Alfonso Ribeiro (born in New York City on September 21, 1971) is an American actor and singer. His parents had immigrated to New York from the Dominican Republic.
He began his acting career on the drama Oye Willie at the age of eight. By the time he was ten, he had released such songs as: "Dance Baby," "Not Too Young," "Sneak Away with Me," and "Time Bomb." Ribeiro also starred in one of Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercials as a dancer in 1984. The same year Ribeiro was also cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons. Alfonso starred on Broadway in a show called The Tap Dance Kid. He was also in a commercial from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about telling the truth.
Ribeiro is best known for his role as spoiled rich-kid Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, starring Will Smith, from 1990 to 1996, in which he was mercilessly teased by Will, often targeting his height (Ribeiro is 5'6"). He also was the director of some episodes of Fresh Prince. The Carlton character was often called upon to do a comic dance routine to Tom Jones's "It's Not Unusual," which Ribeiro later stated he hated doing. He is also known for his role on LL Cool J's show In the House and as host of Your Big Break. Ribeiro has acted and been part of the crew on many movies and TV shows. He has also appeared in Smith's "Wild Wild West" video in 1999, and in a McDonalds commercial in 2003.
Ribeiro is also known for his improvised dances in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However, Ribeiro is a very good dancer; he showed some skills with Will Smith in one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air except when he gets thrown off the "stage", which was a dummy. He also performs a tap routine in the show's "Soul Train" episode. In 1997 he performed the voice of Roland Jackson in Extreme Ghostbusters.
He currently lives in Los Angeles and has developed an interest in auto racing. He is a two time winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race (in 1994 and 1995).
