Art Smith
Arthur Gordon "Art" Smith (born March 23, 1899 in Chicago , Illinois , † February 24, 1973 in Babylon , New York ) was an American actor.
life and career
Born in Chicago, Smith was an actor on the stages as early as 1924. It was first seen on Broadway in New York in the late 1920s . There he quickly became a busy performer and appeared in 16 Broadway productions in the 1930s alone. Smith was one of the members of the so-called Group Theater , which produced its own pieces and pioneered method acting with its goal of "naturalistic playing" . Smith appeared in the premieres of plays by well-known authors such as Clifford Odets , Paul Green and Sidney Kingsley . In the early 1940s, the gray-haired character actor moved permanently to Hollywood, where he made his film debut with a role in the documentary Native Land (1942). In his first years in Hollywood, Smith mostly had to be content with small parts, but by the mid-1940s at the latest he was also given more complex supporting roles.
Mostly he was filled in dignified or learned roles, for example as a doctor ( cell R 17 ) or butler ( letter from a stranger ). He had one of his most famous appearances as the agent of a screenwriter played by Humphrey Bogart in the film noir drama Ein Einsamer Ort . Smith's Hollywood career ended abruptly in April 1952 when he was blacklisted on suspicion of communism during the McCarthy era . Significantly responsible for this was Smith's former group theater colleague and star director Elia Kazan , who testified against him. Smith then returned to Broadway, where he played the soothing druggist "Doc" in the 1957 premiere of West Side Story . Occasionally, he had minor appearances in film and television in the 1960s.
After Smith increasingly withdrew from the acting business in the 1960s, he died of a heart attack in 1973 at the age of 73.
Filmography (selection)
- 1942: Native Land
- 1943: Education for Death as a narrator
- 1943: Rebellion in Trollness (Edge of Darkness)
- 1944: On my word of honor (Uncertain Glory)
- 1944: None But the Lonely Heart
- 1945: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
- 1947: Cell R 17 (Brute Force)
- 1947: Hunt for Millions (Body and Soul)
- 1947: Ride on the Pink Horse (Ride the Pink Horse)
- 1947: Secret Agent T (T-Men)
- 1947: Game (framed)
- 1947: A Double Life (A Double Life)
- 1948: Letter from an Unknown (Letter from an Unknown Woman)
- 1948: Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph)
- 1948: Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
- 1949. Trapped (Caught)
- 1950: The Killer That Stalked New York
- 1950: Riot in Santa Sierra (The Sound of Fury)
- 1950: a Lonely Place (In a Lonely Place)
- 1950: Quicksand
- 1950: The Next Voice You Hear ...
- 1951: Lassie and the Gold Diggers (The Painted Hills)
- 1952: Just for You
- 1961: Sharks of the Big City (The Hustler)
- 1967: CBS Playhouse (TV series, 1 episode)
Web links
- Art Smith in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Art |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Arthur Gordon (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-American actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 24, 1973 |
| Place of death | Babylon |