Will Smith tickets and 2024 tour dates

Biography

Willard Christopher Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American Oscar nominated actor and a multiple Grammy winning hip hop artist. He is one of few people who have enjoyed legitimate success in the three major entertainment media in the United States: film, television, and the music industry.

Will Smith was born and raised in West Philadelphia. He spent most of his days in a playground, training basketball and relaxing all cool. Career-wise, he started as the vocalist 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 a charismatic and energetic performer but he 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 helped revitalize his career

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 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. Because his movies usually open during the July 4th weekend, many people have come to call a July 4th weekend in which Will Smith stars in a movie "Big Willie Weekend."

Lead roles in Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, Ali, Men in Black II Bad Boys II and "I, Robot" then followed. He also starred in 2005's Hitch. (Like Smith, Hitch co-star Kevin James starred in a sitcom named for royalty, The King of Queens.) His 2006 role is that of Chris Gardner in the "inspired by a true story", "The Pursuit of Happyness" was nominated for, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role" an Oscar in 2007. Smith's son Jaden also stars in the movie.(Jaden Smith as of 2010 lately played the lead role of Dre Parker in the 2010 remake of "The Karate Kid".) Will Smith's latest acting role was "Seven Pounds" in 2008 where he played Ben Thomas an IRS agent. Since then he's been producing movies that include, "The Karate Kid"(2010), "The Human Contract"(2009), and "Lakeview Terrace"(2008)