At 54, Will Smith Is Grateful to His Mom, Thanks to Whom “He Has Become Who He Is”

In January 2023, Caroline Smith, the mother of Hollywood star Will Smith, turned 86. The actor made a post on his Instagram page saying, “Happy Birthday, Mom-Mom” with a photo of them hugging each other.

Of course, his followers already know that Smith adores his mom, and he is ready to do anything for her. Will is immensely grateful to his mom for everything she’s done for him.

Caroline proved to her children that it’s important to be well-educated.

Caroline Bright graduated from Carnegie Mellon University. She married a former US military man,
Willard Smith Sr., who worked as a refrigeration engineer. They had 4 children.

His elder sister is Pamela, and the younger twins are Harry and Ellen. Will was named after his father.

Will Smith, in his childhood with his younger brother and sister

Will’s mom was on the school board and kept telling her children that “education is the elixir for all problems.” Later, Will said that he’d often find solutions for all the complex situations he had to deal with in books.

Now, the actor has a big library with books on almost any topic. Smith says that it became a true home school for his three children, Willow, Jaden, and Trey.

Caroline’s mom helped her raise the children.

The grandmother did all she could to raise the kids to be decent people. Once, she saw a notebook with songs composed by Will, who had started writing rap when he was 12. She found obscene words and left a short note, “Dear Willard, truly intelligent people do not have to use words like this to express themselves. Please show the world that you’re as smart as we think you are.”

After that, Smith decided not to use such words in his work. He once said, “My Mother and Grandmother defined love, God, and wisdom in my life. I have become who I am and have built my wildest dreams on the backs of their sacrifices.”

His parents’ marriage didn’t stand the test of time.

The relationship between Caroline and her husband wasn’t easy. After one of their big fights, she just decided it was over and left home. So, when Will was 13 years old, his parents made the decision to get divorced.

But none of the parents stopped communicating with the kids. Both their mom and dad tried to give the kids enough attention.

Later, Will Smith said that he’s always felt like a coward because he was scared to protect his mom from his explosive father. And he still has this pain with him. The actor says that some of the things he did then were to deal with the guilt.

Will Smith still adores his mother.

Will often shares their photos together on his social media. On her 85th birthday, he posted a video of him and his mom dancing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).” Will wrote, “Mom-Mom, let’s dance our way to 100.”

The Hollywood star can also joke around with his mom. Once, on Mother’s Day, he wrote, “Mom, I’m sorry about that time when I was a senior in high school and you caught me in the kitchen with my girlfriend. But, really you should’ve been asleep.”

Caroline has a good relationship with Will’s ex-wife.

Will Smith was married to actress Sheree Zampino for only 3 years, from 1992 to 1995. But Caroline still smiles when she sees the woman that gave her a grandson. The boy Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III is Will Smith’s first child.

Sheree has recently congratulated Caroline on her birthday and wrote on her social media, “Happy 86th Birthday Mom-Mom (Trey’s Grandmother on Dad’s side) — giving honor where honor is due! You are loved, treasured, and esteemed!”

His mom is proud of his projects, and she appears in public with him.

Caroline has often been photographed together with her son. For example, they attended the 30th César Awards Ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as well as the premieres of Lakeview Terrace and Made in America.

And also Caroline loves attending sports events together with Will. They once went to a basketball game of Miami Heat and Philadelphia.

Will Smith spoke about his mom in his recently published memoir.

The actor’s autobiography was published in November 2021. There, he spoke about his childhood and mentioned the complex relationship between his parents. It seems he managed to heal his childhood trauma.

“It was a long, excruciating journey — extracting this book from the clutches of my terrified inner child. So, to be honored in this way is like cool water on the flames of my wildest insecurities,” he told the readers of his Instagram blog.

How is your relationship with your parents?