Alfonso Ribeiro Biography

Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an actor, television director, dancer, game show host, and comedian. Ribeiro is best known for his role as Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and host of GSN show Catch 21 and ABC Family show Spell-Mageddon. He has also received attention for his performance in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid and his appearance as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial also featuring Michael Jackson.

Early life

Ribeiro was born in New York City, in the Riverdale area of the Bronx, to parents descending from Trinidad and Tobago, Michael and Joy (De Leon) Ribeiro. Ribeiro is the grandson of the late Lord Hummingbird a/k/a Albert Ribeiro.

Career

Ribeiro began his career at the age of eight. He first gained recognition in 1983, when he played a leading role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid. He received positive reviews for his performance, and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. He also appeared in one of Michael Jackson's Pepsi television commercials as a dancer in 1984. The same year, Ribeiro was cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons. In 1985, Alfonso appeared as himself in a commercial on MTV advertising a dance instruction book he authored, called "Alfonso's Breakin' & Poppin' Book" (currently out of print).

In 1986, he released a 12" rap record called "Timebomb" on Prism Records. This means he actually had a hip hop record released earlier than Will Smith.

Ribeiro's most notable role was that of spoiled, rich Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996. He played the cousin to Will Smith's lead character. The Carlton character was known for frequently dancing to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual," a dance move that gained infamy as "The Carlton Dance." In 2008, Ribeiro began hosting the game show Catch 21 on GSN. He also directed some episodes of Meet the Browns and a majority of Season 2 episodes of Are We There Yet? television series. In 2013, Ribeiro began hosting his second game show Spell-Mageddon on ABC Family.

Personal life

Alfonso Ribeiro married writer Angela Unkrich on October 13, 2012 after becoming engaged in July 2012. They currently reside in Los Angeles and are expecting their first child together in the fall of 2013. Ribeiro was previously married to Robin Stapler in 2002. Stapler and Ribeiro divorced in 2006, filing papers in Los Angeles County Superior Court that cited irreconcilable differences. The couple share joint custody of their daughter, Sienna Ribeiro.

Alfonso, along with his Fresh Prince counterpart Will Smith, appeared on The Graham Norton Show in May 2013 and performed the popular "Carlton Dance".

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1980	Oye Willie		TV
1984	Silver Spoons	Alfonso Spears	TV (1984"1987); guest star
1986	John Grin's Christmas	Rocky	TV movie
1987	Mighty Pawns	Frank	TV movie
1989	Out on the Edge	Jesse	TV movie
1990	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Carlton Banks	TV (1990"1996)
1993	Infested	Darrel "Panic" Lumley
1995	In the House	Dr. Maxwell Stanton	TV (1995"1999)
1996	Kidz in the Wood	TV movie
1997	Extreme Ghostbusters	Roland Jackson	Voice
2000	Your Big Break	Host	Game show
2005	Love Wrecked	Bert Hernandez
2006	Celebrity Duets	Himself	Winner
	All of Us		TV (2006"2007), director
2007	Dancing with the Stars	Himself	TV
2008	GSN Live	Host	TV (2008"2009)
	Catch 21	Host	Game show (2008"2011)
2011	Things We Do for Love	Darren	TV series; also director
2012	Big Time Rush	Himself	TV (2012); guest star
2013	Shake It Up	Mr. Zigfeld	guest star; one episode (My Fair Librarian it Up); also with Tyra Banks; directed four episodes ("Weird It Up", "Surprise It Up", "My Fair Librarian It Up" and "In the Bag It Up")
2013	Spell-Mageddon	Host	Game show (2013"present)