Will Smith (39) started his career in the late 1980's as part of the rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. Though the duo had such smaller hits as "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," it was not until their chart topping hit "Parents Just Don't Understand" that the group gained much recognition by winning the first Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1988. The pair then went on to win another Grammy in 1991 for their single "Summertime," which has become pretty much an anthem here in the U.S.A whenever the warm summer weather is approaching.
Though his acting career started out on the small screen by way of the NBC hit sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (early 1990's), which ran for six seasons, Will quickly branched out onto the big screen with much fervor. At the beginning of his acting career, most notably was his role as a gay con man in the 1993 movie "Six Degrees of Separation" alongside such greats like Donald Sutherland, Stockard Channing and Sir Ian McKellen. As he expanded his career the types of roles he began to receive were varied and many. One cannot really say that Mr. Smith has ever really been typecast. He played a cop in both "Bad Boys" (1995 and 2003), an air force pilot in "Independence Day" (1996), an alien chaser in "Men in Black" (1997 and 2002) and portrayed the great Muhammad Ali in "Ali" (2001), for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. This rapper turned actor has pretty much done a movie every year (be his role big or small) ever since he delved into the world of acting. Not bad for rapper from Philly!
We have seen Will Smith go from being a young man to a grown man right before our very eyes. That growth has presented itself through mature roles such as the ones he had in two of his most recent films, "The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006) for which he received yet another Oscar nod, and "I Am Legend" (2007). It is clear that this renaissance man is going nowhere but all the way to the top. When you think of Will Smith you expect good and great things. This first class gentleman always delivers with his amazing sense of professionalism, charming personality, acute sense of self and, of course, integrity.