JADA PINKETT SMITH Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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JADA PINKETT SMITH

Name: Jada Koren Pinkett                                                             
Born: 18 September 1971 Baltimore, Maryland, United States                           
                                                                                     
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and       
singer. She is married to actor/rapper Will Smith.                                   
                                                                                     
Pinkett Smith was born Jada Koren Pinkett in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter       
of Adrienne Banfield, the head nurse of an inner-city clinic in Baltimore, and       
Robsol Pinkett, Jr., who runs a construction company. Her parents divorced after     
only several months of marriage and her mother has since re-married twice; Her       
mother became pregnant with her while still in high school. Pinkett Smith           
majored in theatre at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where she met classmate     
Tupac Shakur with whom she developed a close friendship. In the documentary         
Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for       
my whole life." Also in this documentary, Pinkett Smith calls Shakur "one of my     
best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type       
of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." The two remained     
close friends until Shakur's death in 1996. After graduating from the Baltimore     
School for the Arts, Pinkett Smith then spent a year at the North Carolina           
School of the Arts before dropping out to pursue her career in acting. Pinkett       
Smith is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. She is also of Native American     
descent being of the Cherokee tribe making her one of many people who are both       
Native American and African American.                                               
                                                                                     
Pinkett Smith's big break came in 1991 when she was cast in the part of college     
freshman Lena James on the NBC television sitcom A Different World, a spin-off       
of The Cosby Show. She made her feature film debut two years later in Menace II     
Society (1993). She did not gain widespread recognition, however, until her role     
opposite Eddie Murphy in the remake of The Nutty Professor (1996). In 2001 she       
co-starred with her husband Will in the Academy Award nominated film Ali as the     
first wife of Cassius Clay. In 2003, she starred as Niobe in the Matrix series (Will 
Smith was originally considered for the role of Neo). In addition to being in       
front of the camera, she has spent time behind it, directing music videos. She       
has also created "Maja," a line of women's T-shirts and dresses that are mostly     
sold through small catalogs. In 2007, she starred in the Mike Binder film, Reign     
Over Me, also starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle.                                 
                                                                                     
Pinkett Smith is the vocalist for the metal band Wicked Wisdom, which released a     
self-titled debut album on February 21, 2006. The band also toured Ozzfest in       
the summer of 2005 as part of the second stage lineup. In 2006 the band played       
the Download Festival in Castle Donington, UK as one of the first bands on the       
Friday.