8th June 1971
Comedian Will Smith is born
Winchester-born William James Smith was raised in Jersey and attended Victoria College before making his name as both a writer and performer of comedy.
One of his earliest comedy jobs was on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show, where he appeared with Ricky Gervais. He supported Gervais on tour, later doing the same for comedians Ardal O’Hanlon and Johnny Vegas. At the same time as supporting Gervais’, he had a four-episode BBC Radio 4 series, The Tao of Bergerac, chronicling his obsession with the Jersey-set police drama. Actor John Nettles, who played Bergerac, appeared in each episode.
Transatlantic success
His career has taken him to America, where he wrote episodes for HBO sitcom Veep (of which he is also one of the executive producers). Veep is an adaptation of the British political comedy, The Thick of It, in which Smith appeared for two series as Phil Smith, special advisor to the secretary of state for DoSAC.
Naturally, this Will Smith is not the same as the one who played the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and appeared in films including Independence Day and I, Robot.
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Other events that occured in June
A flotilla of Jersey boats sets sail for Dunkirk
- Volunteers from the St Helier Yacht Club set sail for Dunkirk in June 1940 to help with the rescue of Alied soldiers.
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The king and queen’s liberation visit
- The King and Queen should have visited the Channel Islands on 6 June 1945, which Jersey had declared a public holiday.
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Jersey man who made bread from air dies
- Jersey-born Robert Le Rossignol saved the world from starvation when he found a way to quickly make fertiliser.
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General de Gaulle has lunch in Jersey while fleeing France
- General Charles de Gaulle fled France early in the Second World War and went to Britain by way of Jersey, where he stopped for lunch.
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