James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J

Born: January 14 1968
Where: Long Island, New York, USA

The rapper and actor is known for a string of performances in action films such as Deep Blue Sea, Charlie's Angels and S.W.A.T.

The product of a broken home (he saw his father shoot and injure his mother and grandfather) he discovered rap music aged nine.

At 15 he assumed the name LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James) and was signed up by music manager Rick Rubin, who co-owned the Def Jam label.

He became the first rap artist to amass six consecutive platinum selling albums and six gold singles.

Smith made his feature debut with a cameo in Krush Groove and wrote and appeared in the movie Wildcats.

His first acting role proper was in 1991's The Hard Way as a police officer and he went on to star alongside Robin Williams in Barry Levinson's Toys.

Roles followed in Halloween H20 and Rene Harlin's shark flick Deep Blue Sea in which he played a comedy cook.

He switched styles to star in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday with Al Pacino and went on to star in the blockbuster Charlie's Angels.

Subsequent appearances include the lacklustre Rollerball remake, the comedy Kingdom Come and also voiced Rugrats Go Wild!

Recent work has included the routing police thriller S.W.A.T and the action movie Slow Burn with Ray Liotta.