(Photo credit: Youtube screenshot)
Alfonso Ribeiro created a name for himself as the lovable, dancing character “Carlton” on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with Will Smith. Before that, he was the cute, fun-loving sidekick on the hit sitcom, Silver Spoons. But many may not remember that Alfonso has been acting and dancing long before his early 20’s.
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.
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Ribeiro appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial that featured Michael Jackson in 1984. Then, 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.
Check out the old school video below:
Ribeiro’s most notable role was that of spoiled, rich Carlton Banks in on ‘Fresh Prince’ 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 fame as “The Carlton Dance.
In the past few years, Ribeiro has hosted a few game shows (he currently hosts America’s Funniest Videos), but he continued to dance. His dancing has kept his weight down and landed him a spot on the hugely popular show, “Dancing With The Stars” which he ended up winning in 2014.
Alfonso knows all too well that dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. It has a wide range of physical and mental benefits including:
Riberio says, “I’ve lost a lot of weight. When you’re working eight hours a day…you’re going to lose weight. It’s a lot of work, a lot of fun.”
During an interview with Vlad TV, Karyn Parsons, who played Riberio’s on-screen sister Hilary Banks, spoke at length about how much each actor had influence over their character development. Parsons explained that out of the entire cast, Riberio’s character was most like him in real life.
“They write to the person. Alfonso as Carlton was a huge example of that because in the very beginning of ‘Fresh Prince’ if you watched him, it’s really unclear what Carlton’s thing is,” she said. “He started to define that character very clearly himself and then the writers had to follow.”
One of the ways in which the writers followed Ribeiro’s lead was when it came to his musical interests and sense of comedy style.
Parsons explained that what would become known as the “Carlton dance” was the typical “silly and goofy” behavior of Ribeiro behind the scenes. Interestingly, Ribeiro created the dance after watching another actress and mocking her moves.
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