Art Smith

Who was Art Smith?

Arthur Gordon "Art" Smith was an American film stage and television actor, best known for playing supporting roles in the 1940s.

Born in Chicago, 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; House of Connelly by Paul Green; and Sidney Kingsley's Men in White.

Smith appeared in many black-and-white noirish films in supporting roles alongside more handsome and popular movie leads, such as John Garfield in Body and Soul and Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place. In 1957, he originated the role of Doc in the stage version of West Side Story.

The grey-haired actor usually played studious types in films. One of his last movie roles was in The Hustler in an uncredited part. He worked on television before finally retiring in 1967.

Smith was one of the victims of the Hollywood blacklist, which ended his film career in 1952. He died, aged 73, in Long Island, New York, from a heart attack.