Will Smith

Will 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 middle class area in West Philadelphia called Wynnefield. 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 6 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. He had a huge Blockbuster hit with Independence Day (1996), where he plays the alien-battling Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller.