who played the mother on fresh prince of bel air
List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters Prof. Vivian Banks (nÃ©e Smith), PhD, born on October 21, 1951, was portrayed by Janet Hubert-Whitten during the first three seasons and by Daphne Maxwell Reid for the last three. She is the mother of Nicky, Ashley, Carlton and Hillary Banks; the aunt of Will Smith and the wife of Phillip Banks. She has been a retired Doctor then earned her PhD at UCLA since 1971, and in one early episode takes a temporary job as a teacher for a unit in Black History at Bel-Air Academy, the upscale preparatory high school attended by Will and Carlton, and later by Ashley. She has one older sister, Vy (Will's mother), and two younger sisters, Helen and Janice.