Celebrity birthdays: Will Smith turns 46


September 25, 2014

Happy birthday Will Smith! As the Hollywood action man turns 46, HELLO! Online takes a look at what the stars have in store for Will, and for you… 

This is what Will, who is a Libra, can be expecting today: They say that 'if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.' What a nasty thing to say. How cynical and pessimistic. Someone really ought to pass a law insisting that a distinction be made whenever a phrase like this is uttered. If that something which seems 'too good to be true' is offered to you by someone else, perhaps you should look at it askance. But if it represents a promise that you are making to yourself, why on earth should you not believe in it? Your big vision this weekend, is good... and true. Click here to read your horoscope

Willard Smith Junior was born and raised in West Philadelphia in 1968. His cheeky charm was evident from a young age; he was nicknamed Prince by a high school teacher for his regal attitude and ability to talk his way out of any situation. In 1981, he teamed up with DJ Jazzy Jeff to form a rap duo, and in 1986 they released their first single, Girls Ain’t Nothin’ But Trouble.

In 1988, they picked up a Grammy for the album He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper. Will parlayed his music success into a role on the hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which aired from 1991 until 1996. 

In 1993, Will made a break from his squeaky clean TV image in the indie film Six Degrees of Separation, playing a young gay hustler who fools an affluent white couple into believing he is Sidney Poitier’s son. He proved his box-office pull two years later in the action comedy Bad Boys, alongside Martin Lawrence. The movie, made on a modest budget, took $65million in the US, and saw Will’s earning power soar over the $5million mark. 

Back to back hits followed with Independence Day in 1996, and Men in Black a year later. Since then, Will has proved unstoppable. With his A-list credentials cemented, he varied his resume, with diverse roles including a mystical golf caddy in The Legend of Bagger Vance, and portraying Muhammad Ali in the biopic Ali, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. 

He has also continued to rack up blockbuster hits, with Bad Boys II, I Robot and Hitch, and received his second Oscar nomination for The Pursuit of Happyness. Will is happily married to actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who he met on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The couple, who tied the knot in 1997, are parents to two children, Jaden and Willow. Will is also a father to son Trey, from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino, who appeared with his dad in the music video for the 1998 single, Just The Two Of Us.

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