Which NBC chief did Will Smith audition for at Quincy Jones's house?

Which NBC chief did Will Smith audition for at Quincy Jones's house? Will Smith auditioned for NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff.

The audition took place during the show's unusual development story. Music manager Benny Medina had pitched Quincy Jones on a sitcom inspired partly by his own life, and Jones arranged for the concept to reach NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff.

Smith was then best known as one half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and had never acted professionally. At a party at Jones's house in December 1989, Jones gave Smith a script for a failed pilot and challenged him to audition for Tartikoff on the spot. Smith accepted the challenge.

The audition proved decisive. The first contract for the series was drawn up that night in a limousine outside the house, helping turn a spontaneous performance into the television role that launched Smith's acting career. Tartikoff also selected Andy Borowitz to write the pilot.