Charles Martin Smith
Encyclopedia
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.
, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith
was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios. Smith spent three years of his youth in Paris where his father managed the English-language branch of a French animation studio. He received his high school diploma from Grover Cleveland High School, Reseda, California. He attended California State University, Northridge
and was awarded a B.A. in Theatre.
. After a few years of working in film and television, he landed the role of Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas's 1973
film American Graffiti
. He also played toad again in in the films sequal More American Graffiti.
In 1974 he starred with Ron Howard
again in The Spikes Gang
, filmed in Spain, along with Lee Marvin
and Gary Grimes
; and in 1978 he earned a starring role in Cotton Candy, directed by Ron Howard.
Smith played one of Buddy Holly's bandmates in The Buddy Holly Story
, a race car driver in Disney's Herbie Goes Bananas
, and the starring role as a scientist in Never Cry Wolf
. His work in Starman
was also lauded. In 1979 Smith was cast alongside Barney Martin as the lead in Norman Lear
's last TV series concept, McGurk: A Dog's Life
, which never progressed beyond the pilot.
One of his latter starring roles was in "The Beacon (The Twilight Zone)
," an episode of The New Twilight Zone
where he starred with Martin Landau
and Giovanni Ribisi
in an early role.
One of his other starring roles was in "Banshee (Ray Bradbury Theater)," an episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater
where he starred with Peter O'Toole
and Jennifer Dale
and also in "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! (Ray Bradbury Theater)".
The rest of Smith's acting career has chiefly involved supporting roles. He received good reviews for his work in The Untouchables
. After this he co-starred in The Hot Spot
and Deep Cover
, and in the mid-1990s in less successful films such as Speechless
, I Love Trouble, and Perfect Alibi
.
Smith played a major role in the controversial HBO film And the Band Played On
, then turned in a well-regarded performance in the TV miniseries Larry McMurtry
's Streets of Laredo
.
He also appeared in The Beast
in (1996
) and in a minor role in the big budget Deep Impact
in 1998
. He also played a major character in the made-for-television movie Blackout Effect
. He also payed the Vice-President in Left Behind World At War.
More recently he has appeared in mini-series such as P.T. Barnum, Kingdom Hospital
and The Triangle as well as the feature film Lucky You
directed by Curtis Hanson
. In 2009 he played a featured role, Sheriff Golightly, on Fringe's
second episode.
. Smith said, "I was much more closely involved in that picture than I had been in any other film. Not only acting, but writing and the whole creative process." He also found the process difficult. "During much of the two-year shooting schedule in Canada’s Yukon and in Nome, Alaska, I was the only actor present. It was the loneliest film I’ve ever worked on," Smith said.
Carroll Ballard
, director of Never Cry Wolf, asked Smith to write much of the narration for the film. Smith also had to perform a lengthy scene in which he was entirely naked.
(1986) for Dino De Laurentiis
. He was one of the directors of the TV series Space: Above and Beyond
(1995) as well as the director of the initial episode ("Welcome to the Hellmouth") that launched the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). He next directed the hugely successful feature film Air Bud
(Disney, 1997), and two TV miniseries for Hallmark Entertainment, Roughing It (2001) and Icon (2005).
He also wrote and directed the Canadian feature film The Snow Walker
(2003) for Lions Gate Films
, based on a story by Farley Mowat (of Never Cry Wolf fame) which marked a return to the Arctic for Smith and garnered nine Genie Award
nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Smith.
He has lived in Vancouver, Canada since the 1980s and continues to add to production, directing, acting and writing credits in a career that has spanned more than 35 years.
In 2007, Smith directed Stone of Destiny
for Mob Films, based on a screenplay written by Smith, starring Charlie Cox
and Kate Mara
. Stone of Destiny was the closing Gala Presentation for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
. His most recent film as writer/director is Dolphin Tale for Alcon Entertainment. The film, based on a true story, stars Harry Connick Jr. Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, and was released on September 23, 2011 by Warner Bros.
In 1989 Charles Martin Smith directed and at the same time acted in Fifty/Fifty. A movie filmed in Malaysia which also starred Robert Hays and Peter Weller. Fifty/Fifty is an action packed movie about a nation called Tengarra which is ruled by a cruel dictator.
Early life
Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank SmithFrank Smith (animator)
Frank A. Smith was an American cartoon animator and film director. He was the father of actor Charles Martin Smith, and the brother of animator/director Paul J. Smith and animator Hank Smith....
, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith
Paul J. Smith (director)
Paul J. Smith was an American animator and director.Smith worked for the Walter Lantz studio for much of his career, first starting as an animator, and then as a director. He also animated at the Warner Bros...
was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios. Smith spent three years of his youth in Paris where his father managed the English-language branch of a French animation studio. He received his high school diploma from Grover Cleveland High School, Reseda, California. He attended California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge is a public university in Northridge, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, United States....
and was awarded a B.A. in Theatre.
Acting background
Smith was discovered by a talent agent while acting in a school play, Man of La ManchaMan of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
. After a few years of working in film and television, he landed the role of Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas's 1973
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
film American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
. He also played toad again in in the films sequal More American Graffiti.
In 1974 he starred with Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
again in The Spikes Gang
The Spikes Gang
The Spikes Gang is a 1974 Mirisch Company motion picture adaptation of the Giles Tippette novel The Bank Robber.-Overview:Starring Lee Marvin as an aging bank robber of the American Old West, the film follows his encounters with three coming of age farm boys played by Gary Grimes, Charles Martin...
, filmed in Spain, along with Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
and Gary Grimes
Gary Grimes
Gary Grimes is a former American actor.-Biography:Gary Grimes' first major role was in the 1971 motion picture Summer of '42, playing a teenager who has an affair with a beautiful older woman, played by Jennifer O'Neill...
; and in 1978 he earned a starring role in Cotton Candy, directed by Ron Howard.
Smith played one of Buddy Holly's bandmates in The Buddy Holly Story
The Buddy Holly Story
The film was adapted by Robert Gittler from Buddy Holly: His Life and Music, the biography of Holly by John Goldrosen. It was directed by Steve Rash.-Plot:...
, a race car driver in Disney's Herbie Goes Bananas
Herbie Goes Bananas
Herbie Goes Bananas is the fourth of a series of films made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie – the white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. The film stars former Mel Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman....
, and the starring role as a scientist in Never Cry Wolf
Never Cry Wolf (film)
Never Cry Wolf is a 1983 American drama film directed by Carroll Ballard. The film is an adaption of Farley Mowat's 1963 autobiography of the same name and stars Charles Martin Smith as a government biologist sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population, whose decline is believed to be...
. His work in Starman
Starman (film)
John Carpenter's Starman is a 1984 science-fiction fantasy film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of an alien who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe.The screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans,...
was also lauded. In 1979 Smith was cast alongside Barney Martin as the lead in Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
's last TV series concept, McGurk: A Dog's Life
McGurk: A Dog's Life
McGurk: A Dog's Life was a 1979 NBC television series pilot and the last television concept created by Norman Lear to become a pilot. The show starred Barney Martin, Beej Johnson, Charles Martin Smith and Sherry Lynn. Only one half-hour pilot episode was made of this offbeat costume comedy. It...
, which never progressed beyond the pilot.
One of his latter starring roles was in "The Beacon (The Twilight Zone)
The Beacon (The Twilight Zone)
"The Beacon" is the first segment of the eleventh episode from the first season of the television series The Twilight Zone.- Opening narration:- Synopsis :...
," an episode of The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
where he starred with Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
and Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
in an early role.
One of his other starring roles was in "Banshee (Ray Bradbury Theater)," an episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater
The Ray Bradbury Theater
The Ray Bradbury Theater is an anthology series that ran for two seasons on HBO, three episodes per season from 1985 to 1986, and four additional seasons on USA Network from 1988 to 1992. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel...
where he starred with Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
and Jennifer Dale
Jennifer Dale
Jennifer Dale, née Ciurluini , is a Canadian television, dancer, and actress.- Early life :She is the sister of Canadian actress Cynthia Dale...
and also in "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! (Ray Bradbury Theater)".
The rest of Smith's acting career has chiefly involved supporting roles. He received good reviews for his work in The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1987 film)
The Untouchables is a 1987 American crime-drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by David Mamet. Based on the book The Untouchables, the film stars Kevin Costner as government agent Eliot Ness. It also stars Robert De Niro as gang leader Al Capone and Sean Connery as Irish-American...
. After this he co-starred in The Hot Spot
The Hot Spot
The Hot Spot is a 1990 American drama film directed by Dennis Hopper and based on the 1952 book Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams. It stars Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and Jennifer Connelly, and features a score by Jack Nitzsche played by John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal and Roy...
and Deep Cover
Deep Cover
Deep Cover is a 1992 crime thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and directed by veteran actor Bill Duke. It is also notable for its theme song of the same name, composed by Dr...
, and in the mid-1990s in less successful films such as Speechless
Speechless (film)
Speechless is a 1994 romantic comedy film directed by Ron Underwood. It stars Geena Davis , Michael Keaton, Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson and Christopher Reeve.-Plot:...
, I Love Trouble, and Perfect Alibi
Perfect Alibi (1995 film)
Perfect Alibi is a 1995 American crime film directed by Kevin Meyer and starring Teri Garr and Hector Elizondo.-Plot:An adulterous husband and a homicidal French nanny seek to murder his rich wife for her money. The wife's best friend and a police detective attempt to bring the culprits to justice....
.
Smith played a major role in the controversial HBO film And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic is a nonfiction book written by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts, published in 1987...
, then turned in a well-regarded performance in the TV miniseries Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...
's Streets of Laredo
Streets of Laredo
Streets of Laredo is a 1993 western novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the second book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the fourth and final book chronologically. It was adaptated into a television miniseries in 1995.-Plot introduction:...
.
He also appeared in The Beast
The Beast (1996 film)
The Beast is a 1996 made for TV movie starring William Petersen, Karen Sillas and Charles Martin Smith. The movie is based on the 1991 novel Beast by Jaws author Peter Benchley. The film is about a giant squid that attacks and kills several people when its food supply becomes scarce and its...
in (1996
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
) and in a minor role in the big budget Deep Impact
Deep Impact (film)
Deep Impact is a 1998 science-fiction disaster-drama film released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in the United States on May 8, 1998. The film was directed by Mimi Leder and stars Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, and Morgan Freeman...
in 1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
. He also played a major character in the made-for-television movie Blackout Effect
Blackout Effect
Blackout Effect is a 1998 made-for-television disaster/thriller film. Eric Stoltz plays John Dantley, an NTSB officer sent to investigate a collision between an airliner and a cargo plane at O'Hare. Charles Martin Smith plays Henry Drake, an air traffic controller who insists his radar system...
. He also payed the Vice-President in Left Behind World At War.
More recently he has appeared in mini-series such as P.T. Barnum, Kingdom Hospital
Kingdom Hospital
Kingdom Hospital is a thirteen-episode television miniseries based on Lars von Trier's The Kingdom , which was developed by horror writer Stephen King in 2004 for American television...
and The Triangle as well as the feature film Lucky You
Lucky You
Lucky You may refer to:*Lucky You , a 1997 novel by Carl Hiaasen**Lucky You , theatre adaptation of the novel*Lucky You , a 2007 film starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore set in the world of professional poker...
directed by Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
. In 2009 he played a featured role, Sheriff Golightly, on Fringe's
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
second episode.
Never Cry Wolf
Smith devoted almost three years to filming Never Cry WolfNever Cry Wolf (film)
Never Cry Wolf is a 1983 American drama film directed by Carroll Ballard. The film is an adaption of Farley Mowat's 1963 autobiography of the same name and stars Charles Martin Smith as a government biologist sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population, whose decline is believed to be...
. Smith said, "I was much more closely involved in that picture than I had been in any other film. Not only acting, but writing and the whole creative process." He also found the process difficult. "During much of the two-year shooting schedule in Canada’s Yukon and in Nome, Alaska, I was the only actor present. It was the loneliest film I’ve ever worked on," Smith said.
Carroll Ballard
Carroll Ballard
-Biography:Carroll Ballard started out making documentaries for the U.S. Information Agency, Beyond This Winter's Wheat and Harvest ; the latter was nominated for an Academy Award...
, director of Never Cry Wolf, asked Smith to write much of the narration for the film. Smith also had to perform a lengthy scene in which he was entirely naked.
Directing
Along with his acting career, since the mid-1990s Smith has increasingly focused on his work behind the camera. His first film as director was the camp horror film Trick or TreatTrick or Treat (1986 film)
Trick or Treat is a 1986 horror film by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, starring Marc Price, Tony Fields, and Lisa Orgolini, with special appearances by Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne.-Plot:...
(1986) for Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis was an Italian film producer.-Early life:He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father...
. He was one of the directors of the TV series Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond was a short-lived mid-90s American science fiction television show on the FOX Network, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Originally planned for five seasons, it ran only for the single 1995–1996 season. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Saturn...
(1995) as well as the director of the initial episode ("Welcome to the Hellmouth") that launched the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). He next directed the hugely successful feature film Air Bud
Air Bud
Air Bud is a 1997 American family/dramedy film that sparked the franchise centered on the real-life dog, Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The film's title may in fact be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. It is the first film to be distributed together by...
(Disney, 1997), and two TV miniseries for Hallmark Entertainment, Roughing It (2001) and Icon (2005).
He also wrote and directed the Canadian feature film The Snow Walker
The Snow Walker
The Snow Walker is a 2003 Canadian film based on the short story "Walk Well, My Brother" by Farley Mowat. It was written and directed by Charles Martin Smith and starred Barry Pepper, James Cromwell, and Annabella Piugattuk....
(2003) for Lions Gate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
, based on a story by Farley Mowat (of Never Cry Wolf fame) which marked a return to the Arctic for Smith and garnered nine Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Smith.
He has lived in Vancouver, Canada since the 1980s and continues to add to production, directing, acting and writing credits in a career that has spanned more than 35 years.
In 2007, Smith directed Stone of Destiny
Stone of Destiny (film)
Stone of Destiny is a 2008 British-Canadian adventure/comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It stars Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara and Brenda Fricker....
for Mob Films, based on a screenplay written by Smith, starring Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
and Kate Mara
Kate Mara
Kate Mara is an American television and film actress. Beginning acting in her hometown of Bedford, New York, she moved from the stage to her first film, Random Hearts...
. Stone of Destiny was the closing Gala Presentation for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
. His most recent film as writer/director is Dolphin Tale for Alcon Entertainment. The film, based on a true story, stars Harry Connick Jr. Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, and was released on September 23, 2011 by Warner Bros.
In 1989 Charles Martin Smith directed and at the same time acted in Fifty/Fifty. A movie filmed in Malaysia which also starred Robert Hays and Peter Weller. Fifty/Fifty is an action packed movie about a nation called Tengarra which is ruled by a cruel dictator.
External links
.- Charles Martin Smith's Television Schedule.
- Four Word Film Review.