guide to the Sweet Life for Postmodern Girls, was released in January 2004.[16] Tyler plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Futures Without Violence charity. She also made a guest appearance on Kanye West's single "Slow Jamz", which featured Twista and Jamie Foxx. Philanthropy and charity work are very important to Tyler, and she regularly does volunteer work for the American Red Cross, The Trust for Public Land, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the International Rescue Committee.

Tyler appeared in a nude pictorial, along with other celebrities, in the May 2006 issue of Allure.[17] The annual Nude Issue raises money to combat skin cancer.

In May 2009, it was announced that ABC had given Tyler her own talk show pilot, The Aisha Tyler Show.[18] In early May 2010, she presented the "Welcome to the Beta" video for Halo: Reach. She also voiced a minor character in the game.[19]

In 2009, she began her starring role voicing Lana Kane in the FX series Archer, which premiered on January 14, 2010[20] and has run for a total of 11 seasons as of 2020.[21] In August 2010, Tyler began appearing in a recurring guest spot on The Stephanie Miller Show. The segment is named "Tuesdays With Tyler".[22] Tyler appears either in-studio or via phone when she is not otherwise committed to one of her acting roles. While Hal Sparks 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.[23]

Also in 2009, Tyler performed her stand-up comedy routine, live at the Fillmore Theatre.[24]

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, mp3, and RSS. The show launched as the No. 4 comedy podcast on iTunes 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's former show InfoMania Brett Erlich on August 1, 2011, and the third featured Archer creator Adam Reed 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. Her first full week as a co-host was October 24 through October 28, 2011.[2] Tyler is known for being expressive and outspoken on The Talk, especially about African American culture and stereotypes, LGBT rights, and women's rights. Tyler presented Ubisoft's press conference at E3 2012 in June, which received some backlash from fans who didn't believe Tyler was a gamer.[25] 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".[26] 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 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?.[27] She also appears briefly as herself in the video game Watch Dogs and is featured in the music video for the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Tacky". Tyler was also the original voice for the character Daisy Fitzroy in the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite, but her recordings were not used[28] 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 Criminal Minds as Dr. Tara Lewis. Although she served as a temporary replacement for Jennifer Love Hewitt, who was on maternity leave,[29] her status was elevated to main cast member in season 12.[30]

In 2016, Tyler started a Kickstarter campaign to fund her directorial feature film debut, Axis.[31] The film was shot over seven days in May 2016.[32][33] Axis was released via video-on-demand on April 10, 2018.[34]

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 to promote her various projects.[35][36]

Personal life

Tyler married attorney Jeff Tietjens in 1992[37][38] or 1994[39][40] (sources differ). The pair separated in January 2015 and Tietjens filed for divorce in April 2016.[39] It was finalized in May 2017.[38]

Tyler is a descendant of white 19th century Texas congressman John Hancock through his mixed-race son, Hugh Hancock. Hugh, a graduate of Oberlin College, was a prominent activist in the African-American community of Austin, Texas and leader in the Republican Party.[41]

Tyler is a vocal advocate for the rights of the LGBT community.[42]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Dancing in September Woman with Weave
2001 Moose Mating Josie
2002 The Santa Clause 2 Mother Nature Cameo
2003 One Flight Stand Alexis
2004 Never Die Alone Nancy
2006 The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause Mother Nature
2006 .45 Liz
2007 Death Sentence Detective Wallis
2007 Balls of Fury Mahogany
2007 The Trap! Angela
2008 Meet Market Jane
2008 Bedtime Stories Donna Hynde
2009 Black Water Transit Casey Spandau
2010 The Babymakers Karen
2017 Axis Louise (voice) Also director and producer
Newport Beach Film Festival for Feature Film
Newport Beach Film Festival for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Feature
Nominated – Nashville Film Festival for New Directors Competition
Nominated – Portland Film Festival for Best Feature Film
Nominated – Sarasota Film Festival for Best Film
2020 Bad Therapy Roxy
2020 Friendsgiving Lauren
2021 Untitled Horror Movie Bobbie Brower

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Nash Bridges Reporter Episode: "High Impact"
1996 Grand Avenue Girl #1 Television film
1999 The Pretender Angela Somerset Episode: "PTB"
2001 Curb Your Enthusiasm Shaq's Girlfriend Episode: "Shaq"
2001 The Weakest Link Herself Episode: "Comedians Special"
2001 Talk Soup Herself (host) 19 episodes
2001 Off Limits Cast
2001–02 The Fifth Wheel Herself (host) 5 episodes
2002 The Sausage Factory Jamie Episode: "Purity"
2003 Friends Dr. Charlie Wheeler 9 episodes
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Breakout Star, Female
2003 CSI: Miami Janet Medrano Episode: "Body Count"
2004 My Life, Inc. Melanie Haywood Television film
2004 Nip/Tuck Manya Mabika Episode: "Manya Mabika"
2004–05 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Mia Dickerson 13 episodes
2005 24 Marianne Taylor 7 episodes
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2006)
2005–06 Ghost Whisperer Andrea Marino 23 episodes
2006 For One Night Desiree Howard Television film
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special
2007 Boston Legal A.D.A. Taryn Campbell Episode: "Trial of the Century"
2007 The Boondocks Luna (voice) Episode: "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch"
2008 Million Dollar Password Herself Contestant
2008 Reno 911! Befany Dangle Episode: "Befany's Secret Family"
2009 Aisha Tyler Is Lit: Live at the Fillmore Herself Stand-up special
2009 Celebrity Jeopardy! Herself Contestant
2009–present Archer Lana Kane (voice) 101 episodes
Nominated – Behind the Voice Actors Awards for Outstanding Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series, Comedy/Musical (2013, 2014)
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (2014)
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television or Theatrical) (2016)
Nominated – Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Voice-Over Performance in an Animated Program (2017)
2010 Chelsea Lately Herself 1 episode
2010 The Forgotten Lydia Townsend Episode: "Designer Jane"
2011–12 XIII: The Series Major Jones 15 episodes
2011 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Season 3, Episode 6: "The Snatch Game"
2011–17 The Talk Herself (co-host) Won – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host (2017)
Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host (2014)
Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host (2015, 2016, 2018)
2011–17 Talking Dead Herself 4 episodes
2012 Glee Jake Puckerman's Mother Episode: "Glee, Actually"
2013–present Whose Line Is It Anyway? Herself (host) Season 9–present
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Savannah Walker Episode: "Imi Loko Ka 'Uhane"
2013 The Getaway Herself Episode: "Aisha Tyler in Paris"
2014 Modern Family Wendy Episode: "Spring-a-Ding-Fling"
2014 The Mind of a Chef Herself
2014 Two and a Half Men Allison Episode: "The Ol' Mexican Spinach"
2014 Hell's Kitchen Herself Episode: "Winner Chosen"
2014–15 BoJack Horseman Sextina Aquafina (voice) 2 episodes
2015–2020 Criminal Minds Dr. Tara Lewis 87 episodes
Recurring role (season 11)
Main cast (seasons 12–15)
2016 Lip Sync Battle Herself Episode: "Shaquille O'Neal vs. Aisha Tyler"
2016 Supergirl Episode: "Falling"
2016–17 @midnight 2 episodes
2018 Unapologetic with Aisha Tyler Herself (host) 9 episodes
2020 Diary of a Future President Alicia Episode: "Hello World"
2021 Monsters at Work Millie Tuskmon (voice) Main cast
2021 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Herself (guest judge) Season 6, Episode 5: "Pink Table Talk"
2021 Robot Chicken Angela Abar, Carole Baskin (voice) Episode: "May Cause Random Wolf Attacks"
2021 Fear the Walking Dead Mickey Episode: "Till Death"
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Guest-Starring Performance in a Network or Cable Television Series (2022)
2022 The Boys Presents: Diabolical Nubia (voice) Episode: "Nubian vs Nubian"; also writer
2022 The Boys Herself Episode: "Herogasm"; cameo
TBA The Last Thing He Told Me Jules Upcoming miniseries

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Halo: Reach Female Trooper #2
2011 Gears of War 3 Walker RAAM's Shadow DLC
2014 Watch Dogs Herself Also likeness

Web

Year Title Role
2011 Girl on Guy – Podcast Host
2012 E3 – Electronics Entertainment Expo Ubisoft Press Conference Host
2013 E3 – Electronics Entertainment Expo Ubisoft Press Conference Host
2014 E3 – Electronics Entertainment Expo Ubisoft Press Conference Host
The GameOverGreggy Show Guest
2015 Table Top: Cards Against Humanity Guest
E3 – Electronics Entertainment Expo Ubisoft Press Conference Host
2016 E3 – Electronics Entertainment Expo Ubisoft Press Conference Host
2020 Prime Rewind: Inside the Boys Aftershow Host

Music videos

Year Title Artist Notes
2003 "Slow Jamz" Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx
2009 "Nowassitall" Herself From her DVD Aisha Tyler Is Lit
2013 "Simmer" Silversun Pickups Also director and editor[43][44]
"Crucial Velocity" Clutch Also director[45]
2014 "Tacky" "Weird Al" Yankovic
2016 "Gone Cold" Clutch

Director

Year Title Notes
2010 Committed Short
Also writer, editor and producer
2015 Ar Scath Le Chelie Short
2017 Axis Also producer
2017–2018 Criminal Minds 2 episodes
2019 Hipsterverse 2 episodes
2020 Roswell, New Mexico Episode: "The Diner"
2021 Fear the Walking Dead Episode: "J.D."
The Walking Dead: World Beyond 2 episodes
2022 Evil Episode: "The Demon of Parenthood"
The Walking Dead Episode: "What's Been Lost"

Published works

  • Tyler, Aisha (2005). Swerve. Plume. ISBN 978-0452286320.
  • Tyler, Aisha (2013). Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation. It Books. ISBN 978-0062223777.

References

  1. ^ "Today in History". AP NEWS. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Serpe, Gina (October 24, 2011). "From Talk Soup to The Talk: Aisha Tyler Makes Her Morning-Show Debut!". E! News. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "Aisha Tyler (1970- )". Film.Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  4. ^ "Aisha Tyler Won 'Best Effort' At The Science Fair". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. YouTube. April 12, 2018. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Stated on Who Do You Think You Are?, April 3, 2016
  6. ^ "Adam Carolla Podcast". March 9, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "In Bed With Joan - Episode 18: Aisha Tyler". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  8. ^ "Talk the Talk". CBS Watch!. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  9. ^ "Aisha Tyler '92 on the Power of Mistakes (Forbes)". dartmouth.edu. Dartmouth College. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Celebs in the Ivy League". msn.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  11. ^ "TONIGHT, TOMORROW WILL DECIDE WHO GETS LAST LAUGH". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. November 24, 1995.
  12. ^ Tyler, Aisha N. (August 30, 2017). "Contemporary Black Biography". Gale.
  13. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily Todd (June 15, 2018). "What Aisha Tyler learned from failing". Vox. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  14. ^ "Aisha Tyler". IMDb. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Mad TV (season 9)", Wikipedia, November 18, 2019, retrieved March 6, 2020
  16. ^ Tyler, Aisha (2004). Swerve: A Guide to the Sweet Life for Postmodern Girls. New York: Plume. ISBN 0-525-94806-6.
  17. ^ "Stars Line Up For Naked Spread". Contactmusic.com. April 24, 2007. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  18. ^ Joyce Eng (May 8, 2009). "Aisha Tyler Nabs Talk Show Pilot". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  19. ^ Off to voice a character in Halo:Reach tomorrow. Dreams really do come true, twitter.com, February 24, 2010.
  20. ^ Eng, Joyce (December 1, 2009). "FX Sets Midseason Schedule - Today's News: Our Take". TVGuide.com. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  21. ^ Pena, Jessica (April 6, 2020). "Archer: Season 11 Premiere of FXX Series Delayed". TV Series Finale. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  22. ^ stephaniemiller.com
  23. ^ "Stephanie Miller Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour". sexyliberal.com. June 8, 2011. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  24. ^ "Aisha Tyler Is Lit: Live at the Fillmore (2009)". IMDb.
  25. ^ Evan Narcisse (June 13, 2012). "Aisha Tyler Rants "I've Been a Gamer Since Before You Could Read."". kotaku.com. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  26. ^ "Dear Gamers". facebook.com. June 12, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  27. ^ Rachel Hansen (February 28, 2013). "His line: Improv master Ryan Stiles returns to the PAC". wenatcheeworld.com. Retrieved September 19, 2013.(subscription required)
  28. ^ @aishatyler (April 17, 2013). "@Vinci_022 you're right! I recorded that role, but just found out they didn't use my recording. there's 47 minutes I'll never get back" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ Meredith Jacobs (June 22, 2015). "'Criminal Minds' Season 11: Aisha Tyler will recur as Hotch looks to replace Kate". inquisitr.com. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  30. ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (August 10, 2016). "Aisha Tyler Promoted to Series Regular on 'Criminal Minds'". Variety. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  31. ^ "Aisha Tyler to make feature directing debut on Kiickstarter-funded Axis." "Variety", Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  32. ^ Candice Frederick (March 6, 2018). "'Axis' Director Aisha Tyler Is Proving Hollywood Doesn't Know Its Audience". VICE. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  33. ^ Matt Grobar (January 25, 2018). "Aisha Tyler Shot 65 Pages A Day For Ambitious Directorial Debut, 'Axis' — Sundance Studio". Deadline. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  34. ^ Tyler, Aisha (April 10, 2018). "Aisha Tyler's Guide to Recovering From Disaster". Talkhouse. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  35. ^ Maureen Lee Lenker (June 15, 2017). "Aisha Tyler leaving The Talk". Ew.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  36. ^ Hilary Lewis (June 15, 2017). "Aisha Tyler Leaving CBS' 'The Talk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  37. ^ Lee, Esther (April 15, 2016). "Aisha Tyler, Husband Jeff Tietjens to Divorce After More Than 20 Years of Marriage". Us Weekly. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  38. ^ a b "Aisha Tyler Ordered to Pay Ex Husband $2 Million in Divorce". TMZ.com. May 18, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  39. ^ a b "The Talk's Aisha Tyler and Husband Divorcing After More Than 20 Years of Marriage". People. United States. Time Inc. April 15, 2016. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  40. ^ Boone, John (April 18, 2016). "Aisha Tyler Opens Up About Divorce After 20 Years of Marriage: 'I'll Always Love Him'". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  41. ^ Estes, Roberta (April 2, 2016). "Aisha Tyler – Who Do You Think You Are – Which John Hancock???". DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  42. ^ Patrick Yacco (August 1, 2013). "Geeking Out with Aisha Tyler". out.com. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  43. ^ Eakin, Marah (May 20, 2013). "Watch a new, Aisha Tyler-directed video about Silversun Pickups". A.V. Club. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  44. ^ "Simmer (scroll down on page)". Silversun Pickups. May 20, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  45. ^ Teitelman, Bram (August 29, 2013). "Clutch got Aisha Tyler to direct a video". Metal Insider. Retrieved April 24, 2014.

Media related to Aisha Tyler at Wikimedia Commons

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Preceded by The Talk co-host
2011–2017 		Succeeded by
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