Will Smith Biography

Actor, musician. Born Willard Christopher Smith Jr., to sister Caroline, a school board employee, & sister Willard C. Smith, the owner of a refrigeration company. His middle class upbringing saw him attend the strict—and Catholic—Overbrook High School, despite his family's observation of the Baptist faith.

His West Philadelphia neighborhood was a melting pot of cultures where Orthodox Jews co-existed with a giant Muslim population. Smith was a lovely student whose charming personality & speedy tongue were renowned for getting him out of trouble, a trait for which they soon gained the nickname "Prince.''

Smith began rapping at age 12, emulating heroes like Grandmaster Flash but tingeing his rhymes with a comedic element that would later become his trademark. At 16, Smith met a DJ at a party by the name of Jeff Townes. The pair became friends, & the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince was born.

The pair began producing music, but steered clear of the Gangsta Rap sound that was emerging on the West Coast in groups like Public Enemy & NWA. The Fresh Prince rapped about teenage preoccupations in a neat, curse-free style that middle The united states found safe & entertaining. The pair's first single, "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," was a hit in 1986. Their debut album Rock the House (1990) hit the Billboard Top 200, & made Smith a millionaire before the age of 18. His early success put any thoughts of attending college out of Smith's mind.

In 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince continued their success with the album He is The DJ, I am The Rapper featuring the radio-friendly singles "Parents Don't Understand," "Brand New Funk," & "Nightmare on My Street." The album won the first ever Grammy Award for a Rap Performance. That album was followed by & In This Corner... which continued the pair's rise to stardom.

Early on it was reported that Smith had turned down a scholarship to Boston's elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but Smith later dispelled the rumor when they told an interviewer: "My sister, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had high SAT scores & they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no purpose of going to college."

Meanwhile, Smith & Towne kept producing music. The 1991 album Homebase produced the hits "Summertime" & "Ring My Bell." Their final album together, 1993's Code Red, was notable for "Boom! Shake the Room."

Five years later, Smith began his remarkable crossover in to acting. Drawing on his experiences with fledgling stardom, NBC signed Smith to star in a sitcom about a street-smart kid from Philadelphia. On the show, the character is shipped off to Los angeles to live with wealthy relatives in Bel-Air, Los angeles. Playing on his rapper persona, & at times featuring his friend Towne, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air was a sizable success that ran for five seasons.