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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
Personal Life
Will Smith has been involved in two marriages the first being with the mother
of acting and music star Willard Smith III. Currently smith is married to actress
Jada Pinkest Smith and the couple has been intact since 1997. The latest
marriage has brought another son, Jaden and a girl. Will Smith has a home in
the city where he grew up, Philadelphia, as well as in Florida and Sweden.
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