Will smiths new movie, the pursuit of happyness, is based on the astounding true story of a homeless, single father. My conversation with chris gardner and his new pursuit of. In the beginning, gardner bought a plethora of bonedensity scanners as a form of investment with most of what that he and his wife had. Chris gardner is a selfmade africanamerican millionaire, investor, author, international speaker and stockbroker. Written by steven conrad and directed by gabriele muccino, the pursuit of happyness recounts how chris, plagued by some bad luck, a few stupid moves and. The screenplay by steven conrad is based on the bestselling memoir of the same name written by gardner with quincy troupe. The film is inspired by the true story of christopher gardner, a man who has faced many obstacles in life to achieve happiness, even being forced to sleep on the streets with his son.
The movie the pursuit of happyness depicts chris gardners son christopher jaden smith as a 5yearold. We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with ceartain sic unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happyness. It treads the much worn path of the ragstoriches narrative, albeit with some variations in plot, characterization and context. The pursuit of happyness kindle edition by gardner, chris, quincy troupe. Smiths son jaden smith costars, making his film debut as gardner s son, christopher jr. If you believe that ideas and attitude can change a life, then this interview is for you.
Pursuit of happyness, chris gardner, movie, will smith. Based on the real life story of chris gardner, the pursuit of happyness looks at the crests and troughs in chris life on his way to becoming a stock broker, and eventually as everyone knows, a multimillionaire. Sherry dyson and chris gardners son christopher jarrett gardner jr. He is the reallife character behind the pursuit of happyness movie, which starred will smith and his son, jaden smith in a world where suicide and anger are crowning the frustrations of people, the lifechanging story of this black man enlightens many that nothing has the.
Will stars in the film with his reallife 8yearold son, jaden. In his popular book pursuit of happyness, chris depicted his struggles as a homeless father. Chris gardner bio, age, wife, son, books, house, movie. The pursuit of happyness 19 understanding that eventually emerged was of a kind of cinderella storywithout the fairy godmother and the part at the end where she marries the prince and they all live happily ever after. The pursuit of happyness is a movie that is wellknown to many americans, starring will smith as a man named chris gardner who had lost everything but reinvented himself despite facing many unfortunate events. However, gardners life did not entirely mirror will smiths. In the early 1980s in san francisco, chris gardner had big dreams, but could barely earn enough to keep a roof over his young family. Chris has the extraordinary ability to motivate, inspire. This essay would argue that despite the commercial success of the film, it fails as a social instrument. The true story of christopher gardner, who invests heavily in a device known as a bone density scanner, only to find himself struggle to sell the product as its just marginally better than the current technology, and much more expensive. Those tenderhearted words from christopher to his father as they spend the night in a homeless shelter poignantly capture the essence of the pursuit of happyness. The pursuit of happyness this is the story of the real pursuit of happyness chris gardner as portrayed by will smith and real story 2020 interview part 1 the movie, starring will smith.
Gardner had an affair with a dental student, and she became pregnant with his son. In 1981, in san francisco, the smart salesman and family man chris gardner invests the family savings in osteo national bonedensity scanners, an apparatus twice as expensive as an xray machine but with a slightly clearer image. Smiths son jaden smith costars, making his film debut as gardners son, christopher jr. How chris gardner went from sleeping rough with his young son on the floor of a public toilet to the life of a multimillionaire investor. The movie the pursuit of happyness depicts chris gardner s son christopher jaden smith as a 5yearold. Welcome to tim martin, guest hosting on a discussion of the pursuit of happyness, the story of chris gardner and his struggles to reach a point in his life where he finds happyness general impressions. Im an entrepreneur, single parent and the author of the pursuit of happyness. In the pursuit of happiness, the real chris gardner makes a cameo. Born in milwaukee, wisconsin, mr gardner never knew his real father.
Real chris gardner stock broker pursuit of happyness. The pursuit of happyness was a commercially successful film whose main appeal is its feelgood ending. The word happiness is deliberately misspelled, just as it was on the wall of a day care center where gardner once sought care for his own son, chris jr. Chris gardner s yearlong struggle with homelessness and fatherhood was depicted in the 2006 film the pursuit of happyness. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, the pursuit of happyness conjures heroes like horatio alger and antwone fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the american dream. There is no evidence or nor anywhere written that either chris gardners ex wife sherry dyson came back or not.
In reality, chris gardners son was only twoyearsold when the films plot unfolded in real life. While still living with sherry, chris gardner began an affair with a dental student named jackie medina, and she became pregnant with his child only a few months into the affair. Chris gardners pursuit of happiness was seen in theaters by millions of people. Chris gardner is one of the most sought after inspirational speakers worldwide. Will plays chris gardner, a single parent who insists on. The pursuit of happyness this is the story of the real pursuit of happyness chris gardner as portrayed by will. And the guy lived happily ever after, but what happend to his wife in the movie. The story of chris gardner, the man behind the pursuit of. On chris gardners reaction to the pursuit of happyness smith recalls, when he watched the movie, i sat behind him when he watched the movie, which is the most gutwrenching thing you could ever do is make a story about somebodys life. Chris gardner from the pursuit of happyness charactour.
Beyond being recognized as an american entrepreneur, investor and stockbroker, chris gardner is famous as a motivational speaker, author and philanthropist. The 2006 movie the pursuit of happyness starring will smith and his then 7year old son, jaden smith, is based on the true life experience of inspirational speaker chris gardner. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Chris gardner stock broker pursuit of happyness true story. The pursuit of happyness tells reallife rags to riches story of.
Chris gardner married sherry dyson on june 18, 1977. The real chris gardner was okay with this dramatic liberty taken by the filmmakers, i understood that. The pursuit of happyness takes its misspelled title from the line in the u. Will plays chris gardner, a single parent who insists on raising his son while he. The film is inspired by the true story of christopher gardner, a man who has faced many obstacles in life to achieve happiness, even being forced to sleep on the.
Gardners book of diaries, the pursuit of happyness, was distributed in may 2006. What are some simple yet valuable life lessons that one. The movie took some liberties with gardners true life story. But there is one recent pic of sherry dyson with chris gardner on a website. Perhaps the name chris gardner doesnt sound very familiar to you, but youve surely seen or heard about the movie the pursuit of happyness, starring will smith. It is the latter of those three inalienable rights that forms the basis of the pursuit of happyness, a 2006 biographical. An avid philanthropist and motivational speaker, gardner is committed to many organizationsparticularly those related to educationand was recently the recipient of the father of the year. Chris gardners yearlong struggle with homelessness and fatherhood was depicted in the 2006 film the pursuit of happyness. Will smith played the role of chris gardner while smiths son, jaden smith played gardners 7. Christ gardner went from being homeless to working for stock broker companies. A homeless fathers pursuit of happyness chris gardner relates his ragstoriches story in his memoir of surviving the means streets of san francisco with his son while pursuing his dream of.
How chris gardner went from sleeping rough with his young son on the. The pursuit of happyness tells reallife rags to riches. The sentence, as it appears in lemuels essay, is as follows. For the best answers, search on this site that was the real chris gardner. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the pursuit of happyness. This white elephant financially breaks the family, bringing troubles to his relationship with his wife linda thandie newton, who leaves him and moves to. See christopher gardner photos, watch interviews, and explore the true. Chris gardners real pursuit of happyness as the inspiration for this movie, chris gardner says his happiness came when he was able to take care of his children.
In reality, chris gardner s son was only twoyearsold when the films plot unfolded in real life. I mean he became a rich stock brocker, but he and his wife didnt file a divorce, so did they gat back together. The pursuit of happyness is a 2006 american biographical drama film directed by gabriele muccino and starring will smith as chris gardner, a homeless salesman. Chris gardner biography, net worth, son, wife, siblings. Chris gardner the real pursuit of happyness part 12. More than a memoir of gardners financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own familys cycle of men abandoning their children. The astounding yet true ragstoriches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of san francisco and went on to become a crown prince of wall street. Chris autobiography, pursuit of happyness inspired the critically acclaimed, iconic film starring will smith. Chris gardner is an american investor, stockbroker, author, philanthropist, and businessman. As chris gardner explains, what thomas jefferson wrote says happiness is. In the mid1980s, gardner was homeless while bringing up his little child, christopher gardner jr.
Their relationship almost immediately had problems. Chris gardner s pursuit of happiness was seen in theaters by millions of people. The alloy to the happiness we are so glad to be able to share with mr smiths chris gardner in the pursuit of happyness is harder to spot, and you may find that you dont agree with me about that anymore than some of you did about the ending of about schmidt. The true story of chris gardner and the pursuit of happyness. Meet stock broker chris gardner, the man behind the pursuit of happyness true story. The oldest and only daughter of the four surviving children born to parents archie and ophelia gardner, bettye jean came. In the pursuit of happiness, the real chris gardner makes. Chris gardner is famous for finding a path to happiness but the past two years he has been filled with a sadness that has been hard to shake. Ive recently taken my newest position and the last job i will ever have in my life.
In the pursuit of happiness, the real chris gardner makes a cameo at the end of the movie. In order to understand this, lets first establish some definitions. Fatherhood is never easy, especially with the added pressure of finding a bed to sleep in each night. He was born in louisiana on february 9, 1954, into a family that was riddled with abuse. Was that chris gardner himself at the end of pursuit of. Chris isnt perfect, but one emotional scene after another clearly demonstrate his drive to protect and provide for his son. Todays guest post by jason cuthbert features chris gardner from the 2006 movie the pursuit of happyness, written by steve conrad fours years before mega multitalent will smith produced his son jaden smiths first staring role in the 2010 martial arts reboot the karate kid, or played father and son in after earth, will and jaden were. The real chris gardner of the pursuit of happyness fame is the perfect role model for anyone fighting against society to make the most of their life.