Jada Pinkett, or Jada Pinkett-Smith as she's best known, has led a colorful life as a dancer, singer, and Hollywood actress who now balances a busy career with marriage and motherhood. Always in the spotlight in one form or another and well known for her bombshell looks, Jada Koren Pinkett was born September 18, 1971, in Baltimore, Maryland, to a middle-class couple with a short-lived marriage.
Jada was the reigning Miss Maryland in 1988 and she attended the Baltimore School for the Arts where she majored in dance and choreography. It was there that she met and formed a lasting friendship with Tupac Shakur (who passed away in 1996). Jada graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts and spent a year at North Carolina School for the Arts before dropping out to pursue a career in acting.
She was cast in a few small roles including one in 21 Jumpstreet, but landed her first big acting job in 1991 when she was cast on the sitcom A Different World in 1987. In 1993, Jada secured her first movie role in Menace II Society, which also featured Samuel L Jackson. It wasn't until she starred opposite Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor in 1996 that she gained any widespread attention as an actress. Since then Jada has added movies such as The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and Collateral to her film credits. She is also the voice of Gloria, the vivacious hippopotamus from Dreamwork's computer animated film Madagascar, and is confirmed to be returning as the voice of Gloria in the family film's sequel.
Jada Pinkett met her present-day husband, Will Smith, in 1995. They were married two years later in 1997, and now have two children, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith and Willow Camille Reign Smith. Their marriage being a long-lasting one by Hollywood standards, Jada Pinkett-Smith has publicly credited her husband with saving her from her addiction to alcohol, reporting that she has been on the straight and narrow since their marriage. Though she's happily married to one of the best-known actors in Hollywood , Jada pursues her own interests independently.
In addition to being a busy wife, mother, and actress, Jada has also worked as a director on music videos and created Maja, her own line of women's T-shirts that are retailed through catalog sales. Jada is also the lead singer of Wicked Wisdom, a band well known for combining pop with heavy metal. The band toured Ozzfest in the summer of 2005 and released a self-titled album in February of 2006, launching a 3-month tour.
