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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, he was a member of the Group Theatre and performed in many of their productions, including ''

Rocket to the Moon A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

'', '' Awake and Sing!'', '' Golden Boy'' and '' Waiting for Lefty'', all by

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

; '' House of Connelly'' by Paul Green; and Sidney Kingsley's '' Men in White.''Broadway IBDB
/ref> 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 Dorothy B. Hughes (August 10, 1904 May 6, 1993) was an American crime writer, literary critic, and historian. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the hardboiled and noir styles, and is best known for the novels ''In ...

. Smith was one of the victims of the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry Blacklisting, blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of ...

, which ended most of his film career in 1952. In 1957, he originated the role of Doc in the stage version of '' West Side Story.'' Smith only returned occasionally to the film business, for example in an uncredited part in '' The Hustler''. He also worked on television before retiring in 1967. He died, aged 73, in Long Island, New York from a heart attack.

Broadway roles

* ''Broken Dishes'' (1929) - Sam Green * ''The House of Connelly'' (1931) - Jesse Tate * '' Success Story'' (1932) - Marcus Turner * '' Night Over Taos'' - Captain Mumford * '' Awake and Sing!'' (1935) and (1939) - Myron Berger * '' Men in White'' (1933) - Mr. Hudson * '' Waiting For Lefty'' (1935) - henchman * '' Johnny Johnson'' (1936) - Sgt. Jackson, and as Doctor and as Brother Thomas * '' Golden Boy'' (1937) - Tokio * ''

'' (1938) - Phillip Cooper, D.D.S * '' West Side Story'' (1957) - Doc * '' All the Way Home'' (1960) - Father Jackson

Partial filmography

*'' Nancy Drew... Reporter'' (1939) *'' Education for Death'' (1943, Short) - Narrator (voice) *'' Edge of Darkness'' (1943) - Knut Osterholm *''

Appointment in Berlin ''Appointment in Berlin'' (also known as ''Assignment in Berlin'') is a 1943 American war drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring George Sanders, Marguerite Chapman and Onslow Stevens. The film's plot follows an R.A.F. officer wh ...

'' (1943) - Dutch Pastor (uncredited) *'' Government Girl'' (1943) - Macqueenie (uncredited) *'' None Shall Escape'' (1944) - Stys *'' Uncertain Glory'' (1944) - Warden (uncredited) *'' The Black Parachute'' (1944) - Joseph - Guerilla (uncredited) *'' Mr. Winkle Goes to War'' (1944) - McDavid, Head of McDavid's School for Boys (uncredited) *'' Youth Runs Wild'' (1944) - Fred Hauser (uncredited) *'' None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944) - Mr. Marjoriebanks (uncredited) *'' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' (1945) - Charley (uncredited) *'' Framed'' (1947) - Desk Clerk (uncredited) *''

Brute Force Brute Force or brute force may refer to: Techniques * Brute force method or proof by exhaustion, a method of mathematical proof * Brute-force attack, a cryptanalytic attack * Brute-force search, a computer problem-solving technique People * Brut ...

'' (1947) - Dr. Walters *'' Ride the Pink Horse'' (1947) - Bill Retz *'' Body and Soul'' (1947) - David Davis (uncredited) *'' T-Men'' (1947) - Gregg *'' A Double Life'' (1947) - Wigmaker *'' Arch of Triumph'' (1948) - Inspector *''

Letter from an Unknown Woman ''Letter from an Unknown Woman'' (german: Brief einer Unbekannten) is a novella by Stefan Zweig. Published in 1922, it tells the story of an author who, while reading a letter written by a woman he does not remember, gets glimpses into her lif ...

'' (1948) - John *'' Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid'' (1948) - Dr. Harvey *''

Angel in Exile ''Angel in Exile'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by Allan Dwan and Philip Ford and written by Charles Larson. The film stars John Carroll, Adele Mara, Thomas Gomez, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya and Grant Withers. The film was relea ...

'' (1948) - Emie Coons *'' Chicken Every Sunday'' (1949) - Mr. Johnson (uncredited) *'' Caught'' (1949) - Psychiatrist *'' South of St. Louis'' (1949) - Bronco *'' Manhandled'' (1949) - Detective Lt. Bill Dawson *'' Red, Hot and Blue'' (1949) - Laddie Corwin *'' Song of Surrender'' (1949) - Mr. Willis *'' Quicksand'' (1950) - Mackey *'' In a Lonely Place'' (1950) - Mel Lippman *'' The Next Voice You Hear'' (1950) - Fred Brannan *'' South Sea Sinner'' (1950) - William Grayson *''

The Killer That Stalked New York ''The Killer That Stalked New York'' (also known as ''Frightened City'') is a 1950 American film noir directed by Earl McEvoy and starring Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin and William Bishop. The film, shot on location and in a semi-documentary sty ...

'' (1950) - Anthony Moss *'' The Sound of Fury'' (1950) - Hal Clendenning *'' The Painted Hills'' (1951) - Pilot Pete *'' Half Angel'' (1951) - Policeman Dan (uncredited) *'' Rose of Cimarron'' (1952) - Deacon *'' Just for You'' (1952) - Leo *'' The Hustler'' (1961) - Old Man Attendant (uncredited) *''The Moving Finger'' (1963)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Art 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