Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks)

A lfonso Ribeiro was a fixture as a child TV star in the 1980s and 1990s. His most famous role, as spoiled rich kid Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air brought him accolades and tons of laughs-- mostly AT him, not with him.

Not only did he serve as the butt of star Will Smith's jokes (which often targeted Ribeiro's diminutive height), but his physical mannerisms provided pure comedy of their own-- most notably the infamous "Carlton Dance." The Carlton Dance was a ridiculous yet oddly enchanting dance, usually to Tom Jones' "It's not Unusual". Since actions speak louder than words, check out this compilation. After you dry your tears, keep reading for more on Alfonso and his dancing skills...

Alfonso is actually an incredibly talented dancer, having started young-- even having a professional dance video he was hawking when he was eight. No, we're not making this up, check out the ad for Breaking and Poppin' (and don't miss the fold-out breakboard):

Alfonso even danced with Michael Jackson, and was rumored to have broken his neck during the commercial (!)-- obviously untrue but built up his legend nonetheless:

None of Alfonso's many on-screen efforts since have matched his success with Fresh Prince, but he will have a fond spot in most of our minds of a lovable, self-deprecating guy.

Alfonso will be hosting his first game show on Game Show Network's upcoming original Catch-21, priemering on July 21, 2008. In his personal life he is divorced with one child.

Bonus: The last Dance of Fresh Prince (Carlton and Will)

Credits:

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_Ribeiro

Double Bonus for reading this far! The other leading ridiculous dance in TV history-- Elaine Benes' from Seinfeld...

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