Will Smith
Smith in 2005, cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Willard Carroll Smith, Jr.
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 25, 1968
Ethnicity: African-American
Will Smith, also known as The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, rapper, songwriter, and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for King Richard (2021). He has starred on the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and in the films Where the Day Takes You, Made in America (1993), Six Degrees of Separation, Bad Boys, and its sequels; Independence Day, Men in Black, and its sequels; Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Ali, I, Robot; Shark Tale, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, Hancock, Seven Pounds, After Earth, Winter’s Tale, Focus (2015), Concussion, Suicide Squad (2016), Collateral Beauty, Bright, Aladdin (2019), Gemini Man, Spies in Disguise, and Emancipation. He co-created the show All of Us, which he also wrote for, and has hosted the shows One Strange Rock, Amend: The Fight for America, and Welcome to Earth. He was part of hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he released the songs “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” “A Nightmare on My Street,” “Summertime,” “Ring My Bell,” and “Boom! Shake the Room.” He later had solo hits “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It” and “Wild Wild West.”
Will is the son of Caroline (Bright), a school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith, a refrigeration engineer, who was in the Air Force. His parents were/are both African-American. He was raised in Wynnefield, Philadelphia. Will is married to actress and musician Jada Pinkett Smith. He has a son, actor and disc jockey Trey Smith, with his former wife, actress and fashion designer Sheree Fletcher; and two children, actors and singers Jaden Smith and Willow Smith, with Jada.
Will’s paternal grandfather was Wilmon Lee Smith (the son of John Edward Smith and Mariah B. Holley). George was born in North Carolina. John was the son of Miles A. Smith and Margaret Ann Johnson. Mariah was the daughter of Gregory Holley and Mary Ellen Woodhouse.
Will’s paternal grandmother was Ellen Frances Washington (the daughter of Thomas Holcomb Washington and Conolia Lottie “Estelle” Lee). Ellen was born in Virginia. Thomas was the son of William Washington and Mary Frances Scott. Conolia was the daughter of George Washington Lee and Ellen Frances Gannaway.
Will’s maternal grandmother is named Helen.
Sources: Obituary of Will’s father – http://www.legacy.com
Genealogies of Will Smith (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
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