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
No way is he full blooded. He’s got some Caucasian blood in him. It’s easy to see what “africans” that ain’t trully africans.
I can see if a “black” person is a mulato with no problem. I like Will Smith but he’s not pure race.
most African Americans have European blood, so no he’s Black, not Mulatto or whatever you’re implying
You contradict yourself. You say most AA’s have European blood and are still black. But surely anyone with African and European blood IS mixed race? Or is this just the stupid way Americans segregate their races?
The way Americans separate the races ?well truthfully that’s been a worldwide phenomena for centuries now. However, yes, we are mixed blooded people but for a long time , all we could claim was our black blood. Also , most of us didn’t know how much white blood we had in us. whites people told us we were nothing so we chose to turn it around and say that we were black and proud. is actually no different, then when white people who have African blood in them stated that they are white.
It is obvious that Will Smith is mixed with something, he probable doesn’t even know it goes so far back. This reminds me of the British/Jamaican sport star Colin Jackson, he believed that he was 95 per cent black with a little drop of European,once the dna test was done it showed that he also had Carib/Taino Indian as well. I am black British of Jamaican ancestry, I always thought of myself as one hundred per cent African proud of fact that there was no mixing of the genes for me. I had to change my view when I went on holiday and found out that my grand mother on my mother’s side was part Taino Indian, then it clicked why mother had straight her and me and brother had inherited this, but I really had to accept this when both black and white people would ask about my hair texture. Blacks who have any ancestry of slavery do tend look just a little bit different from full blood west Africans. I am about Naomi Campbell’s colour so I am not light skinned, I have never ever been mistaken for an African by other blacks or the whites or even Indians. I bet this is the same for many black Americans and Caribbeans, you have to wonder why this is. I have been on holiday in places like Italy,Spain,Greece and France and when asked where I from I always give the answer Africa, they are not fooled for one minute, they shake their heads in amusement and tell me I must be American, what I want to know is how in the hell do they know.
Why is it obvious that he is mixed with something? Because he’s light skinned? Not all african-americans have the same skin color if you haven’t noticed this already. And just because some are light doesn’t mean they all are ‘mixed.’
@what?
Well to be real most Blacks outside of Africa were from West Africa (slavery). West Africans tend no to be Light-Skinned People.
They tend to be medium brown to Dark-Skinned.
So if a person is light-skinned, unless a person is recently from another part of Africa like South Africa of Ethiopia, 99% of the time they have mixed ancestry.
Look here honey if you go to Africa with PURE Africans the features are some what different. He is mixed with something.
I think you are seeing things that do not exist. You cannot mention pure Africa, thats ignorant really as most people in the entire world have been colonized and mixed at some point in the past. So that is a stupid point. And comparing Africans who are in 100 degree heat everyday does nto makes sense
Why are people bringing back ancestry that was hundreds of years ago, it makes no sense. Both of his parents are black and he is black period.
Wow European colonization has really done a big job on divide and conquer with blacks. YES there are light skinned Africans , who are nOT mixed.
I dont agree that its obvious he is mixed with something, I am from the Carribean too. he looks just black to me. I dont see anything else. He is not even that light
Because most blacks from the Americas have a noticeable if small component of non-black ancestry.
Regardless of complexion they just tend to have a slight but noticeable European and/or Native-American influence in their facial features (usually white).
I agree Island Girl, there are very few African American’s I have seen that could pass for being African. It’s like when you watch Coming to America and they have all these clearly AA actors that are supposed to be African. I don’t know whether it is just through mixing, or maybe the different climate as well, but most AA’s couldn’t pass for being African now.
I think it’s more the point of what part of the United States you’re at cuz I’ve seen quite a few Africans that can pass for African Americans and vice versa. My doctor was a full-blown Nigerian woman and I had no idea she was Nigerian
I think Nigerians are those who are closer to AA, at least going by skin colour. Also Nigerians are native English-speakers, this makes them more assimilable than Ivorians or Congolese.
I always thought he was part Cherokee and White, Cherokee cause his cheekbones are high and round, and his eyes have that great slant to them, and part White cause his skin is light-ish.
You are the biggest idiot if you think every light skinned black person in this world is mixed. I pity you.
I agree Ray. Why is it that when a normal looking black person gets super famous people find all sorts of mixtures that are not even there?????? crazy. Will Smith is not even light skinned , he is brown.
Midora, you kind of contradicted yourself. You keep arguing that he is “black”, and now you say he is brown. Mixed race people almost always ARE brown. He looks almost identical to someone I know who’s dad is white and mum is slightly mixed race. You can’t blame people for at least speculating.
Lov Diz Guy! No Homo!
Mace thanks for the comments. Its makes sense what you wrote. As mixing sometimes goes back hundreds of years its hard to identify ancestry without DNA tests.