Tucker Smith

Who was Tucker Smith?

Tucker Smith, born Thomas William Smith, was an American actor/dancer/singer best known for his role as Ice in the movie musical West Side Story.

Tucker Smith was an American Theatre Wing scholarship winner and he first moved to New York City from his native Philadelphia in September 1955. Shortly afterward, he joined the national tour of Damn Yankees. In 1958 he joined the cast of the original Broadway production of West Side Story, as a replacement for the role of Big Deal, then going on to play the roles of Diesel and Snowboy. He understudied for the character of Riff and had played that role many times. The musical went on a national tour in the United States from June 14, 1959‚ to April 23, 1960‚ and Smith went along with it.

Smith was one of the several cast members from the Broadway production that were chosen to appear in the movie version of West Side Story. He was contracted to play Ice, a role newly created for the movie. In the film, Smith was the singer and central performer of the pivotal song “Cool‚” originally sung by the character of Riff in the Broadway musical. Besides performing “Cool‚” Smith would also dub some of Russ Tamblyn’s singing in “Jet Song.”