Will Smith Biography

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Will Smith is a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia native. September 25, 1986 marks the

birthday on which this star was literally born. The fairy tale of Will

Smith began when he was 16 years old at a time when he met DJ Jazzy Jeff

with whom he formed a rapping craze. His coalition with DJ Jazzy Jeff

rocketed the two to the top of the music charts while transforming Smith into a

music and television icon popularly known as Fresh Prince. 1990 saw the move

of this star from hip hop into the black box. Smith took off on his journey as an

actor by his key acting role in the popular TV show titled The Fresh Prince of

Bell Air.

Early life

Caroline and Willard C. Smith are the parents of this music and acting

sensation. Will Smith's official full name is Willard Christopher Smith Jr. His

mother was an ordinary school board employee while his enterprising Father

owned a refrigeration company. Despite the strong family roots in the Baptist

faith Will Smith drifted into the Catholic Church through the years when he

was attending school at Overbrook High School. The community where Will

Smith grew up was a multicultural society with diverse nationalities which

comprised of orthodox Jews and Muslims.

Success as a rapper

Smith's early life was characterized by a lot of showbiz and spotlight. Will

Smith began rapping at the age of 12. With a music sensation budding under the

inspiration of artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Smith brewed his own sound

that was laced with comedy. This would later become Smith's trademark in the

prime of his stardom. When Smith partnered with DJ Jazzy Jeff at the age of 16

the duo took their music endeavor to new heights by producing rap music

which steered clear off the gangster rap genre which was gaining popularity in

those days. The duo's debut album Rock The House released in 1990 and

preceded by the duo's single "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" (1986) went as

high as the Billboard Top 200 making Will Smith a millionaire before he

reached 18 years of age.

It was reported around this time that owing to his financial breakthrough Will

Smith ditched any thought of pursing college education. At some point it was

rumored that the budding star had turned down a scholarship to attend college

at Boston's Prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a rumor

that Smith later dispelled. Smith and Jazzy Jeff continued with their music. In 1988 the duo released the He's The DJ album which featured the successful singles "Parents Just Don't Understand", "Nightmare on My Street" and "Brand New Funk". The rise of Smith to stardom was also augmented by the popularity of the And in this Corner album. Smith's clean pop rapping found place with many people who found the music curse-free and entertaining.

Smith goes into acting

After the release of the duo's album, Smith moved into the acting arena two years

later. The youngster's fledging stardom won the favor of NBC which signed

Smith to star in the sitcom released by NBC about a clever street dweller from

Philadelphia. The outcome was the birth of a successful six season sitcom titled

the The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air.

In the early stages of His acting career Smith and his colleague did not cease

to produce music. In 1991 the duo released yet another album the Homebase

which brought the success of hits "Summertime" and "Ring My bell" to

coveted heights. The two later released their last album together titled

the Code Red in 1993.

The early years in the acting arena saw Smith move into the movie industry. He

started with playing smaller roles in dramas and plays. In 1992 Smith featured

in the play Where The Day Takes You as well as in the comedy Made in

America. These productions were predecessors to the popular Six Degrees of

Separation released in 1993. Smith's success in small dramas and plays

opened the doorway into his Hollywood stardom. His first super-action movie

role was in the Bad Boys blockbuster released in 1995. In this huge-budget

cop roller coaster Smith teamed up with comedian Martin Lawrence.

The movie gained huge popularity by owing to its novel black and black cop

thrust which was an unexpected deviation from the common black-and-white

cop movie concepts. While Lawrence played the comic casual cop Smith

played the serious focused cop and consolidated his role as a capable lead actor

in the movie scene. This era ushered Smith into a series of action packed sci-fi

catastrophe movies.

Smith played the key role in Independence Day where he battled

alien forces. Men in Black was the next sci-fi in which Smith played a

leading role in fighting aliens once more. The 1998, Enemy of the State was

a huge success for Will Smith. The movie earned Smith the NAACP Image

Award as a recognition for being an outstanding actor in motion picture.

Once more this era was a launch pad for a series of hits which included Wild West, a sci-fi cowboy centered movie and The Legend of Bagger Vance. After some near dormancy Smith returned to the movie scene in 2001 with a biopic movie, Ali. He played a lead role here which earned the movie a good place, especially in the hearts of boxing lovers.

Will Smith has since stared in various sequels to the movie releases in which

he played leading roles. Some of the popular releases where he plays the lead

role included Hitch, Lost and Found and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Smith also starred in I am the legend in 2007.

Smith on Both sides of the Camera

The icon's success in the film industry also served as a launching pad to usher

Smith into film producing. Will smith has been involved as producer in the production of Hancock and Seven Pounds. In both these films Smith has been involved in both sides

of the camera partly as an actor and partly as a producer. Smith also helped in

the production of the 2008 Lakeview Terrace and also in the making of The

Secret Life of Bees