# Kent Smith

Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television.

## Early years

Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated at Lincoln School, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and at Harvard University.

## Stage

Smith's early acting experience started in 1925 when he was one of the founders of the Harvard University Players, which later included Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Joshua Logan and Margaret Sullavan in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Smith's stock experience included productions with the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore. His professional acting debut was in 1929 in Blind Window in Baltimore. He made his Broadway acting debut in 1932 in Men Must Fight. He appeared on Broadway in Measure for Measure; Sweet Love Remembered; The Best Man; Ah, Wilderness!; Dodsworth (1934); Saint Joan (1936); Old Acquaintance (1941); Antony and Cleopatra (1948) and Bus Stop (1956).

## Film

Smith moved to Hollywood, California, where he made his film debut in The Garden Murder Case.
His biggest successes occurred during the 1940s in films such as Cat People (1942), Hitler's Children (1943), This Land Is Mine (1943), Three Russian Girls (1943), Youth Runs Wild (1944), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Nora Prentiss (1947), Magic Town (1947), My Foolish Heart (1949), The Fountainhead (1949), and The Damned Don't Cry (1950). He continued acting in films such as Comanche (1956); Sayonara (1957); Party Girl (1958); The Mugger (1958); Imitation General (1958); The Badlanders (1958); This Earth Is Mine (1959); Strangers When We Meet (1960); Susan Slade (1961); The Balcony (1963); A Distant Trumpet (1964); Youngblood Hawke (1964); The Young Lovers (1964); The Trouble with Angels (1966); A Covenant with Death (1967); Games (1967); The Money Jungle (1968); Kona Coast (1968); Assignment to Kill (1968); Death of a Gunfighter (1969); The Games (1970); Pete 'n' Tillie (1972); Die Sister, Die! (1972); the (1973) made-for-tv horror film, The Cat Creature; Lost Horizon (1973) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977).
During World War II, Smith served as a private in the U.S. Army, making training films covering among others, medical, dental, artillery, and electronics.

## Television
### Regular cast

Kent Smith played the imperious Dr. Morton on the popular series Peyton Place with his real-life wife (Edith Atwater) cast as Mrs. Morton. Smith played Edgar Scoville in the second season of the science-fiction series The Invaders (1967-1968) and was a host for the anthology series Philip Morris Playhouse (1953-1954).$^{:831}$

### Guest appearances

Smith had roles in TV movies such as How Awful About Allan (1970), The Night Stalker (1972), The Judge and Jake Wyler (1972), The Cat Creature (1973), The Affair (1973) and The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974). His numerous television credits included a continuing role in Peyton Place as Dr. Robert Morton. He began guest-starring in television series in 1949 in The Philco Television Playhouse and appeared in Robert Montgomery Presents; General Electric Theater; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Naked City; Have Gun – Will Travel; Perry Mason; Gunsmoke “Beaton” (1963), a man trying to steal two Irish immigrants’ land in “Two of a Kind” (S8E27, 1963), "Dakota" (1963), and as an aging gunslinger in “The Glory & The Mud” (S9E14); The Beverly Hillbillies; Rawhide S2 E8 as Capt. Loomis in "Incident of the Haunted Hills" (1959); The Americans; Barnaby Jones; Wagon Train in 1957 as "Professor Paul Owens", husband to Shelley Winters, in "The Ruth Owens Story" (S1E3); The Outer Limits; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour S1 E4 as Jerry O'Hara in "I Saw the Whole Thing" (1962); Mission: Impossible ("The Confession" 1/22 (1967); Night Gallery and the 1976 miniseries Once an Eagle.
He played Governor Winston Brubaker in The Wild Wild West S3 E12 "The Night of the Legion of Death" which aired 11/22/1967. He appeared in the musical remake of Lost Horizon (1972), and the television movie Probe (1972), that would become the pilot for the TV series Search.

## Personal life

Smith was married to actress Betty Gillette from 1937 until their divorce in 1954 and to actress Edith Atwater from 1962 until his death from congestive heart failure in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 78.
He was survived by his wife and daughter.
Smith was a Republican and campaigned for Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election. In 1961, he said: "I'm capricious when there's a national election. My background's Republican, but whenever I'm planted in a city long enough to vote on the local level, I find I'm against whoever is in office."

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1936 | The Garden Murder Case | Woode Swift | |
| 1939 | Back Door to Heaven | Attorney | |
| 1942 | Cat People | Oliver Reed | |
| 1943 | Hitler's Children | Professor Nichols | |
| 1943 | Forever and a Day | Gates Trimble Pomfret | |
| 1943 | This Land Is Mine | Paul Martin | |
| 1943 | Three Russian Girls | John Hill | alternate title: She Who Dares |
| 1944 | The Curse of the Cat People | Oliver Reed | |
| 1944 | Resisting Enemy Interrogation | Captain Reining, American Working for the Nazis | |
| 1944 | Youth Runs Wild | Danny Coates | |
| 1946 | The Spiral Staircase | Dr. Parry | |
| 1947 | Nora Prentiss | Dr. Richard Talbot | |
| 1947 | Magic Town | Professor Frederick Hoopendecker | |
| 1947 | The Voice of the Turtle | Kenneth Bartlett | |
| 1949 | The Fountainhead | Peter Keating | |
| 1949 | My Foolish Heart | Lew Wengler | |
| 1950 | The Damned Don't Cry | Martin Blankford | |
| 1950 | This Side of the Law | David Cummins | |
| 1952 | Paula | John Rogers | alternate title: The Silent Voice |
| 1956 | Comanche | Quanah Parker | |
| 1957 | Sayonara | General Mark Webster | |
| 1958 | Imitation General | Brigadier General Charles Lane | |
| 1958 | The Badlanders | Cyril Lounsberry | |
| 1958 | Party Girl | Jeffrey Stewart | |
| 1958 | The Mugger | Dr. Pete Graham | |
| 1959 | This Earth Is Mine | Francis Fairon | |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Gilbert Hughes | Season 4 Episode 34: "A True Account" |
| 1960 | Strangers When We Meet | Stanley Baxter | |
| 1961 | Susan Slade | Dr. Fane | |
| 1961 | Rawhide | Captain Loomis | S2:E8, "Incident of the Haunted Hills" |
| 1962 | Moon Pilot | Secretary of the Air Force | |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Jerry O'Hara | Season 1 Episode 4: "I Saw the Whole Thing" |
| 1963 | The Balcony | General | |
| 1964 | A Distant Trumpet | Secretary of War | |
| 1964 | Youngblood Hawke | Paul Winter Sr. | |
| 1964 | The Young Lovers | Dr. Shoemaker | |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Dr. Sam Adamson | Season 2 Episode 32: "Body in the Barn" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Colonel Greer | S6:E23, "Incident at Hourglass" |
| 1965 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Mr. Benner | Season 3 Episode 22: "Thou Still Unravished Bride" |
| 1966 | The Trouble with Angels | Uncle George | |
| 1967 | A Covenant with Death | Parmalee | |
| 1967 | Games | Harry Gordon | |
| 1967 | The Money Jungle | Paul Kimmel | |
| 1967 | Mission Impossible | Congressman Townsend | "The Confession" |
| 1968 | Assignment to Kill | Mr. Eversley | |
| 1968 | Kona Coast | Akamai | |
| 1969 | Death of a Gunfighter | Andrew Oxley | |
| 1970 | The Games | Kaverley | |
| 1970 | How Awful About Allan | Raymond Colleigh | TV movie |
| 1971 | The Last Child | Gus Iverson | TV movie |
| 1972 | The Night Stalker | District Attorney Tom Paine | TV movie |
| 1972 | Probe | Dr. Edward Laurent | TV movie |
| 1972 | Another Part of the Forest | Simon Isham | TV movie |
| 1972 | The Crooked Hearts | James Simpson | TV movie |
| 1972 | The Judge and Jake Wyler | Robert Dodd | TV movie |
| 1972 | Pete 'n' Tillie | Father Keating | |
| 1972 | Call Me by My Rightful Name | Mr. Watkins | |
| 1973 | Lost Horizon | Bill Fergunson | |
| 1973 | Maurie | Dr. Walker | uncredited |
| 1973 | Cops and Robbers | Bit Part | uncredited |
| 1973 | The Affair | Mr. Patterson | TV movie |
| 1973 | The Cat Creature | Frank Lucas | TV movie |
| 1974 | Murder or Mercy | Judge | TV movie |
| 1974 | The Disappearance of Flight 412 | General Enright | TV movie |
| 1976 | Once an Eagle | General Jacklyn | TV miniseries |
| 1977 | Billy Jack Goes to Washington | Senator Joe Foley | |
| 1978 | Die Sister, Die! | Dr. Thorne | alternate title: The Companion final film role |