Will Smith

Born: September 25th 1968 Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The former child star and rapper rocketed to fame with his appearance as Captain Steve Hiller in the blockbuster Independence Day.

He quickly capitalised on his big screen success with the barnstorming role of Agent J opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the Men In Black series.

The actor also demonstrated his dramatic range with an impressive portrayal of legendary American boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 biopic Ali.

The second of four children, Smith enjoyed a middle class childhood and landed the nickhame "Prince" because of the way he could charm himself out of trouble.

A young music fan, he formed DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince after meeting fellow enthusiast Jeff Townes at a party.

Switching to TV, he was encouraged by Benny Medina to star in a loosely auto-biographical sitcom based on Smith's life in Beverly Hills after moving from Philadelphia.

By this time he'd made his big screen debut in The Imagemaker and had produced and performed songs for another movie - Licence To Drive.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air lasted for six year and turned Smith into a household name.

His feature acting debut came in 1992 with Where the Day Takes You, but it was the following year that he really broke through, starring in Six Degrees of Separation.

By 1995, as well as being a huge celebrity courtesy of his music and TV, Smith became a bona fide movie star with his role in Bad Boys.

The following year the huge budget summer blockbuster Independence Day, in which Smith modelled his performance on Harrison Ford, established his place in Hollywood.

Next came the alien-buster in Men in Black and Smith then went for a more serious role in the Tony Scott thriller Enemy of the State.

Wild Wild West, opposite Kenneth Branagh, was an ill-considered career blip but Smith was back on form with his most ambitious role yet.

Four years in the organising, Smith's desire to play Muhammed Ali was realised in 2001 with director Michael Mann, with Smith attracting a best actor Oscar nomination.

Subsequently, Smith returned on the sequel trail to the black suit of Agent J in Men In Black II and the leather jacket of Detective Mike Lowrey in Bad Boys II.

In 2004, he had a convincing turn as computer cop Del Spooner in Isaac Asimov's sci-fi thriller I Robot and was the "date doctor" in the engaging rom-com Hitch.

Recently he impressed as a struggling single father in the comedy drama The Pursuit of Happyness alongside Thandie Newton.