Tyler was born on September 18, 1970, in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Robin Gregory, a teacher, and James Tyler, a photographer.[3][4] The family spent one year in Ethiopia and later spent time living in an ashram in Oakland, California. Her parents separated when she was ten years old, after which her father raised her.[5] Her maternal great-grandfather was Thomas Montgomery Gregory, a dramatist and educator, and her great-great-grandfather was Howard University professor James Monroe Gregory.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
Tyler graduated from Dartmouth College in 1992.[9][10] She was a member of The Tabard, a co-ed fraternity.[11] At Dartmouth, she co-founded and sang in the Dartmouth Rockapellas, an all-female a cappella group devoted to spreading social awareness through song.[11]
After briefly working for a San Francisco advertising firm, she toured the country pursuing a comedy career[12] then moved to Los Angeles in 1996.[13]
Career
Tyler's career in television took off in 2001 with jobs as the host of Talk Soup[14] and the reality-dating series The 5th Wheel, although Talk Soup was canceled the following year and Tyler left The 5th 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,[15] Joey's and then Ross's girlfriend, in the ninth and tenth seasons.[16] 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.[17]
Tyler appeared in a nude pictorial, along with other celebrities, in the May 2006 issue of Allure.[19] 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.[20] In early May 2010, she presented the "Welcome to the Beta" video for Halo: Reach. She also voiced a minor character in the game.[21]
In 2009, she began her starring role voicing Lana Kane in the FX series Archer, which premiered on January 14, 2010[22] and ran for a total of 14 seasons, ending in 2023.[23] In August 2010, Tyler began appearing in a recurring guest spot on The Stephanie Miller Show. The segment is named "Tuesdays With Tyler".[24] 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.[25]
Also in 2009, Tyler performed her stand-up comedy routine live at the Fillmore Theatre.[26]
On July 26, 2011, Tyler premiered her own weekly podcast, Girl on Guy, where she interviews her favorite celebrity friends and discusses topics guys love. The show launched as the No. 4 comedy podcast on iTunes. The first weekly installment of Girl on Guy featured guest H. Jon Benjamin (her costar on Archer); 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. She hosted the show until 2017.
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 from 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.[27] 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."[28] 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.[29]
In June 2015, it was announced that Tyler landed a recurring role on the eleventh season of Criminal Minds as Dr. Tara Lewis.[15] Although she served as a temporary replacement for Jennifer Love Hewitt, who was on maternity leave,[32] her status was elevated to a main cast member in season 12.[33]
In 2016, Tyler started a Kickstarter campaign to fund her directorial feature film debut, Axis.[34] The film was shot over seven days in May 2016.[35][36]Axis premiered at the 2017 Sarasota Film Festival and was an official selection at seven other major US festivals, winning Outstanding Achievement at the Newport Beach Film Festival.[37]Axis was released via video-on-demand on April 10, 2018.[38]
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.[39][40]
Tyler married attorney Jeff Tietjens in 1992[42][43] or 1994[44][45] (sources differ). The pair separated in January 2015 and Tietjens filed for divorce in April 2016.[44] The divorce was finalized in May 2017.[43]
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Web
Music videos
Director
Awards and nominations
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
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^ a bSerpe, Gina (October 24, 2011). "From Talk Soup to The Talk: Aisha Tyler Makes Her Morning-Show Debut!". E! News. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
^"Aisha Tyler (1970- )". Film.Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
^Allen Johnson, G. (April 13, 2023). "S.F. is 'the American Paris': Aisha Tyler on her hometown, and tossing out first pitch at Oracle Park". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^"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.
^"Adam Carolla Podcast". March 9, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
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^ a b"Celebs in the Ivy League". msn.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^"TONIGHT, TOMORROW WILL DECIDE WHO GETS LAST LAUGH". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. November 24, 1995.
^Tyler, Aisha N. (August 30, 2017). "Contemporary Black Biography". Gale. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
^VanDerWerff, Emily Todd (June 15, 2018). "What Aisha Tyler learned from failing". Vox. Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
^ a bPiña, Christy (April 5, 2023). "Aisha Tyler Reflects on Her Time on 'Friends' Almost 20 Years After Her Character Was Introduced: "It Was a Big Deal"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^"Aisha Tyler". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 7, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
^Avalos, Regina (July 16, 2016). "MADtv: New Whose Line Episodes to Lead In to CW July Premiere". canceled + renewed TV shows, ratings - TV Series Finale. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^Tyler, Aisha (2004). Swerve: A Guide to the Sweet Life for Postmodern Girls. New York: Plume. ISBN 0-525-94806-6.
^"Stars Line Up For Naked Spread". Contactmusic.com. April 24, 2007. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
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^Off to voice a character in Halo:Reach tomorrow. Dreams really do come true Archived March 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, twitter.com, February 24, 2010.
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^Pena, Jessica (April 6, 2020). "Archer: Season 11 Premiere of FXX Series Delayed". TV Series Finale. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
^stephaniemiller.com
^"Stephanie Miller Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour". sexyliberal.com. June 8, 2011. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
^"Aisha Tyler Is Lit: Live at the Fillmore (2009)". IMDb. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
^Evan Narcisse (June 13, 2012). "Aisha Tyler Rants "I've Been a Gamer Since Before You Could Read."". kotaku.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
^"Dear Gamers". facebook.com. June 12, 2012. Archived from the original on September 30, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
^Goldberg, Lesley (April 1, 2014). "Aisha Tyler's 'Self-Inflicted Wounds' Headed for TV (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
^Rachel Hansen (February 28, 2013). "His line: Improv master Ryan Stiles returns to the PAC". wenatcheeworld.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.(subscription required)
^@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.
^Meredith Jacobs (June 22, 2015). "'Criminal Minds' Season 11: Aisha Tyler will recur as Hotch looks to replace Kate". inquisitr.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
^Wagmeister, Elizabeth (August 10, 2016). "Aisha Tyler Promoted to Series Regular on 'Criminal Minds'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
^"Aisha Tyler to make feature directing debut on Kiickstarter-funded Axis." Archived September 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine "Variety", Retrieved January 16, 2017.
^Candice Frederick (March 6, 2018). "'Axis' Director Aisha Tyler Is Proving Hollywood Doesn't Know Its Audience". VICE. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
^Matt Grobar (January 25, 2018). "Aisha Tyler Shot 65 Pages A Day For Ambitious Directorial Debut, 'Axis' — Sundance Studio". Deadline. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
^Axis (2017) - Awards - IMDb, retrieved August 7, 2023
^Tyler, Aisha (April 10, 2018). "Aisha Tyler's Guide to Recovering From Disaster". Talkhouse. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
^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.
^Hilary Lewis (June 15, 2017). "Aisha Tyler Leaving CBS' 'The Talk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
^Rankin, Seija (April 26, 2023). "Jennifer Garner and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Bonded Before 'The Last Thing He Told Me' by "Smelling Each Other"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
^Lee, Esther (April 15, 2016). "Aisha Tyler, Husband Jeff Tietjens to Divorce After More Than 20 Years of Marriage". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
^ a b"Aisha Tyler Ordered to Pay Ex Husband $2 Million in Divorce". TMZ.com. May 18, 2017. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
^ 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.
^Boone, John (April 18, 2016). "Aisha Tyler Opens Up About Divorce After 20 Years of Marriage: 'I'll Always Love Him'". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
^Eakin, Marah (May 20, 2013). "Watch a new, Aisha Tyler-directed video about Silversun Pickups". A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
^"Simmer (scroll down on page)". Silversun Pickups. May 20, 2013. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
^Teitelman, Bram (August 29, 2013). "Clutch got Aisha Tyler to direct a video". Metal Insider. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
^Billboard Staff (June 18, 2003). "2003 Teen Choice Awards Nominees". Billboard. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
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^Empty; Empty; Press, The Associated (March 1, 2007). "2007 Image Award nominees and winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
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^"2023 Black Reel TV Award Nominees". Black Reel Awards. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aisha Tyler.