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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 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 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 withd ...

; '' 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. Smith was one of the victims of the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

, which ended most of his distinguished film career in 1952. In 1957, he originated the role of Doc in the stage version of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

.'' Smith only returned occasionally to the film business, for example in an uncredited part 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

* ''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 * '' Rocket to the Moon'' (1938) - Phillip Cooper, D.D.S * '' My Heart's in the Highlands'' (1939) - Jasper MacGregor * ''

'' (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'' (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 ''Youth Runs Wild'' is a 1944 B movie directed by Mark Robson and starring Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Jean Brooks, Glen Vernon and Vanessa Brown. The plot concerns inattentive parents and juvenile delinquency. The film was produced by ...

'' (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'' (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'' (1948) - John *'' Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid'' (1948) - Dr. Harvey *'' Angel in Exile'' (1948) - Emie Coons *'' Chicken Every Sunday'' (1949) - Mr. Johnson (uncredited) *''

Caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch ...

'' (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 Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

'' (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'' (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