Putter Smith

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title: "Putter Smith" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1941-births", "living-people", "people-from-bell,-california", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "male-actors-from-los-angeles-county,-california", "american-jazz-double-bassists", "american-male-double-bassists", "american-male-film-actors", "jazz-musicians-from-california", "21st-century-american-double-bassists", "21st-century-american-male-musicians", "american-male-jazz-musicians", "american-jazz-educators"] description: "American jazz bassist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putter_Smith" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American jazz bassist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Putter Smith
image	Putter Smith as Mr. Kidd (1971).jpg
landscape
caption	Smith while filming Diamonds Are Forever in 1971
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth_name	Patrick Verne Smith
birth_date
birth_place	Bell, California, U.S.
death_date
genre	Jazz, cool jazz, bebop, pop, blues
occupation	Musician, music teacher, author, actor
instrument	Double bass
years_active	1960s–present
associated_acts	Carson Smith
website
::

| name = Putter Smith | image = Putter Smith as Mr. Kidd (1971).jpg | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = Smith while filming Diamonds Are Forever in 1971 | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Patrick Verne Smith | birth_date = | birth_place = Bell, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | genre = Jazz, cool jazz, bebop, pop, blues | occupation = Musician, music teacher, author, actor | instrument = Double bass | years_active = 1960s–present | label = | associated_acts = Carson Smith | website =

Patrick Verne "Putter" Smith (born January 19, 1941) is an American jazz bassist, music teacher, author, and actor.

Early life

Smith was born in Bell, California, near Los Angeles, and began playing the bass at the age of eight, inspired by his older brother, jazz musician Carson Smith. He made his performing debut aged 13 at the Compton Community Center.

Career

He went on to perform with Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Billy Eckstine, Diane Schuur, Lee Konitz, Bruce Forman, Jackie and Roy, Carmen McRae, Gary Foster, Art Farmer, Blue Mitchell, Erroll Garner, Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, Alan Broadbent, Bob Brookmeyer, Warne Marsh, Ray Charles, Patrice Rushen, Jorge Rossy, John Mayall, Jimmy Wormworth, Mason Williams, Percy Faith, Burt Bacharach, The Manhattan Transfer, and Johnny Mathis. He works as a session musician, and has played on recordings by Beck, Smokey Hormel, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys, and The Righteous Brothers, among many others.

Smith taught at the Musician's Institute, and at the California Institute of the Arts.

Smith was playing with Monk at the Los Angeles jazz club Shelly's Manne-Hole when he was spotted by director Guy Hamilton, who cast him as the assassin Mr. Kidd (alongside Bruce Glover as Mr. Wint) in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. He went on to have several other minor acting roles on film and television.

Filmography

• Diamonds Are Forever (1971) – Mr. Kidd
• Win, Place or Steal (1974) – Kangaroo
• In the Mood (1987) – Minister

References

References

1. (2013). "Smith, Putter (Patrick Verne)".
2. (May 12, 2008). "Putter Smith: Jazz Wolverine". [[All About Jazz]].
3. Duersten, Matthew. (May 9, 2007). "Putter Smith". [[L.A. Weekly]].
4. (2014). "Putter Smith". puttersmith.net.
5. (2016). "Putter Smith". IMDb.com.
6. Smith, Putter. (March 2021). "Putter Smith Music".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::