Art Smith (actor)

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American actor (1899–1973)

title: "Art Smith (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1899-births", "1973-deaths", "male-actors-from-chicago", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "hollywood-blacklist", "people-from-long-island", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor (1899–1973)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Smith_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor (1899–1973) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameArt Smith
imageArt Smith in Quicksand.jpg
captionSmith in Quicksand (1950)
birth_nameArthur Gordon Smith
birth_date
birth_placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
death_date
death_placeLong Island, New York City, U.S.
occupationActor
years_active1924–1967
::

| name = Art Smith | image = Art Smith in Quicksand.jpg | caption = Smith in Quicksand (1950) | birth_name = Arthur Gordon Smith | birth_date = | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Long Island, New York City, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1924–1967

Arthur Gordon Smith (March 23, 1899 – February 24, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor, best known for playing supporting roles in Hollywood productions of the 1940s.

Life and career

Born in Chicago, he was a member of the Group Theatre and performed in many of their productions, including Rocket to the Moon, Awake and Sing!, Golden Boy and Waiting for Lefty, all by Clifford Odets; House of Connelly by Paul Green; and Sidney Kingsley's Men in White.

The gray-haired actor usually played studious and dignified types in films, such as doctors or butlers.

Smith appeared in many noirish films, including Body and Soul (1947) and In a Lonely Place (1950). He had a key role as a federal agent in 1947's Ride the Pink Horse, starring and directed by Robert Montgomery. Two of these films, In a Lonely Place and Ride a Pink Horse, were based on novels by Dorothy B. Hughes.

Smith was one of the victims of the Hollywood blacklist, and was fingered as a communist by Elia Kazan during the director's testimony before the HUAC in 1952. This accusation ended the most distinguished portion of his film career. In 1957, he originated the role of Doc in the stage version of West Side Story. Smith returned only occasionally to the film business, for example in an uncredited role as a bathroom attendant in The Hustler. He also worked in a number of top television productions before retiring in 1967.

He died, aged 73, in Long Island, New York, as the result of a heart attack brought on by excessive stress.

Broadway roles

Partial filmography

References

References

  1. [http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=68761 Broadway IBDB]

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1899-births1973-deathsmale-actors-from-chicagoamerican-male-film-actorsamerican-male-stage-actorsamerican-male-television-actorshollywood-blacklistpeople-from-long-island20th-century-american-male-actors