Williard Carroll Smith Jr. popularly known as Will Smith is an American actor, producer, comedian, rapper, and songwriter. Smith is considered one of the versatile public figures in the entertainment business. Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood" in April 2007. Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards to date. Forbes has ranked Smith as the most bankable star worldwide. In all the movies, he has had leading roles, has collected worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million each. His films have grossed $7.5 billion at the global box office. Some of his best-known work has been in movies and shows like The Pursuit of Happyness, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Men in Black, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Independence Day. He is widely renowned for his role as James Darrell Edwards / Agent J in "Men in Black" film series. His solo debut album "Big Willie Style" was released in November 1997 in the US under the label Columbia. The album consists of 16 singles making it a total length of 54:14 minutes. He made his debut movie in "Where The Day Takes You" in 1992. He debuted on television by hosting the show Saturday Morning Videos in 1990. 

What is Will Smith Known for?

• Light-hearted story-telling raps and capable, though profanity-free, "battle" rhymes
• His role as boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001)
• His role as stockbroker Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

What Ethnicity is Will Smith?

Will Smith was born to a father Willard Carroll Smith Sr. and a mother Caroline (Bright) on September 25, 1969, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States with the birth name of Willard Carroll Smith II. He holds American nationality and his ethnicity is Mixed of American-African. Libra is his zodiac sign. His father Smith Sr (who died on November 7, 2016) was a U.S Air Force veteran and refrigeration engineer, whereas his mother Caroline, was a Philadelphia school board administrator. He grew up in West Philadephia's Wynnefield neighborhood. He was raised Baptist. He has an elder sister named Pamela and two younger siblings, twins Harry and Ellen. Smith went to a private Catholic elementary school, Our Lady of Lourdes in Philadelphia. At the age of 13, his parents separated and divorced only in 2000. He celebrated his 53rd birthday as of 2021.

Smith attended Overbrook High School. It is reported that Smith turned down the scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) because he had a keen interest in rap growing inside him.

Will Smith Career Timeline

Music (Rapper)

Smith already started pursuing his career as a rapper while he was studying at high school. Thus, Smith started as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes. Townes was a turntablist and a producer then. Smith and Townes met each other in 1985 at a house party. The two joined forces and recruited beatboxer Clarence Holmes into their team. The trio released their first single titled Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble" from late 1985 to 1986. The single became a hit a month before Smith's graduation from high school.

The duo, Townes and Smith released their first album, Rock the House on Word Up in 1986 and debuted on Jive in March of 1987. For "Parents Just Don't Understand", their group received the first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1989. They won their second Grammy for their most successful single, "Summertime" in 1991. The duo is still friends and both claim that they never split up. Will Smith nearly went bankrupt in 1990, when the Internal Revenue Service assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against Smith. They even took many of Smiths' possessions and garnished his income. Following his bankruptcy, the NBC television network signed Smith to build a sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The sitcom reflected the story around him. The show went successful and began his acting career. Smith even set a goal for himself of becoming "the biggest movie star in the world".

Movies

Smith got his first major role in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Smith made his film debut as the main role character in the action film Bad Boys in 1995. The movie became commercially successful. Smith also appeared in its sequel, Bad Boys II in 2003. Smith's part in Independence Day 1996 established Smith as a prime box office draw, when the film became a massive blockbuster becoming the second highest-highest film in history at the time. Smith carried on his successful career when Smith starred alongside Tomme Lee Jones, Men in Black became the year's third highest-grossing film. Later, Smith also featured in the sequel, Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black III (2012). The theme song for the film "Men in Black" was the beginning of Smith's solo career. Smith's first debut solo album was Big Willie Style released in 1997. Both the album and his movie earned Smith quite recognition. His second album Willennium was another hit from Smith in 1999. The album reached number five on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Smith was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor-Motion Picture Drama for his role portraying the heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 biopic Ali. Following a four-year break from his music career, Smith returned with his third album Born to Reigh in 2002. The same year, Smith released his first compilation album Greatest Hits, featuring songs from his three solo albums as well as those produced with DJ Jazzy Jeff. Smith released his latest album Lost and Found in 2005.

Source: @abc13.com

One of the most praised movies by Smith was a biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness released in 2006. Smith portrayed the role of Chris Gardner along with his son Jaden. Smith was honored at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on December 10, 2007. Smith left an imprint of his hands and feet outside the world-famous theatre in front of many fans. Smith starred I Am Legend opening became the largest ever for a film released in the United States in December 2007. TV Guide reported that Smith was selected as one of America's top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008.

Smith and his son, Jaden starred film After Earth became one of the unsuccessful movies at the domestic box office. Smith even stated "the most painful failure in my career". Smith starred as Nicky Spurgeon in the romance drama Focus, and as Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion in 2015. Smith chose to play Deadshot in the supervillain team-up action film Suicide Squad over a role in Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. The same year, Smith starred in the drama film Collateral Beauty directed by David Frankel. Smith's father was diagnosed with cancer weeks after signing Collateral Beauty. His father died the same year and called the movie experience "a beautiful way to prepare for a movie and an even more majestic way to say goodbye to my father". The most expensive film for Netflix to date, Bright was released via Netflix on December 22, 2017. The movie was an urban fantasy crime about two cops from the Los Angeles Police Department.

Will Smith portrayed "The Genie" (originally voiced by Robin Williams) in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie. The film was released on May 24, 2019. He next participated in the soundtracks by recording singles: "Arabian Nights (2019)", "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali". He was also featured on rapper Logic's song "Don't Be Afraid To Be Different" (2019), from his fifth studio album Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Further, he appeared as an assassin who faces off against a younger clone of himself in Ang Lee's "Gemini Man", released on October 11, 2019. He had his second starring role in an animated film, Spies in Disguise, opposite Tom Holland in 2020. He also voiced Lance Sterling, a spy who teams up with the nerdy inventor who creates his gadgets (Holland). In the year 2020, he reteamed with Martin Lawrence for the third film in their franchise, "Bad Boys for Life". In June 2020, it was announced that he would star in "Emancipation".His memoir "Will", which was written by Mark Manson, the author of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck", was published on 9th November 2021. He and his Westbrook Studios company signed a deal with National Geographic in the same year. Next, he portrayed Richard Williams, father, and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, in the 2021 film "King Richard" for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. Recently, on 7th February 2022, Nat Geo announced that Smith would star in a series titled "Pole to Pole", which will stream on Disney+. The show will follow Smith and his film crew as they go on a 26,000-mile (42,000 km) trek from the South Pole to the North Pole, crossing all of Earth's biomes and spending time in communities along the way. 

YouTube

Smith launched his own YouTube channel in December 2017, which as of July 2019 has over 6 million subscribers and 294 million total views. His video titled "Facing my Biggest Fear", uploaded in March 2018 became his biggest YouTube video so far, with 2.1 million views. The 50-year old actor Smith performed the official song "Live It Up" alongside American singer Nicky Jam and Kosovar singer Era Istrefi at the closing ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Will Smith Awards and Achievements

Smith has bagged lots of awards throughout his music and movies career. Smith, for his musical career, has won four Grammys out of eight nominations, four World Music Awards, six American Music Awards out of seven nominations, five Moonmen out of twenty-two nominations at MTV Video Music Awards. Significance to his film career, Smith has been nominated for Oscars twice, Golden Globe Awards five times, and won various other awards in different categories. He won Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role in the 2022 film "King Richard". In 2022, Smith became the fifth black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. 

Source: @esquire.com

Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock after Oscars slap

Will Smith, during the 94th Academy Awards on 27th March 2022, walked onstage and slapped presenter and comedian, Chris Rock after Rock joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's haved head with a reference to the film G.I. Jane. Smith then returned to his seat and yelled to Rock, twice, to "Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!" Later in the night, Smith was named Best Actor for King Richard and apologized to the Academy and the other nominees, but not to Rock, in his acceptance speech. His acceptance speech, in which he appealed to God calling on him to do "crazy things" in the name of love was described as a "dangerous, self-serving cant" by the British magazine The Economist, which also noted that he received a standing ovation from the audience for his comments. Rock declined to press charges against Smith. Following the event, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement condemning the violence. The following day, the Academy announced that it launched a formal review of the incident, and would "explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law", including potential suspension of Smith's membership or termination and expulsion from the Academy, or revocation of his Academy Award for Best Actor. Following public backlash, Smith issued a formal apology. Smith referred to his own behavior as "unacceptable" and "inexcusable". He went on to directly address Rock: "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."

Source: @1news.co.nz

Who is Will Smith Wife?

Will Smith is a married man. In 1997, Smith married "The Pursuit of Happiness" co-star Jada Koren Pinkett. They have two children, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, and Willow Camille Reigh Smith. His first son Trey appeared in his father's music video, "Just the Two of Us", Jaden appeared in "The Pursuit of Happiness" along with his later mother, and Willow appeared as his daughter in the film I Am Legend. He supported legalizing same-sex marriage. 

Source: @people.com

In the year 1992, Smith tied a knot with Sheree Zampino. They had a son together named Willard Carrol "Trey" Smith III. They split up in 1995. 

At present, Smith lives in Los Angeles, California with his family.

How much is Will Smith Net Worth?

Will Smith is a successful actor, producer, and rapper. He is one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood. As of 2022, the net worth of Will Smith is estimated to have $350 Million. Smith is one of the highest-paid and richest actors in the world. Smith and his brother, Harry have also established their own company named, Treyball Development Inc. The company is a Beverly Hills-based company named after his son Trey. He is regarded as an American cultural icon with multiple awards to his name. His movies have grossed over $9.3 billion at the global box office, according to IMDB. His main source of wealth is from the entertainment industry whereas his secondary source of income is from the music industry. He is living a lavish lifestyle at present. In 2019, Smith invested $46 million in esports organization Gen.G with Smith's Dreamers Fund, which he co-founded with Keisuke Honda. 

How tall is Will Smith?

Will Smith has a tall height of 6 ft 2 in and his well-maintained body weight consists of 180 lb. He has dark brown eyes and black hair. His body type is athletic. He is very conscious about his food intake and he has a healthy body at present. 

List of all the movies by Will Smith:

• Where the Day Takes You (1992)
• Made in America (1993)
• Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
• Bad Boys (1995)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Men in Black (1997)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Wild Wild West (1999)
• The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
• Ali (2001)
• Men in Black II (2002)
• Bad Boys II (2003)
• I, Robot (2004)
• Shark Tale (2004)
• Hitch (2005)
• The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
• I Am Legend (2007)
• Hancock (2008)
• Seven Pounds (2008)
• Men in Black 3 (2012)
• After Earth (2013)
• Winter's Tale (2014)
• Focus (2015)
• Concussion (2015)
• Suicide Squad (2016)
• Collateral Beauty (2016)
• Bright (2017)
• Aladdin (2019)
• Spies in Disguise (2019)
• Gemini Man (2019)