J. Scott Smart (born John Kenley Tener Smart, November 27, 1902 – January 15, 1960) was an American radio, film and stage actor during the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.
Early years
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1902 and his family later moved to
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
,
[ ] where he was a 1922 graduate of
Lafayette High School. He also attended the
Miami Military Institute.
Smart told a reporter that before entering show business, he held thirty jobs in three years, including selling shoe polish, heaving coal on a boat, being a fire chief in a factory, drawing cartoons for a newspaper, and designing ads for an advertising agency.
[
]
Career
When he was twenty-one, Smart began acting in stock theater in Buffalo. He acted there for five years. After that, a friend set up an audition for a program on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. The result was Smart's first role on radio, that of a singing waiter on ''Whispering Tables.''[ His Broadway credits include ''A Bell for Adano'' (1944) and ''Separate Rooms'' (1939).
Smart is best known for his lead as Brad Runyon in the detective show '' The Fat Man'', which aired on ABC Radio from 1946 to 1951. (See Laughlin 1994, Dunning 1976, Buxton and Owen 1996.) A regular on '']The March of Time
''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, ...
'' and ''The Fred Allen Show
''The Fred Allen Show'' was a long-running American old-time radio, radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's and ...
,'' he played so many character roles during the early days of radio drama that he became known as the " Lon Chaney of Radio". He was also an accomplished stage actor and played roles in major productions of '' A Bell For Adano'' and ''Waiting for Godot
''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...
''. He appeared in many movies, including '' Kiss of Death'' and the movie version of '' The Fat Man''. In his later life, Smart's roles in radio programs included those shown in the table below.
He was also a member of the casts of ''The Family Hour''[Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 113-114.] and ''The Teen-Timers Club'' and was heard frequently on '' Grand Central Station'' and ''Inner Sanctum Mystery
''Inner Sanctum Mystery'', also known as ''Inner Sanctum'', is a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952. It was created by producer Himan Brown and was based on the imprint (trade name), imprint given t ...
''.[DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 245.]
Personal life
Smart married Alice Coy Wright on July 23, 1931.
Later years
Smart continued to live in Ogunquit, where he directed a summer theater. He also became a painter and sculptor.[
]
Death
Smart died of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
.
Filmography
References
*Buxton, Frank and Bill Owen (1996) ''The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950'' (second edition), New York: Scarecrow Press.
*Dallman, V.Y. (1960) Obituary in the ''Illinois State Register'', January 15, 1960.
*Dunning, John (1976) ''Tune In Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976'', Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
*Laughlin, Charles D. (1994) ''J. Scott Smart, a.k.a. The Fat Man''. York, Maine: Three Faces East Press.
*MacDonald, J. Fred (1979) ''Don't Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920–1960''. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, p. 173.
*Plante, William C. (1960) "J. Scott Smart". ''The Players Bulletin'', spring issue.
*Taylor, Robert (1989) ''Fred Allen: His Life and Wit''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Listen to
Internet Archive: ''The Fat Man'' (29 episodes)
Note: Only the last six episodes in this archive are from the original American J. Scott Smart series; the rest are from the Australian series.
External links
J. Scott Smart official website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, J. Scott
1902 births
1960 deaths
American male radio actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
Male actors from Philadelphia
People from Ogunquit, Maine
20th-century American male actors
Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois