Naima Mora
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naima Mora | |
---|---|
Birthdate: | March 1, 1984 |
Birth location: | Detroit, Michigan |
Birth name: | Naima Mora |
Height: | 5'9 |
Weight: | 135 lbs |
Orientation: | Straight |
Naima Mora (born March 1, 1984 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American fashion model and actress.
She is best known as the winner of Cycle 4 of the UPN reality TV program America's Next Top Model. Her prizes as winner were a contract with Ford Models, a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, and a fashion spread in ELLE.
Contents |
[edit] Personal
Named after Coltraine's "Naima", Naima is a blend of AfricanAmerican and Mexican from her father, and AfricanAmerican and Irish from her mother. Naima is the youngest of four sisters including her twin Nia Mora, who is a photographer in New York. Her old sister Ife Mora(born 1977) is a vocalist, trip-hop,and rock experimental artist of the group livemas[1] [2]. Her father is the jazz percusionist Francisco Mora Catlett[3][4] and her mother was a singer. Her famous artist grandparents are Mexican painter Fransico Mora and African-American sculptress, painter and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett.
Naima is the inspiration for her grandmother's 2001 black marble bust entitled Naima[5]. Catlett described it:
That black marble head, Naima: we have twin granddaughters who came to stay with us one summer, they were studying Spanish. I kept looking at one of them, who has a very dynamic personality. I thought I would like to do a head of her. And then it was the shape of her hair with a knot at the back. It was a whole different shape. She posed for me a little bit, to get the general shape of it. She has a little bump in her nose that I wanted to put in.. | ||
— Elizabeth Catlett, [6] April 03, Vol 22 #3,Sculpture Magazine
|
[edit] Before Top Model
A serious student of ballet, Naima studied with Detroit's Ballet Renaissance and in American Ballet Theatre's Detroit summer programme. Naima graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit in 2002. She also worked as a coffee shop waitress, before moving from Detroit to New York to attend the school of Dance Theatre of Harlem.
[edit] Modeling/Acting Career
Naima and Cycle 3's Ann Markley were Trophy Girls at the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards. [citation needed]
She has made multiple appearances as a guest on The Tyra Banks Show.[1]
She has appeared on the second season premiere of Veronica Mars, "Normal Is the Watchword". [7]
Naima also served as a judge at the Miss Teen USA Pageant in 2005. She also appeared in the music video for the song "Wolf Like Me" by TV On The Radio in 2006.
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
- Naima's ANTM portfolio
- Naima's MySpace
- Naima Mora Fan Journal
- Top Fashion Models: Naima Mora
- E-online: Naima Named "Next Top Model"
- FIERCE - Naima Mora Fanlisting
- IMDB: Naima Mora
Preceded by: Eva Pigford |
America's Next Top Model winner Cycle 4 (2005) |
Succeeded by: Nicole Linkletter |
America's Next Top Model |
---|
Judges |
Janice Dickinson | Twiggy | Tyra Banks | Nigel Barker | J. Alexander | Jay Manuel | Beau Quillian |
Cycles & Winners |
Please see individual cycle articles for additional contestants |
Categories: Cleanup from October 2006 | Articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements | Wikipedia external links cleanup | 1984 births | African Americans | American film actors | American models | American vegetarians | America's Next Top Model | CoverGirls | Identical twins | Living people | Mexican American models | People from Detroit | Reality show winners | Reality television participants | Veronica Mars actors