Blast From The Past: Alfonso Ribeiro

"Alfonso Ribeiro is an American actor and director. His first brush with true stardom came in 1983, when he originated the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid, receiving positive reviews for his performance. He also appeared in one of Michael Jackson's Pepsi television commercials as a dancer in 1984, after which he was the subject of rumours that he broke his neck during the making of the commercials.

Ribeiro was best known for his role for his role as spoiled rich-kid Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996, in which he played the cousin to Will Smith's lead character.
He is currently hosting his first game show, GSN's Catch-21, which premiered July 21, 2008."

When I heard that Alfonso was going to be at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, I knew that I had to meet him, after all, I grew up watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

The problem I had was that there weren't any good screen caps of him as Carleton Banks. The way to solve the problem was to make some ourselves. They weren't the best quality, but they did the trick.

We waited patiently all week for Alfonso to arrive at the hotel. He was the last person to be spotted, and we didn't actually see him until the first afternoon of the tournament. When we arrived at the second golf course of the day for the afternoon pairings, we heard that Alfonso was at the driving range. Steve and I immediately went there.

Alfonso must have got into town early Thursday morning. He seemed like he was rushed while hitting balls at the range, but still took the time to sign a few photos and take a few pictures.

During his play, there was a horn that indicated a stop in play due to possible thunderstorms. All players returned to the clubhouse and he, along with Damon Allen and Grant Fuhr, remained outside and signed autographs and talked with fans the whole time.

He was one of the nicest guys I met the whole trip. A real class act.