Will Smith Biography
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Willard Christopher Smith II (born
September 25, 1968) is an African American actor and rapper. He is one
of few people who has enjoyed success in the three major entertainment
media in the United States: movies, television, and the music industry.
* * * *
Biography
Smith 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.
Will Smith started his career as The Fresh
Prince, the vocalist of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh
Prince, which included childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes
as its turntabilist and producer. The duo was known for performing
humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably "Parents Just Don't
Understand" and "Summertime".
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. The show was
successful and ran for six seasons.
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 a series of movies. The first two films were hugely successful summer
blockbusters: Independence Day (1996), where he plays a fearless and
confident fighter pilot, and Men in Black (1997), where he plays the
comic and confident Agent J against Tommy Lee Jones's deadpan Agent K.
Smith's acting in Men in Black won critical praise, and both films
established Smith's commercial reputation as a "bankable" star who had
appeal across age, race, and gender, and could "open" a film at the box
office.
Lead roles in Enemy of the State, Wild Wild
West, Ali, Bad Boys II and I, Robot then followed. 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. The most notable of these were his #1 hit theme song "Men in
Black", the #1 hit "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" (which made jiggy a
catchphrase for a while in 1998), and "Just the Two of Us", an affecting
message to his young son. 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 the moderately successful Lost and Found in 2005.
On July 2, 2005, Smith served as host for
the Live 8 concert in his native Philadelphia before an enormous crowd,
and later performed a set with DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Smith married actress Sharee Zampino in
1992. They had a son, Willard Christopher III, also known as "Trey".
They divorced in 1995. Smith married actress Jada Pinkett in 1997. They
have had two children: Jaden Christopher Syre (1998) and Willow Camille
Reign (2000). Along with his brother Harry Smith, he owns Treyball
Development Inc., a Beverly Hills-based company named after his first
son.
* * * *
Salary
History
-
I, Robot (2004) $28,000,000
-
Bad Boys II (2003) $20,000,000 + 20% of
the gross
-
Men in Black II (2002) $20,000,000 +
10% Gross
-
Ali (2001) $20,000,000
-
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
$10,000,000
-
Wild Wild West (1999) $7,000,000
-
Enemy of the State (1998) $14,000,000
-
Men in Black (1997) $5,000,000
-
Independence Day (1996) $5,000,000
-
Bad Boys (1995) $2,000,000
-
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
$500,000
-
Made in America (1993) $100,000
-
Where the Day Takes You (1992) $50,000
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Smith
Date Article Copied:
July 12, 2005
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