Early life

A debonair and handsome leading man in his youth, Smith was born in South Gate, California, the son of Dallas and Leone Smith. When he was six, his parents enrolled him into a stage school, where he took singing, dancing and elocution lessons. He was educated at the University of Arizona at Tucson on a football scholarship. He won several amateur talent prizes as a singer and guitarist.

Career

Smith served with the Naval Reserve and was stationed in Hawaii with FAWTUPAC, a flight training unit near Honolulu. After a chance meeting with actor James Cagney, he was encouraged to try a career in Hollywood. (Cagney had also encouraged other young actors, including Don Dubbins, for whom he found roles in two 1956 films.) He would later play Cagney's character's son in Man of a Thousand Faces.

Smith signed with Columbia Pictures in 1957 and made several films, then moved to Warner Bros. in 1959.

On April 16, 1958, Smith appeared with Charles Bickford in "The Daniel Barrister Story" on NBC's Wagon Train.

His greatest film exposure was the role of the adult Patrick Dennis in Auntie Mame, with Rosalind Russell.

His signature TV role was private detective Jeff Spencer in 77 Sunset Strip, with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Edd Byrnes and Richard Long. Smith appeared in 74 episodes of the Warner Bros. series. He left the popular ABC program in 1962 because of a blood clot in his brain. He recovered from this injury post-surgery. His health declined and in 1980, he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease, according to wife Ann-Margret. His condition went into remission in 1985. Following his retirement from performing, he managed his wife's career and produced her popular Las Vegas stage shows. In an interview with the New York Post, Ann-Margret said that he had Parkinson's disease.

Smith appeared rarely on TV after his health deteriorated, although he participated on This is Your Life when host Ralph Edwards devoted an episode to Ann-Margret. In addition to the appearances credited below, Smith appeared on several game shows.

Personal life

Smith married twice. His first wife (1956-65) was Australian-born actress Victoria Shaw, and together they had three children: daughter Tracey (b. 1957), and sons Jordan (b. 1958) and Dallas (b. 1961). Smith and Shaw divorced in 1965.

He has been married to Ann-Margret since May 8, 1967. He became her manager, but is now semi-retired because of myasthenia gravis.

According to cfidarren.com, Smith was a private pilot with an instrument rating issued November 30, 1966.

Filmography

Television Original Amateur Hour (1948)—as a singer and guitarist with Ted Mack Damon Runyon Theater: "Hot Oil" (1956)—Richard Celebrity Playhouse: "Faith" (1956) Ford Theatre: "Stand by to Dive" (1956)—Skee Langford Ford Theatre: "A Past Remembered" (1956)—Jug Jensen Ford Theatre: "Never Lend Money to a Woman" (1956)—Carter Sheriff of Cochise: "The Kidnapper" (1957)—Jim West Point: "M-24" (1957) The George Sanders Mystery Theater: "Round Trip" (1957) Father Knows Best (1957-1958)—Doyle Hobbs Wagon Train: "The Daniel Barrister Story" (1958)—Dr. Peter Culver Sugarfoot: "Yampa Crossing" (1958)—Gene Blair 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1963)—Jeff Spencer Hawaiian Eye: "I Wed Three Wives" (1960)—Jeff Spencer The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (December 22, 1960)—Himself Surfside 6: "Love Song for a Deadly Redhead" (1962)—Jeff Spencer Kraft Suspense Theatre: "Knight's Gambit" (1964)—Anthony Griswold Knight Mister Roberts (1965 Series)—Lt. Douglas Roberts Hullabaloo (1966)

Film Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)—Creighton Chaney at 21 Operation Mad Ball (1957)—Cpl. Berryman No Time to Be Young (1957)—Bob Miller Crash Landing (1958)—John Smithback Auntie Mame (1958)—Patrick Dennis-older Never Steal Anything Small (1959)—Dan Cabot For Those Who Think Young (1964) (uncredited)—Detective Rogues' Gallery (1968)—John Rogue Sette uomini e un cervello (1968)—Un giocatore

[ Source: Wikipedia ]