Smith was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Caroline (née Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith Sr., a U.S. Air Force veteran and refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia’s Wynnefield neighborhood, and was raised Baptist. He has an elder sister named Pamela and two younger siblings, twins Harry and Ellen. Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia. His parents separated when he was 13, but did not actually divorce until around 2000.

Smith started as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey “DJ Jazzy Jeff” Townes as turntablist and producer. Townes and Smith were introduced to each other by chance in 1985, as Townes was performing at a house party only a few doors down from Smith’s residence, and he was missing his hype man. Smith decided to fill in. They both felt strong chemistry, and Townes was upset when his hype man finally made it to the party.

Soon after, the two decided to join forces. Smith enlisted a friend to join as the beatboxer of the group, Clarence Holmes (Ready Rock C), making them a trio. Philadelphia-based Word Up Records released their first single in late 1985 to 1986 when A&R man Paul Oakenfold introduced them to Word Up with their single “Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble,” a tale of funny misadventures that landed Smith and his former DJ and rap partner Mark Forrest (Lord Supreme) in trouble. The song sampled the theme song of “I Dream of Jeannie.” Smith became known for light-hearted story-telling raps and capable, though profanity-free, “battle” rhymes. The single became a hit a month before Smith graduated from high school.

Based on this success, the duo were brought to the attention of Jive Records and Russell Simmons. The duo’s first album, Rock the House, which was first released on Word Up in 1986 debuted on Jive in March 1987. The group received the first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1989 for “Parents Just Don’t Understand” (1988), though their most successful single was “Summertime” (1991), which earned the group their second Grammy and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Smith and Townes are still friends and claim that they never split up, having made songs under Smith’s solo performer credit.

In 1989, Smith was arrested in relation to an alleged assault on his record promoter, William Hendricks, but all charges were dismissed.

Smith spent money freely around 1988 and 1989 and underpaid his income taxes. The Internal Revenue Service eventually assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against Smith, took many of his possessions, and garnished his income. Smith was struggling financially in 1990, when the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him. The show was successful and began his acting career. Smith set for himself the goal of becoming “the biggest movie star in the world”, studying box office successes’ common characteristics.

Smith married Sheree Zampino in 1992. Their son Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III was born on November 11, 1992. They divorced in 1995. Trey appeared in his father’s music video for the 1998 single “Just the Two of Us”. He also acted in two episodes of the sitcom All of Us, and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the David Blaine: Real or Magic TV special.

Smith’s first major roles were in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the action film Bad Boys (1995) in which he starred opposite Martin Lawrence. The latter film was commercially successful, grossing $141,407,024 worldwide – $65,807,024 in North America and $75,600,000 overseas. However, critical reception was generally mixed. In 1996, Smith starred as part of an ensemble cast in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day. The film was a massive blockbuster, becoming the second highest-grossing film in history at the time and establishing Smith as a prime box office draw.

Smith married actress Jada Koren Pinkett in 1997. They met when Jada auditioned for a role as Smith’s character’s girlfriend on the ’90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Jada did not get the part because she was too short. Instead, the role went to Nia Long. Smith grew more attracted to Jada when he later saw her on the TV series, A Different World. Smith, who was married at the time to Sheree Fletcher, decided not to act on his attraction. In 2018, he revealed on Red Table Talk that after Fletcher ended their relationship, only then did he approach Jada. They began dating after Jada moved from her native city of Baltimore to California. The two married in a private ceremony on December 31, 1997, at a hotel in Baltimore. They refer to each other as “life partners”, with Smith stating “There’s no deal breakers. There’s nothing she could do—ever—nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support til death, and it feels so good to get to that space.” The pair produce films through their joint production company, Overbrook Entertainment. Together they have two children: Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born 1998), his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness and After Earth; and Willow Camille Reign Smith (born 2000), who appeared as his daughter in I Am Legend. Smith and his brother Harry own Treyball Development Inc., a Beverly Hills-based company named after Trey. Smith and his family reside in Los Angeles, California. In 2018, Smith celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a bungee jump from a helicopter in the Grand Canyon. Smith was insured by Lloyd’s of London for $200 million for the jump which raised money for the charity Global Citizen. In an interview with The Guardian in 2012, he revealed that he is fluent in Spanish, owing to his time backpacking through Guadalajara, Mexico in his youth.

During the summer of 1997, Smith also began his solo music career with the release of “Men in Black”, the theme song for the film, which topped singles charts in several regions across the world, including the UK. “Men in Black” (and second single “Just Cruisin'”) was later included on Smith’s debut solo album Big Willie Style, which reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200 and was certified nine times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The third single from the album, “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It”, became Smith’s first Billboard Hot 100 number one when it was released in 1998.

In 1998, Smith starred with Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. The following year he turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix in favor of Wild Wild West (1999). Despite the disappointment of Wild Wild West, Smith has said that he harbors no regrets about his decision, asserting that Keanu Reeves’s performance as Neo was superior to what Smith himself would have achieved, although in interviews subsequent to the release of Wild Wild West he stated that he “made a mistake on Wild Wild West. That could have been better.”

Smith portrayed heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 biopic Ali. For his performance he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. In 2002, following a four-year musical hiatus, Smith returned with his third album Born to Reign, which reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA. The album’s lead single was the theme song from Smith’s film Men in Black II, called “Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head)”, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. Later in the year, Smith’s first compilation album Greatest Hits was released, featuring songs from his three solo albums as well as those produced with DJ Jazzy Jeff.

2003 saw Smith return for Bad Boys II, the sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys; the film follows detectives Burnett and Lowrey investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Despite receiving generally negative reviews, the film was a box office success, grossing $270 million worldwide. In the following year, he starred in the animated film Shark Tale and the science fiction film I, Robot; both films were box office successes despite mixed reviews.

Smith’s latest album Lost and Found was released in 2005, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200. Lead single “Switch” reached the top ten of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. In 2005, Smith was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for attending three premieres in a 24-hour time span.

Smith and his son Jaden played father and son in the 2006 biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness. In the film Smith portrays Chris Gardner. Smith first became interested in making a film about Gardner after seeing him on 20/20 and connected with him during production. The film, along with Smith’s performance, received praise.

On December 10, 2007, Smith was honored at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Smith left an imprint of his hands and feet outside the theater in front of many fans. Later that month, Smith starred in the film I Am Legend, released December 14, 2007. Alongside marginally positive reviews, its opening was the largest ever for a film released in the United States during December. Smith himself has said that he considers the film to be “aggressively unique”. A reviewer said that the film’s commercial success “cemented [Smith’s] standing as the number one box office draw in Hollywood.” On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Smith was selected as one of America’s top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008.

Smith gave $1.3 million to charities in 2007, of which $450,000 went to two Christian ministries, and $122,500 went to three Scientology organizations; the remaining beneficiaries included “a Los Angeles mosque, other Christian-based schools and churches, and … the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Center in Israel.” Smith and his wife have also founded a private elementary school in Calabasas, California, the New Village Leadership Academy. Federal tax filing showed that Smith donated $1.2 million to the school in 2010.

In 2008, Smith was reported to be developing a film entitled The Last Pharaoh, in which he would be starring as Taharqa. Smith later starred in the superhero movie Hancock, which grossed $227,946,274 in the United States and Canada and had a worldwide total of $624,386,746.

Smith donated $4,600 to the 2008 presidential campaign of Democrat Barack Obama. On December 11, 2009, Smith and his wife hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway to celebrate Obama’s winning of the prize.

On August 19, 2011, it was announced that Smith had returned to the studio with producer La Mar Edwards to work on his fifth studio album.

Smith again reprised his role as Agent J with Men in Black 3, which opened on May 25, 2012, his first major starring role in four years. After the release of the film, Smith was content with ending his work with the franchise, saying, “I think three is enough for me. Three of anything is enough for me. We’ll look at it and we’ll consider it, but it feels like that it might be time to let someone else do that.” Men in Black 3, released ten years after Men in Black II (2002), grossed over $624 million worldwide. Unadjusted for inflation, it is the highest-grossing film in the series.

In 2012, Smith stated he supported legalizing same sex marriage.

In 2013, Smith starred in After Earth with his son Jaden. The film was a disappointment at the domestic box office and was panned critically. Calling the film “the most painful failure in my career”, Smith ended up taking a year and a half break as a result.

Smith was raised in a Baptist household and attended a Catholic school. In a 2013 interview, he did not identify as religious; however, in 2015 Smith said in an interview with The Christian Post that his Christian faith, which was instilled in him by his grandmother, helped him to accurately portray his role as Bennet Omalu in Concussion saying, “She was my spiritual teacher, she was that grandmother at the church, the one having the kids doing the Easter presentations and putting on the Christmas plays and her kids and grandkids had to be first. She was the most spiritually certain person that I had ever met in my entire life. Even to the point that when she was dying she was happy, like she was really excited about going to heaven.” He is not a Scientologist and has denied rumors claiming him as a member of the Church of Scientology, but he has spoken favorably about it: “I just think a lot of the ideas in Scientology are brilliant and revolutionary and non-religious.”

Smith starred opposite Margot Robbie in the romance drama Focus. He played Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con artist who takes a young, attractive woman under his wing. Focus was released on February 27, 2015. Smith was set to star in the sci-fi thriller Brilliance, an adaptation of Marcus Sakey’s novel of the same name scripted by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp, but he left the project to work on the Ridley Scott-produced sports drama Concussion.

In 2016, Smith played Deadshot in the supervillain team-up action film Suicide Squad. Smith’s participation in the film meant choosing it over a role in Independence Day: Resurgence, which he said would be like “clinging and clawing backwards.” Later that year, Smith starred in director David Frankel’s drama Collateral Beauty, playing a New York advertising executive who succumbs to a deep depression after a personal tragedy. Weeks after signing Smith onto the film, his father was diagnosed with cancer, from which he died in 2016. As part of his role required him to read about religion and the afterlife, he was brought closer to the elder Smith, calling the experience “a beautiful way to prepare for a movie and an even more majestic way to say goodbye to my father.”

His film Bright was distributed via Netflix on December 22, 2017. An urban fantasy, it was the most expensive film for Netflix to date. Smith collaborated with his director from Suicide Squad, David Ayer. That month, Smith launched his own YouTube channel, which as of July 2019 has over 6 million subscribers and 294 million total views. Also in 2017, Smith released the song “Get Lit” a collaboration between him and his former group mate Jazzy Jeff.

In 2018, Smith performed the Hindu rite of Abhisheka of Lord Shiva at Haridwar, India. He also performed an Aarti of the holy river Ganga. He said that he felt a deep connection with Hindu spirituality and Indian astrology.

Smith portrayed The Genie (originally played by Robin Williams) in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie. He also participated in the soundtracks by recording singles: “Arabian Nights (2019)”, “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali”. The film was released on May 24, 2019. Aladdin grossed over $1 billion worldwide to become Smith’s highest-grossing film, surpassing Independence Day. Smith was also featured on rapper Logic’s song “Don’t Be Afraid To Be Different” (2019), from his fifth studio album Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Smith appeared as an assassin who faces off against a younger clone of himself in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man, released on October 11, 2019. Later that year, Smith had his second starring role in an animated film, in Spies in Disguise, opposite Tom Holland. Smith voiced Lance Sterling, a spy who teams up with the nerdy inventor who creates his gadgets (Holland). The film was released on December 25, 2019. In 2020, he reteamed with Martin Lawrence for the third film in their franchise, Bad Boys for Life.