Will Smith

Early Years

Smith in his Men in Black gear.

Willard Christopher Smith, Jr. was born September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, PA. He earned the nickname “Fresh Prince” early on in life, and it would stick throughout his career. Will Smith excelled at Overland High School, winning a scholarship to the prestigious M.I.T., but his drive to become a musician was too strong. He turned down the scholarship and formed rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Price with his friend Jeffery Towns.

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince score a number of hits with songs like Parents Just Don’t Understand and Girls Ain’t Nothin’ But Trouble. These songs marked the emergence of rap music as a mainstream, popular music form. Their work earned them the first ever Grammy for rap music.

Despite the commercial success of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith found himself near bankruptcy in 1990. Salvation came in the form of an NBC sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which was written around Smith. In the show, his mother sends him to live in upscale Bel Air from Philadelphia to keep him out of trouble. The show was a critical and commercial success in its six year run, turning Smith into a household name.

Movie Success

Towards the end of his tenure on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Smith turned his attention to the silver screen. His movie debut, Where The Day Takes You, didn’t fare too well, while his next two films, Six Degrees of Separation and Made in America won Smith only minor interest. That all changed in 1995, when he co-starred with Martin Lawrence in the action movie Bad Boys. The film was a major box office success and turned Smith into a major Hollywood player.

His next few films cemented his position at the top: Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997), and Enemy of the State (1998) are among the highest grossing films of the 1990s. Some other notable films in which Smith has starred include:

Gettin' Jiggy Wit It at an outdoor concert event

• Wild, Wild West
• Ali, which earned him an Oscar nomination
• Men in Black II
• Bad Boys II
• I, Robot
• Shark Tale
• Hitch

The actor now commands $20 million per picture.

Music Career

While he was climbing to the top of the Tinsel Town pile, Smith still found time to record several platinum selling solo albums. 1997’s Big Willie Style went to number eight on the US Billboard charts and spawned the number one hit Getting’ Jiggy Wit It. He followed that up with the platinum Willenium in 1999 and Born to Reign in 2002. When Born to Reign failed to go platinum, Smith’s label, Columbia, dropped him. Interscope quickly scopped him up, and in 2005 he released Lost and Found. That album rose to number six on the Billboard charts.

Smith married Jada Pinkett in 1997.

Personal Life

In 1992, Smith wed Sharee Zampino and had one son, Willard Christopher “Trey” Smith III. They divorced in 1995, and he went on to marry actress Jada Pinkett in 1997. With Pinkett, he has had two children, Jaden Christopher Syre and Willow Camille Reign.

Will Smith Trivia

• Smith consistently ranks on Forbes 40 Richest Under 40 lists.

• Smith can solve a Rubik’s cube (he learned for a movie role).

• He has homes in L.A., Miami, his native Philadelphia, and Stockholm, Sweden.

• He reunited with DJ Jazzy Jeff to perform at the Philadelphia Live 8 concert in 2005.

• Smith was up for Brad Pitt’s role in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

• Along with wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, he is rumored to be one of the first people to have [[Where, oh Where is Baby Suri| seen Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ baby].

• His favorite movie is Star Wars.

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