Carlton from The Fresh Prince: the surprising life of Alfonso Ribeiro

Alfonso Ribeiro is the actor who, in the '90s, became Carlton Banks, one of the most prominent characters in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'. Since then, many years have passed, but Ribeiro is still closely linked to the world of television.

As Carlton Banks, he was the posh, naive, affable, sometimes envious and unbearable boy of the Banks family, the greatest 'frenemy' of his cousin Will Smith. Ribeiro was everpresent for the six seasons that aired between 1990 and 1996.

After filming the pilot episode, one of the directors of NBC, Warren Littlefield, fired him by saying that he hadn't liked his performance and that he found Ribeiro to be unfunny. It took the support of the rest of the cast, spearheaded by Smith, to keep the actor in the role of Carlton Banks.

Over time, Alfonso Ribeiro ended up "hating" his character because it pigeonholed him and limited him when looking for other roles. As he told The Ringer magazine, “For me, it meant a career. It is a life. It is what I have. It is what is going to put food on my family's table. And someone says, 'You can't do it because we think you're that guy.' So there was a lot of resentment with that character."

A few years earlier, when he was only 12 years old, Alfonso Ribeiro appeared in a Pepsi ad alongside Michael Jackson, and the young actor stole the limelight. The actor had started training as a dancer and, before the Pepsi commercial, he had already performed on Broadway in the musical 'The Tap Dancing Kid'.

Youtube: Giraldi Media

After his television breakthrough, he recorded the singles 'Dance Baby', 'Not Too Young (To Fall In Love)', 'Sneak Away With Me' and 'Time Bomb', but acting was his big dream. Therefore, he was in several television series before 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', such as 'Silver Spoons'.

But ... what happened to Alfonso Ribeiro after 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'? Before continuing with his career,  Alfonso Ribeiro was news within the world of sports. And the actor, a great fan of motorsports, managed to win two prizes at the Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach in 1994 and 1995.

Alfonso Ribeiro played a very similar character to Carlton Banks in the sitcom 'In the House', alongside rapper LL Cool J. In the show, he began his “new life” until its cancellation in 1999.

Alfonso Ribeiro also dipped his toe in the world of voice acting. He was a voice actor in animated series such as 'Spiderman', where he featured from time to time. He was a more regular feature in 'Ghostbusters', where we could hear him as the character Roland Jackson.

Apart from small appearances in films for television such as 'Love Wrecked' (2005) and 'Seek & Hide' (2004), Alfonso Ribeiro spent most of his time in television, in series such as 'Big Time Rush'.

In 1999, his inseparable partner in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', Will Smith, counted on Alfonso Ribeiro to appear in a music video. It was the main song of the 'Wild Wild West' soundtrack, and Smith played the protagonist.

Image: WillSmithVEVO/ Youtube

In addition to his acting performances, Alfonso Ribeiro also dared to get behind the camera. He directed several episodes of the television series 'One on One' and 'All of Us'. He also developed a strong taste for golf.

His participation in 'Wild Wild West' was more evidence of his great relationship with Will Smith. Smith described it well in a social media birthday post: “Hey, Alf! Happy birthday my boy. I've known you for more than 30 birthdays! Through tears and laughter. Through questionable fashion choices and the inevitable shine you give off. I wish you health and happiness on your next trip around the sun. You are the definition of a companion to death”.

The truth is that, over the last few years, he has focused more on his personal life. Alfonso Ribeiro has been married to Angela Unkrich since 2012 and they have three children: Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro Jr., Anders Reyn Ribeiro and Ava Sue Ribeiro. He also has another daughter, Sienna Ribeiro. She is the result of his previous marriage to Robin Stapler, Ribeiro's partner between 2002 and 2006.

In 2014, Alfonso Ribeiro participated in the program 'Dancing with the Stars', where he was able to demonstrate - as he already did in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' - his great dancing skills. Thanks to an impressive tango, Ribeiro was proclaimed winner of the nineteenth edition of the well-known American television program.

To this day, Alfonso Ribeiro continues on television as a presenter. He hosts the ABC program 'America's Funniest Home Videos', which has been on the air since 1989. The show focuses on funny homemade videos sent by viewers.

Since 2022, he has also been the host of another super popular American show: 'Dancing with the Stars!' So with two big hosting gigs at once, he sure has come a long way from Carlton Banks. But no matter what he thinks of it, he played that character so well, that we will never forget him dancing to Tom Jones.

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