1.  Willard Carroll “Will” Smith, Jr. known Will Smith

2.  Will Smith was born and raised in West Philadelphia; he also lived in Germantown in Northwest Philadelphia. His mother, Caroline (Bright), was a school administrator who worked for the Philadelphia school board, and his father, Willard Carroll Smith, Sr., was a refrigeration engineer

3.  It is untrue, though widely reported, that Will Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); he never applied to the school, although he was admitted to a “pre-engineering program” there.

4.  Will 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, as well as Ready Rock C (Clarence Holmes) as the human beat box.

5.  The trio was known for performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Summertime”. They gained critical acclaim and won the first Grammy awarded in the Rap category (1988).

6.  Will 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 nearly bankrupt in 1990.

7.  Will Smith set for himself the goal of becoming “the biggest movie star in the world,” studying box office successes’ common characteristics.

8.  Will 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 of Martin Lawrence.

9. In 1996, Will 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.

10.  Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix in favor of Wild Wild West (1999).

11.  In 2005, Will Smith was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for attending three premieres in a 24-hour time span.

12.  On December 10, 2007, Will Smith was honored at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard

13.  On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Smith has been 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.

14.  US President Barack Obama has stated that if a film were to ever be made about his life, he would have Will Smith play his part, because “he has the ears.”

15.  Along with his brother, Harry Smith, Will Smith owns Treyball Development Inc a Beverly Hills-based company named after his first son.

16.  Will Smith and his family reside on Star Island in Miami Beach, Florida, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Sweden and Philadelphia

17.  Will Smith was consistently listed in Fortune Magazine’s “Richest 40” list of the forty wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.

18.  Will 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. During the 2012 presidential election Smith was one of the top fundraisers for the 2012 Obama-Biden campaign, hosting a fundraiser at his home, raising more than $500,000.

19.  Will Smith was raised in a Baptist household, and has stated that while he remains a Christian, he is “a student of all religions, and I respect all people and all paths.”

20.  In 2012, Will Smith expressed support for the legalizing of same-sex marriage, in an endorsement of President Barack Obama’s declaration to adopt this stance on the issue