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Will Smith is born...
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Period: to
Will Smith's Life
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Smith begins rapping. At Overbrook High School he is given the nickname Prince, which eventually becomes Fresh Prince.
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Parents divorce.
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Meets Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) at a party and begins collaborating with him under the name of Fresh Prince.
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Earns $6 million dollars from his song with DJ Jazzy Jeff.
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D. J. Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince win a Grammy for Best Rap Performance for "Parents Just Don’t Understand."
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Wins the title role in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
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D. J. Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince win their second Grammy for Summertime.
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Son Willard Smith III (Trey) born.
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Marries Sheree Zampino.
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Code Red, D. J. Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince’s final album, is released.
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Stars in Bad Boys with Martin Lawrence.
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Divorces Sheree Zampino.
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The Fresh Prince of Bel Air TV show comes to an end.
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Stars in Independence Day.
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Smith’s first solo album, Big Willie Style, is released.
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Stars in Men in Black with Tommy Lee Jones.
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Following the success of Independence Day and Men in Black, Smith now commands $12.5 million per picture.
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Marries actress Jada Pinkett.
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Smith’s first child with Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre, is born.
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Turns down the role of Neo in the Wachowski Brothers’ The Matrix to star in The Wild, Wild West.
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2,000 guests attend Smith and his wife’s joint birthday party on the Universal backlot in Hollywood.
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Smith’s second child with Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Camille Reign, is born.
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Saves a teenage fan from choking by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre after sneaking up on her to wish her happy birthday in a shopping mall.
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Receives a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali.
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Requests a restraining order against his 66-year-old former caretaker Mike Cooley, alleging he has stalked the couple and their children for some time.
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Is dropped by record company Sony, allegedly because they feel he is too old.
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The couple’s former housekeeper sues them for allegedly failing to pay approximately 1,640 hours of overtime pay.
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Creates the sitcom All of Us with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
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Smith and his wife donate $20,000 to a Scientology literacy campaign called HELP (The Hollywood Education and Literacy Program) after Jada completes filming of Collateral with Tom Cruise.
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Hosts the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia.
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Releases successful Lost & Found LP with Interscope Records after being dropped by Sony.
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Enters the Guinness Book of Records for attending three premieres within 24 hours.
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Falls victim to identity theft when 45-year-old Carlos Lomax obtains $33,000 worth of credit cards under the actor’s name.
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The TV sitcom All of Us is axed after four seasons.
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America’s Newsweek magazine declares Smith the most powerful actor on the planet.
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Forbes Magazine estimates Smith’s earnings for the year to be in the region of $31 million.
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Has his hand and footprints immortalised on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard
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Receives a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in The Pursuit of Happyness.
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Invests $1 million in a new school near his California home.
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Smith is voted 2008’s top US money-making star by a survey of movie exhibitors.
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Wins the Best Actor award at the BET Awards ceremony.
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Announced as producer of a remake of The Karate Kid which is to star his son Jaden.
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Columbia announces that Smith is to appear in a sequel to the 2008 film Hancock.
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Peter Berg announces that shooting of the sequel to Hancock is to be delayed to allow Smith to spend more time with his family and to help his son Jayden tackle a starring role in the forthcoming remake of The Karate Kid.
