Will Smith is an American actor, rapper and film producer known for his work in both music and movies. He first found fame as the rapper the Fresh Prince, one half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and as the star of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, before becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the world with Independence Day and Men in Black. His films as a leading man have grossed more than $10 billion worldwide, and he has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award and four Grammy Awards.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Willard Carroll Smith II |
| Age | 58 years old |
| Date of Birth | September 25, 1968 |
| Birthplace | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor, Rapper, Film Producer |
| Partner | Jada Pinkett Smith (wife, married 1997) |
| Children | Three |
| Net Worth | Approx. $350 million |
Who Is Will Smith?
Will Smith is an American actor, rapper and producer who became a star twice over: first as a chart-topping rapper in the 1980s, and then as one of the most bankable movie stars of the modern era. As the Fresh Prince, he won the first Grammy Award ever presented in a rap category, in 1989, and his sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran for six seasons on NBC. In film, he headlined a string of blockbusters — Independence Day, Men in Black, Hitch, I Am Legend and Hancock — before earning Academy Award nominations for his dramatic performances in Ali (2001) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).
In 2021, after more than three decades in film, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard. The same night, he stunned the world by slapping the presenter Chris Rock on stage after a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. He later resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was banned from Academy events for 10 years. He is one of the few artists to have won both a Grammy Award and an Academy Award.
Early Life & Background
Willard Carroll Smith II was born on September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Wynnefield. His mother, Caroline, was a school administrator on the Philadelphia Board of Education, and his father, Willard Carroll Smith Sr., was a refrigeration engineer. Smith attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, where he was known for his charm and quick wit — classmates and teachers called him “Prince Charming,” a nickname that later became “the Fresh Prince.”
Smith began rapping as a teenager, and at a party in 1985 he met the DJ Jeffrey Townes, known as DJ Jazzy Jeff. The pair formed DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and released their first single in 1986. Their first album, Rock the House, came out in 1987, and their second, He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, produced the hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which won the first Grammy ever awarded for a rap performance. Smith nearly went bankrupt after spending his early earnings, and in 1990 he was cast in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which made him a television star.
Career
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran from 1990 to 1996 and made Smith a household name. He used its success to move into film, with Six Degrees of Separation (1993) earning him early critical respect, and then Bad Boys (1995), the action-comedy that launched a franchise he would revisit for another three films, most recently Bad Boys: Ride or Die in 2024. His breakthrough as a blockbuster star came with Independence Day (1996), which grossed more than $800 million worldwide, and Men in Black (1997), which became one of the biggest hits of the year.
Through the 2000s, Smith alternated summer blockbusters with dramatic roles. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001), and again for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), in which he played a homeless salesman raising his young son. Hits such as Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007) and Hancock (2008) kept him at the top of the box office, and in 2019 he played the Genie in Disney’s live-action Aladdin, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor in March 2022 for King Richard, playing the father and coach of Venus and Serena Williams. Minutes earlier, he had slapped the presenter Chris Rock on stage in response to a joke about his wife’s hair; he apologized publicly, resigned from the Academy and was barred from its events for a decade. Smith returned to the big screen with Emancipation (2022) and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), and published the memoir Will in 2021. In 2023, his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, revealed that the couple had been separated since 2016.
Facts About Will Smith
- Smith won the first Grammy Award ever presented for a rap performance, for “Parents Just Don’t Understand” in 1989.
- His films as a leading man have grossed more than $10 billion at the worldwide box office.
- He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for King Richard (2021), with earlier nominations for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran for six seasons, from 1990 to 1996, and made Smith a television star.
- Smith is one of the few artists to have won both a Grammy Award and an Academy Award.