Kent Smith

Frank Kent Smith, born March 19, 1907, in New York City, was an American actor whose career spanned film, theatre, and television across more than five decades. He died on April 23, 1985, in Woodland Hills, California, of congestive heart failure at the age of 78. The son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith, he received his education at Lincoln School, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Harvard University.

Smith's connection to the stage began during his college years. In 1925, he was among the founders of the Harvard University Players in Falmouth, Massachusetts, a group that would later count Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Joshua Logan, and Margaret Sullavan among its members. He gained additional early experience through stock productions with the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore, and made his professional acting debut in 1929 in Blind Window, also in Baltimore. His Broadway debut followed in 1932 in Men Must Fight, launching a stage career that continued through 1956. Over those years, Smith appeared in a wide range of productions, including Measure for Measure, Sweet Love Remembered, Ah, Wilderness!, Dodsworth in 1934, Saint Joan in 1936, Old Acquaintance in 1941, Antony and Cleopatra in 1948, and Bus Stop in 1956. He also appeared in The Drums Begin, Outward Bound, The Story of Mary Surratt, Burning Bright, and The Autumn Garden, in which he starred. In 1938, he served as the Leading Man for the summer stock season at Elitch Theatre.

After establishing himself on stage, Smith relocated to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in The Garden Murder Case. His most prominent film work came during the 1940s, with appearances in Cat People in 1942, Hitler's Children and This Land Is Mine in 1943, The Curse of the Cat People in 1944, The Spiral Staircase in 1946, Nora Prentiss and Magic Town in 1947, and both My Foolish Heart and The Fountainhead in 1949. During World War II, he interrupted his civilian career to serve as a private in the U.S. Army, producing training films covering medical, dental, artillery, and electronics subjects. His film work continued well into subsequent decades with credits including Sayonara in 1957, Party Girl and The Badlanders in 1958, Strangers When We Meet in 1960, The Balcony in 1963, A Distant Trumpet and Youngblood Hawke in 1964, Games in 1967, Pete 'n' Tillie in 1972, Lost Horizon in 1973, and Billy Jack Goes to Washington in 1977.

Television became an increasingly significant part of Smith's career from the late 1940s onward. He began guest-starring in 1949 on The Philco Television Playhouse and subsequently appeared in numerous series, among them Robert Montgomery Presents, General Electric Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Naked City, Have Gun – Will Travel, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, The Beverly Hillbillies, Rawhide, Barnaby Jones, Wagon Train, The Outer Limits, Mission: Impossible, and Night Gallery. He served as host of the anthology series Philip Morris Playhouse from 1953 to 1954 and played Edgar Scoville during the second season of the science-fiction series The Invaders from 1967 to 1968. Among his most sustained television roles was that of Dr. Robert Morton on the popular series Peyton Place, a part he shared on screen with his real-life wife, actress Edith Atwater, who was cast as Mrs. Morton. He also appeared in several television movies, including How Awful About Allan in 1970, The Night Stalker in 1972, The Cat Creature in 1973, and The Disappearance of Flight 412 in 1974.

In his personal life, Smith was married to actress Betty Gillette from 1937 until their divorce in 1954, and subsequently to actress Edith Atwater from 1962 until his death. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.