- For the geologist who invented fossil correlation, see William Smith.
Willard Christopher Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an African American actor and rapper. He was born and raised in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of four children. He often uses the line "West Philadelphia born and raised" to describe his roots. He is one of the few personalities in show business who has enjoyed success in the three major entertainment media in the United States: movies, television and the music industry.
Biography
Will Smith started his career as part of the pop-rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably "Parents Just Don't Understand". Smith was a charismatic and energetic performer, and in 1990 the NBC television network signed him up and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him. Although he made a notable dramatic film debut in Six Degrees of Separation (in which he played totally against type as a gay con man) while still appearing in Fresh Prince, Smith's movie career took off with his role in Bad Boys (1995) along with co-star Martin Lawrence. After Fresh Prince came to an end in 1996, Smith began a successful solo career in music and simultaneously starred in several blockbuster movies, including Men in Black, Independence Day, Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, Ali and Bad Boys II. His most recent film is 2005's Hitch. (Like Smith, Hitch co-star Kevin James starred in a sitcom named for royalty, The King of Queens.)
Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali. (His Ali co-star Jamie Foxx, another actor/musician/comedian, later won the award for the 2004 Ray Charles biopic Ray.)
Smith also released a string of hit singles, often associated with his most recent movie, throughout the late 1990s. His first two solo albums went platinum, but his third, on Columbia Records, flopped, and after a quick Greatest Hits release that was almost not advertised at all, he was dropped by the label. He signed a recording contract with Interscope Records and released Lost and Found in 2005.
Smith is married to actress Jada Pinkett Smith (his second wife). Along with his brother Harry Smith, he owns Treyball Development Inc., a Beverly Hills, California–based company named for his son, Willard Christopher "Trey" Smith III.
Discography
Albums
as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- Rock the House (1987) #83 US
- He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988) #4 US
- And in This Corner... (1989) #39 US
- Homebase (1991) #12 US
- Code Red (1993) #64 US
- Greatest Hits (1998) (including material from Will Smith's solo career) #144 US, #20 UK
as Will Smith
- Big Willie Style (1997) #8 US, #9 UK
- Willenium (1999) #5 US, #10 UK
- Born to Reign (2002) #13 US, #24 UK
- Greatest Hits (2002)
- Lost & Found (2005) #6 US, #15 UK
Hit singles
as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- 1986 "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" #21 UK
- 1988 "Parents Just Don't Understand" #12 US
- 1988 "Nightmare on My Street" #15 US
- 1991 "Summertime" #4 US, #8 UK
- 1991 "Ring My Bell" #20 US
- 1993 "Boom! Shake the Room" #13 US, #1 UK
- 1993 "I'm Looking for the One (To Be with Me)" #24 UK
- 1994 "Can't Wait to Be with You" #29 UK
- 1994 "Summertime" (re-entry) #29 UK
- 1995 "Boom! Shake the Room" (remix) #40 UK
- 1998 "Lovely Daze" #37 UK
as Will Smith
- 1997 "Men in Black" #1 US, #1 UK
- 1997 "Just Cruisin'" #23 UK
- 1998 "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" #1 US, #3 UK
- 1998 "Just the Two of Us" #20 US, #2 UK
- 1998 "Miami" #17 US, #3 UK
- 1999 "Boy You Knock Me Out" (Tatyana Ali feat. Will Smith) #3 UK
- 1999 "Wild Wild West" (feat. Dru Hill) #1 US, #2 UK
- 1999 "Will 2K" #25 US, #2 UK
- 2000 "Freakin' It" #15 UK
- 2002 "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (feat. Tra-Knox) #3 UK
- 2005 "Switch" #12 US, #5 UK
Filmography
External links
Last updated: 05-21-2005 23:51:01
