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Will Smith
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For other people named Will Smith, see William Smith (disambiguation).

Will Smith |

Smith in May 2010 |
Born | Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.
September 25, 1968 (1968-09-25) (age 42)
Wynnefield, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Other names | The Fresh Prince |
Occupation | Actor, rapper, filmproducer, record producer, television producer |
Years active | 1985–present |
Spouse | Sheree Zampino (m. 1992–1995) «start: (1992)–end+1: (1996)»"Marriage: Sheree Zampino to Will Smith" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Smith)
Jada Pinkett Smith (m. 1997–present) «start: (1997)»"Marriage: Jada Pinkett Smith to Will Smith" Location:(linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Smith) |
Children | Trey Smith
Jaden Smith
Willow Smith |
Website |
http://www.willsmith.com/ |
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968)[1] is an American actor, film producer and rapper. He has enjoyed success in music, television and film. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood.[2] Smith has been nominated for four Golden GlobeAwards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards.
In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for nearly six years (1990–1996) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then.In the mid-1990s, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office and the only one to have eight consecutive films in which he starred open at #1 spot in the domestic box office tally.[3]
Fourteen of the 19 fiction films he has acted in have accumulatedworldwide gross earnings of over $100 million, and four took in over $500 million in global box office receipts. As of 2011, his films have grossed $5.7 billion in global box office.[4] His most financially successful films have been Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Independence Day, Men in Black, Men in Black II, I, Robot, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, Hancock, Wild Wild West, Enemy of the State,Shark Tale, Hitch and Seven Pounds. He also earned critical praise for his performances in Six Degrees of Separation, Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, receiving Best Actor Oscar nominations for the latter two.
Contents[hide] * 1 Family and early life * 2 Recording and acting career * 2.1 Early work (1985–1995) * 2.2 Breakthrough (1996–2000) * 2.3 International success(2001–present) * 3 Personal life * 4 Discography * 4.1 With DJ Jazzy Jeff * 4.2 Solo * 5 Filmography * 5.1 Box office grosses * 6 References * 7 Further reading * 8 External links |
Family and early life
Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Smith also spent time in Germantown in Northwest Philadelphia. His mother, Caroline (née Bright), was a school administrator whoworked for the Philadelphia school board, and his father, Willard Christopher Smith, Sr., was a refrigeration engineer.[5][6] He was raised Baptist.[7] His parents separated when he was 13,[8] and did not actually divorce until Smith was around 30.[9]
It is untrue, though widely reported, that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); he never appliedto the school,[10] although he was admitted to a "pre-engineering program" there.[9] According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."[11]
Recording and acting career

Will...