We all know him. Love him or hate him, Will Smith is one of the most notable entertainers of all time. He is a singer, actor, and producer. He has won numerous awards, and reached many milestones as an entertainer. Adored by many, he has made himself into one of the most well known figures in our modern day society.

“In West Philadelphia, born and raised” is a popular little diddy used in the opening song of one of Will Smith’s first T.V shows, The Fresh Prince of Bel-air. Believe it or not, he really was born in West Philadelphia. He was raised by his mother and father who eventually divorced when he was thirteen years old.

Where did Smith’s rise to fame come from though? Smith had the name “Prince” in high school. This nickname evolved into “Fresh Prince” eventually. Smith began rapping while still in his teens and eventually began to talk to  Jeff Townes (AKA DJ Jazzy Jeff). Will Smith was offered a scholarship to MIT. He turned it down though in order to pursue his career as a rapper. he later stated – “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.”

Image Source

Will Smith became the MC of his rap trio “DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince”, which had much success. In 1988, the trio won the first ever Grammy in the rap category. He ended up underpaying his income taxes, which led to the IRS assessing him a 2.8 million dollar tax debt, taking many of his possessions, and garnishing hiss income. He was almost bankrupt when NBC signed him to a contract, launching his acting career in the hit sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

Smith’s success in this show led to movies. His first notable role in a film was “Six Degrees of Separation” in 1993. The film that really launched his movie career though was hos role in the buddy cop film “Bad Boys”, where he shared the spotlight with Martin Lawrence in 1995

In 1996, Smith ended his career with The Fresh Prince of Bel-air to launch a solo music career while appearing in various films. In this time period, he made two hugely successful films. “Independence Day” and “Men in Black”. These two movies greatly increased his reputation and population as an actor who could make a box office hit.

Since then, Smith has appeared in numerous hit movies such as, Men in Black 2, Bad Boys 2, Wild Wild West, I-Robot, Hitch, I Am Legend, Ali, The Pursuit of Happiness, Hancock and many others. With these movies came many awards and praises. As well as being an actor, he also helped produce many films, such as Hitch, The Pursuit of Happiness, Lakeview Terrace, and numerous others. Many and almost all of his films are nominated for awards and receive critical appraise.

His solo music career was also successful with hits such as Men in Black, and Switch.

Comedy, action, suspense, he has it all. although this is no where near a complete biography of Will Smith, it conveys a message. Will Smith is one of the most successful actors of all time, as well as a producer. to find out more about Will, check out these websites.
willsmith.com - official website
Wikipedia article
IMDB page – full list of acting career achievments