:''See also William Smith and Will Smith (disambiguation) for other people with similar names.''
'''Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.''' (born September 25, 1968) is an Academy Award nominated American actor, multiple Grammy winning hip hop artist, and comedian. He is one of a small group of people who have enjoyed huge success in all the three major entertainment media in the United States: film, television, and the music industry.
Biography
Willard Christopher Smith, Jr was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through his cut-up behavior, he had already obtained the nickname "fresh prince" in high school. He is a graduate of Overbrook High School. He decided to skip college, a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to pursue a career as an MC.
He started as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes as turntablist and producer. The duo was known for performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime." They gained critical acclaim for winning the first ever Grammy in the Rap category (1988).
Smith was nearing bankruptcy when in 1990, the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'', around him. The show was successful and launched his acting career.
Although he made a notable dramatic film debut in ''
Six Degrees of Separation'' (in which he played against type as a gay con man) while still appearing in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', Smith's film career took off with his role in ''
Bad Boys'' (1995) along with co-star Martin Lawrence.
After ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' ended in 1996, Smith began a successful solo music career while simultaneously starring in a series of films. The first two films were hugely successful summer blockbusters: ''
Independence Day'' (1996), in which he played a fearless and confident fighter pilot, and ''
Men in Black'' (1997), where he played the comic and confident Agent J against Tommy Lee Jones's deadpan Agent K. Smith's acting in ''
Men in Black'' won critical praise. The two films established Smith's commercial reputation as a bankable star whose appeal across age, race, and gender lines could "open" a film at the box office.
Lead roles in ''
Enemy of the State'', ''
Wild Wild West'', ''
Ali'', ''
Men in Black II'', ''
Bad Boys II'' and ''
I, Robot'' then followed. His most recent film is 2005's ''
Hitch''.
Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for
