Will Smith

Willard Carroll "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American comedic and dramatic actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.

In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for nearly six years (1990–1996) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. In the mid-1990s, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, and eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally and the only one to have eight consecutive films in which he starred open at #1 spot in the domestic box office tally.

Will Smith is ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by Forbes despite the box-office and critical disappointment of his 2013 film, After Earth, co-starring Jaden Smith. Sixteen of the twenty fiction films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million, and five took in over $500 million in global box office receipts. As of 2013, his films have grossed $6.63 billion in global box office. He received Best Actor Oscar nominations for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.

Smith has supported schools across the country. Smith has focused his efforts to bring about change through the Will and Jada Family Foundation, which he founded with his wife in 1997. Smith is also an ambassador for the 46664 Nelson Mandela Foundation, the African response to the global HIV / AIDS. In 2008, Smith became a National Board Member of Malaria No More, a foundation with a simple goal: to eliminate malaria deaths everywhere. Smith has also been active in the Make a Wish campaign, granting wishes and supporting the efforts of the foundation to improve the lives of children in adverse conditions for over a decade and a half. Among his many achievements, Smith was honored by the Museum of Moving Image in 2006 and received the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Award in 2009, an award that was given based on his commitment to education, cultural diversity and social responsibility.

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