Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter and businesswoman, was born on September 18, 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland. Pinkett Smith is of West Indian, Creole, Portuguese Jewish, and African-American ancestry. Her father, Robsol Pinkett, Jr., a construction company owner, and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, the head nurse of a clinic in Baltimore. She has one younger brother, Caleeb Pinkett.
At a young age, Pinkett played piano, tap dance, and ballet lessons. In 1989, she graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts, majoring in dance and theatre. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. She moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in acting.
In 1990, Pinkett made a guest appearance in the sitcom True Colors. Pinkett has starred in many films such as Menace II Society (1993), A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994), The Nutty Professor (1995), If These Walls Could Talk (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Return to Paradise (1998), Bamboozled (2000), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), and The Women (2007). Pinkett wrote and directed the film "The Human Contract," and starred in the film as Rita. She starred in the television shows: Moe's World (1990), 21 Jump Street (1991), Doogie Howser, M.D (1991), A Different World (1991-1993), and Hawthorne (2009–Present).
In 2007, Pinkett Smith launched her music career and helped create the metal rock band Wicked Wisdom, for which she is a singer and songwriter. She created her own production company, 100% Woman Productions and fashion label, Maja. In 2004, Pinkett Smith published her first children's book, Girls Hold Up This World. Jada Pinkett has been nominated for numerous awards and won "Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" in the film Hawthorne.
Pinkett Smith has made donations to organizations such as Capital K-9s, $1 million to the Baltimore School for the Arts, helped raise funds for the Lupus Foundation of America and professional educational programs. Pinkett Smith and her husband, Will Smith, donated $20,000 to the Hollywood Education and Literacy Program. Together, the couple have founded the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, a charity organization which focuses on urban inner city youth and family support.
Pinkett married Will Smith on December 31, 1997. Smith is an actor, film producer, and singer. She met Will Smith on the set of Smith's television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and started dating him in 1995. Pinkett Smith and Smith have three children, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Willow Camille Reign Smith, and a stepson Trey Smith.
