What a year for blacks!

This year might as well be referred to as the "year of the blacks" because of the remarkable success that people of African origin

have achieved in areas hitherto believed to be the preserve of whites.

From Kenya's track queen Pamela Jelimo, Jamaican triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt and British motor racing ace Lewis Hamilton to US President-elect Barack Obama, this is a memorable year for black people all over the world.

Hamilton this year became the first Formula 1 black driver and youngest champion, while Obama is the first black President of the United States. Beijing Olympics 800m gold medallist Jelimo is this year's IAAF Golden Jubilee jackpot winner.

And it looks as though America's Tiger Woods, who has dominated world professional golf for several years, is not lonely at the top as far as sports and the performing arts are concerned.

A fellow black man, Will Smith, also of the US, has this year dominated Hollywood, the multi-billion-dollar industry.

Nobody would have thought that the man whose dream as a boy was to be "the biggest movie star in the world," would turn the fantasy into a reality.

When Smith acted in the movie, I am Legend, last year, many would be excused for believing it was an autobiography for his successful career.

From the days as a teenage testosterone-filled actor in the Fresh Prince, Men in Black and a host of other blockbusters, Smith -- a multiple Grammy Award winner -- has grown in stature from a Hollywood prince to the king that he is today.

Mid this year, Forbes released its annual list for the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. And the winner was without doubt Will Smith, who has been called by Newsweek magazine the most powerful actor in the world.

The list was based on who banked the most between June 1, 2007, to June 1, this year.

Will made a staggering $80 million (Sh5.6 billion) last year, beating out Johnny Depp, who made $74 million, and Eddie Murphy with $55 million.

Other actors who made the list were Will Ferrell, Bruce Willis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler.

"I think a large part of why I've been successful is that I have, essentially, a white-collar career with a blue-collar mentality," Smith said recently.

"I can never really relax. I'm always waiting to see what's next. It's always: 'Okay, something different is going to happen here.'"

For a man rumoured to be making $20 million (Sh1.4 billion) a movie, excluding other payoffs if the movie is a success, Smith can now afford to relax in what has been a worthy acting journey to the top of his game.

Three of his latest movies -- Pursuit of Happyness, I am Legend and Hancock -- have all been Hollywood success stories across the world, and he was nominated for an Oscar for Pursuit of Happyness, in which he acted with his son Jaden.

Smith is the only actor in history to have had eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office. In 2005, he was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for attending a record-breaking three premieres in a 24-hour time span.

And now, the legend that is Smith has just acquired a new title; he has been voted America's favourite star by readers of Parade magazine and viewers of US TV show Entertainment Tonight.

The 40-year-old star, who is married to actress Jada Pinkett Smith, beat off competition from second-placed Tom Hanks and third favourite Reese Witherspoon. Fourth was George Clooney, followed by Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Jennifer Aniston and Patrick Dempsey.

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith Jr was born in West Philadelphia on September 25, 1968.

His mother, Caroline, was an administrator on the Philadelphia school board, and his father, Willard Christopher Smith Sr, was a refrigeration engineer.

Smith was nicknamed "Prince" while still in school because of his charm and sly demeanour. Smith, whose parents divorced when he was 13, began rapping, and eventually began collaborating, with Jeff Townes (aka D.J. Jazzy Jeff), whom he met at a party.

He attended Overbrook high school in West Philadelphia, and it was here that DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince was born with Smith handling the rhymes and Townes overseeing the mixing and scratching.

The combination was a pop and hip-hop hit during the 1980s and early 1990s.

He decided to skip the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"My mother, who worked for the school board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology," he recalls. "I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."

D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince together with Ready Rock C (Clarence Holmes) as the human beat box were known for performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably Parents Just Don't Understand and Summertime.

They gained critical acclaim for winning the first ever Grammy in the rap category in 1988. Smith was living a life on the fast lane and he started spending money faster than it came and underpaid his income tax.

The Internal Revenue Service eventually assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against him and took many of his possessions, and garnished his income.

The young talented Smith was nearly bankrupt in 1990 when the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him.

The show was successful and launched his acting career. Smith set himself the goal of becoming "'the biggest movie star in the world'," studying box-office successes' common characteristics.

Although he made a notable dramatic film debut in Six Degrees of Separation while still appearing in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, his film career took off with his role in the buddy cop action film, Bad Boys, along with co-star Martin Lawrence.

After the programme ended in 1996, he began a successful solo music career while simultaneously starring in the films, Independence Day and Men in Black.

He originally rejected the lead role in Men in Black, but wife Jada Pinkett coaxed him into acceptance.

The two films established Smith's commercial reputation as a bankable star whose appeal across age, race, and gender lines could "open" a film at the box office, a reputation Smith would begin to term a "Big Willie Weekend".

Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix in favour of Wild Wild West.

Despite the failure of Wild Wild West, he has said that he harbours no regrets about his decision, asserting that Keanu Reeves's performance as Neo was superior to what Smith would have achieved.

Smith then went on to gain leading roles in several box office successes, including Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, Hitch and I, Robot. He and his wife created the sitcom, All of Us, which was loosely based on their lives.

The show debuted in September 2003 and aired there for three seasons.

He is the father of Willard Christopher III from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino, Jaden Christopher Syre and Willow Camille Reign, who appeared as his daughter in I Am Legend.
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