KATHMANDU: American actor and rapper, Willard Christopher ‘Will’ Smith, Jr was born on September 25, 1968. He is one of a small group of people who have enjoyed success in three major entertainment media in the US. Newsweek has called him the most powerful actor on the planet. Smith has been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammys.

Smith was the second of four children of Caroline (school board employee) and Willard C Smith Sr (owner of a refrigeration company). Smith is of both African-American and Native-American heritage. He grew up in a middle class area in West Philadelphia called Wynnefield and attended the Overbrook High School in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He got the nickname ‘Prince’ because of the way he could charm his way out of trouble. Bright student Will also signed up with the high-status Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia.

Pursuing music, he met Jeff Townes at a party and they soon began performing together as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. When the duo took off in popularity, Smith made and spent a lot of money on a house, cars and jewellery, leading to his near bankruptcy in his early twenties.

Luckily, in 1989, he met Benny Medina, who had an idea for a sitcom based on his life in Beverly Hills. Smith loved the idea as did NBC which put on the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). The plot was simple: Will basically played himself — a street-smart West Philly kid transplanted to Beverly Hills. The series lasted six years. During that time, he ventured into movies where the critics took note of him in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). With the success that came with the action picture Bad Boys (1995), Will’s movie career was set. His had a huge hit with the blockbuster Independence Day (1996) where he plays the alien-battling Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller.

Smith married Sheree Zampino in 1992. They had a son, Willard Christopher III, also known as ‘Trey’, but divorced in 1995. Trey appeared in his father’s music video for the 1998 single Just The Two Of Us. Smith married actress Jada Pinkett in 1997. Together they have had two children — Jaden Christopher Syre (born 1998), his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness, and Willow Camille Reign, who appeared as his daughter in I Am Legend (born 2000).

Smith has been consistently listed in Fortune Magazine’s ‘Richest 40’ list of

the 40 wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.

Will speak

•For a long time now, I have been beyond anything that I ever dreamed. I just put my head down and run hard, and I am almost always surprised when I look up and see where I am

•If I weren’t a musician/actor, I’d be a computer engineer. I was always good at math. I probably would have been the guy who invented the remote control if I’d been around then

•Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like

Feathers on his cap

Grammy Awards

• 1999: Best Rap Performance for Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It

• 1998: Best Rap Solo

Performance for Men In Black

• 1992: Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for

Summertime, shared with

DJ Jazzy Jeff

• 1989: Best Rap Performance for Parents Just Don’t

Understand, shared with

DJ Jazzy Jeff

Academy Awards

•2007: Nominated for Oscar in best actor in a leading role for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

•2002: Nominated for Oscar in best actor in a leading role for Ali (2001)

MTV Movie Awards

•2008: Best Male Performance for I Am Legend (2007)

•2002: Best Male Performance for Ali (2001)

•1998: Best Movie Song

(For Men In Black) for Men in Black (1997)

•1998: Best Fight (For the fight between Will Smith and an alien —the giant cockroach) for Men in Black (1997)

•1997: Best Kiss for Independence Day (1996) shared with Vivica A Fox Besides this he has won innumerable other awards.