Kent Smith
Encyclopedia
Kent Smith was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film
, theater, and television
.
Born Frank Kent Smith in New York, New York, Smith made his acting debut on Broadway
in 1932 in Men Must Fight and, after spending a few years there, moved to Hollywood, California, where he made his film debut in The Garden Murder Case
. Initially, he was groomed to play leading roles in "B" pictures, usually as solid and dependable types, or as the friend or rival for the heroine's affections in more prestigious films. As he aged quickly, turning grey quite young, he moved into character roles.
His biggest successes occurred during the 1940s in films such as Cat People (1942), Hitler's Children
(1943), This Land Is Mine (1943), Youth Runs Wild
(1944), The Curse of the Cat People
(1944), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Nora Prentiss
(1947), Magic Town
(1947), The Fountainhead
(1949), My Foolish Heart
(1949), and The Damned Don't Cry!
(1950). He continued acting in supporting roles from the 1950s in films such as A Distant Trumpet
and made his final film appearance in Billy Jack Goes to Washington
(1977).
On Broadway, he achieved success in Dodsworth
(1934), Saint Joan
(1936), Old Acquaintance
(1941), Antony and Cleopatra
(1948), and Bus Stop
(1956).
His numerous television credits include a continuing role in the soap opera
Peyton Place
, as well as featured roles in the television movie
s The Judge and Jake Wyler
, The Night Stalker, and The Snoop Sisters
(all in 1972). He began guest-starring in television series in 1949 in The Philco Playhouse and also appeared in Robert Montgomery Presents
, Wagon Train
, General Electric Theater
, Alfred Hitchcock Presents
, Naked City
, Have Gun Will Travel, Perry Mason
, Gunsmoke
, Rawhide
, Barnaby Jones
, The Outer Limits
, Night Gallery
, and The Invaders
. His last appearance was in a 1977 episode of Wonder Woman
.
Smith was married to the actress Betty Gillette from 1937 until 1954, and to the actress Edith Atwater
from 1962 until his death from congestive heart failure
in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 78.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theater, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Born Frank Kent Smith in New York, New York, Smith made his acting debut on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1932 in Men Must Fight and, after spending a few years there, moved to Hollywood, California, where he made his film debut in The Garden Murder Case
The Garden Murder Case
The Garden Murder Case is the ninth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance.-Plot outline:...
. Initially, he was groomed to play leading roles in "B" pictures, usually as solid and dependable types, or as the friend or rival for the heroine's affections in more prestigious films. As he aged quickly, turning grey quite young, he moved into character roles.
His biggest successes occurred during the 1940s in films such as Cat People (1942), Hitler's Children
Hitler's Children
Hitler's Children is a 1977 biography of the West German militant left-wing group, the Red Army Faction , by South African author Jillian Becker....
(1943), This Land Is Mine (1943), Youth Runs Wild
Youth Runs Wild
Youth Runs Wild is a 1944 B movie about unattentive parents and juvenile delinquency, produced by Val Lewton, directed by Mark Robson and starring Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Jean Brooks, Glen Vernon and Vanessa Brown...
(1944), The Curse of the Cat People
The Curse of the Cat People
The Curse of the Cat People is a 1944 film directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, and produced by Val Lewton. This film, which was then-film editor Robert Wise's first directing credit, is the sequel to Cat People and has many of the same characters...
(1944), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Nora Prentiss
Nora Prentiss
Nora Prentiss is a 1947 black-and-white drama film. It is shot in the film noir style. The film, considered by some to be a "woman's noir", was directed by Vincent Sherman, who bought the story for $2500 ,. Sherman also directed leading lady Ann Sheridan in another 1947 film noir, The Unfaithful...
(1947), Magic Town
Magic Town
Magic Town is a comedy film directed by William A. Wellman, starring James Stewart and Jane Wyman. It is one of the first films about the then-new science of public opinion polling...
(1947), The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead (film)
The Fountainhead is a 1949 American film directed by King Vidor, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ayn Rand, who wrote the screenplay adaptation....
(1949), My Foolish Heart
My Foolish Heart (film)
My Foolish Heart is a 1949 American film which tells the story of a woman's reflections on the bad turns her life has taken. It was directed by Mark Robson and stars Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward. Adapted from J. D...
(1949), and The Damned Don't Cry!
The Damned Don't Cry!
The Damned Don't Cry! is a 1950 Warner Bros. drama film starring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Steve Cochran tells of a woman's involvement with an organized crime boss and his subordinates. The screenplay by Harold Medford and Jerome Weidman was based on a story by Gertrude Walker. The plot...
(1950). He continued acting in supporting roles from the 1950s in films such as A Distant Trumpet
A Distant Trumpet
A Distant Trumpet is a 1964 American Western film, the last directed by Raoul Walsh. It stars Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette and Diane McBain....
and made his final film appearance in Billy Jack Goes to Washington
Billy Jack Goes to Washington
Billy Jack Goes to Washington is a 1977 film starring Tom Laughlin, the fourth film in the Billy Jack series, and although the earlier films saw enormous success, this film did not. The film only had limited screenings upon its release and never saw a general theatrical release, but has since...
(1977).
On Broadway, he achieved success in Dodsworth
Dodsworth (play)
Dodsworth is a three-act play by Sidney Howard based on the 1929 novel by Sinclair Lewis. Through the title character, it examines the differences between American and European intellect, manners, and morals.-Synopsis:...
(1934), Saint Joan
Saint Joan (play)
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw, based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts...
(1936), Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance is a 1943 film drama made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Henry Blanke with Jack L. Warner as executive producer from a screenplay by John Van Druten, Lenore Coffee and Edmund Goulding based on Van Druten's play.The film starred Bette Davis and...
(1941), Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
(1948), and Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
(1956).
His numerous television credits include a continuing role in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Peyton Place
Peyton Place (TV series)
Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...
, as well as featured roles in the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
s The Judge and Jake Wyler
The Judge and Jake Wyler
The Judge and Jake Wyler is an American television movie directed by David Lowell Rich. The teleplay was written by Richard Levinson, William Link, and David Shaw. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on December 2, 1972....
, The Night Stalker, and The Snoop Sisters
The Snoop Sisters
The Snoop Sisters was an American mystery television show that aired on NBC during the 1973–1974 season.-Plot:The show starred Hollywood film legends Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two elderly sisters who routinely stumbled across mysteries which they solved...
(all in 1972). He began guest-starring in television series in 1949 in The Philco Playhouse and also appeared in Robert Montgomery Presents
Robert Montgomery Presents
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example,...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
, Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
, Naked City
Naked City (TV series)
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
, Have Gun Will Travel, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
, and The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
. His last appearance was in a 1977 episode of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
.
Smith was married to the actress Betty Gillette from 1937 until 1954, and to the actress Edith Atwater
Edith Atwater
Edith Atwater was an American stage, film and television actress.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Atwater made her Broadway debut in 1933. In 1939 she starred in The Man Who Came to Dinner....
from 1962 until his death from congestive heart failure
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 78.