Born Peter Schmidt in New York City, Pete Smith got a job after graduating business college with The Player magazine and later with Billboard magazine. That led to his being hired as a publicist for Famous Players-Lasky and Artcraft Pictures, and he was later appointed publicity director at Paramount Pictures. Director Marshall Neilan hired Smith to be the publicist for his own production company, and Smith left New York for Hollywood. After Neilan's company closed, Smith freelanced for a short period before being hired by MGM in 1925 as the head of its publicity department, a position he held until 1930. The job that really brought him recognition, however, was his producing, writing and narrating a series of shorts known as "Pete Smith Specialties" for MGM. The one-reelers covered just about every subject imaginable, from the animal world to the latest technology to how to handle annoying patrons in movie theaters, all delivered with Smith's trademark wry, bemused narration. Many of the later shorts were written and directed by actor Dave O'Brien, using the name David Barclay. Sixteen entries in the series were nominated for Oscars, and two of them won. The series came to an end in 1954, though there were enough made to continue releasing into 1955. Smith's later years were plagued by bad health, and he spent more and more time being hospitalized. In 1979, with his health deteriorating rapidly, he committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his ninth-floor hospital room. He was 86 years old.
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Series | The Late Show | 1992-07-18 | |
Movie | Crush | Horse | 1992-09-15 |
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Movie | Pandemonium | Peter Kong | 1987-09-11 |
Movie | Angel in Green | Rebel Leader Ramon | 1987-09-22 |
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Movie | The Man Around the House | Narrator (voice) | 1955-01-01 |
Movie | Just What I Needed | Narrator | 1955-04-15 |
Movie | The Fall Guy | Narrator (voice) | 1955-06-04 |
Movie | Ain't It Aggravatin' | Narrator (voice) | 1954-02-06 |
Movie | Do Someone a Favor! | Narrator (voice) | 1954-04-10 |
Movie | Cash Stashers | Narrator (voice) | 1953-08-29 |
Movie | Things We Can Do Without | Narrator (voice) | 1953-12-05 |
Movie | Reducing | Narrator (voice) | 1952-03-22 |
Movie | Camera Sleuth | Narrator (voice) | 1951-04-28 |
Movie | Fishing Feats | Narrator (voice) | 1951-12-22 |
Movie | Bargain Madness | Narrator (voice) | 1951-07-04 |
Movie | A Wife's Life | Narrator (voice) | 1950-09-01 |
Movie | Did'ja Know? | Narrator (voice) | 1950-05-06 |
Movie | Wrong Way Butch | Narrator (voice) | 1950-09-02 |
Movie | Water Trix | Narrator (voice) | 1949-11-05 |
Movie | Sports Oddities | Narrator | 1949-12-31 |
Movie | I Love My Mother-In-Law But... | Narrator (voice) | 1948-02-07 |
Movie | Just Suppose | Narrator (voice) | 1948-07-17 |
Movie | You Can't Win | Narrator (voice) | 1948-05-29 |
Movie | Diamond Demon | Narrator (voice) | 1947-02-01 |
Movie | I Love My Wife BUT! | Narrator (voice) | 1947-04-05 |
Movie | Gettin' Glamour | Narrator (voice) | 1946-02-02 |
Movie | Studio Visit | Narrator (voice) | 1946-05-11 |
Movie | Equestrian Quiz: What's Your I.Q.? No. 11 | Narrator (voice) | 1946-05-18 |
Movie | Sure Cures | Narrator (voice) | 1946-11-02 |
Movie | I Love My Husband, But! | Narrator (voice) | 1946-12-07 |
Movie | The Great Morgan | Narrator in 'Badminton' (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1945-01-01 |
Movie | Hollywood Scout | Narrator / Chimp (voice) | 1945-04-14 |
Movie | Movie Pests | Narrator (voice) | 1944-07-08 |
Movie | Seeing Hands | Narrator (voice) | 1943-07-03 |
Movie | The Tree in a Test Tube | as Interlocutor (voice) | 1942-11-19 |
Movie | Acro-Batty | Narrator | 1942-03-28 |
Movie | Third Dimensional Murder | Narrator (voice) | 1941-03-01 |
Movie | Fancy Answers | Narrator (voice) | 1941-11-01 |
Movie | Aeronutics | Narrator (voice) | 1941-04-26 |
Movie | 'What's Your 'I.Q.'?': Number Two | Narrator (voice) | 1940-08-08 |
Movie | Wedding Bills | Narrator (voice) | 1940-11-13 |
Movie | Weather Wizards | Narrator (voice) | 1939-04-08 |
Movie | Radio Hams | Narrator (voice) | 1939-05-19 |
Movie | Let's Talk Turkey | Narrator | 1939-10-28 |
Movie | Take a Cue | Narrator (voice) | 1939-08-12 |
Movie | Set 'em Up | Narrator | 1939-10-06 |
Movie | The New Audioscopiks | Narrator | 1938-01-16 |
Movie | Three on a Rope | Narrator | 1938-02-19 |
Movie | Anaesthesia | Narrator | 1938-07-09 |
Movie | Fisticuffs | Narrator (voice) | 1938-08-27 |
Movie | The Grand Bounce | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1937-05-22 |
Movie | Pigskin Champions | Narrator (voice) | 1937-08-14 |
Movie | Penny Wisdom | Narrator (voice) | 1937-04-10 |
Movie | Bar-Rac's Night Out | Narrator (voice) | 1937-02-27 |
Movie | Romance of Radium | Narrator (voice) | 1937-10-23 |
Movie | Friend Indeed | Narrator | 1937-12-28 |
Movie | Candid Cameramaniacs | Narrator | 1937-12-11 |
Movie | Let's Dance | Narrator (voice) | 1936-01-04 |
Movie | Wanted - A Master | Narrator (voice) / Dog (voice) | 1936-12-26 |
Movie | The Jonker Diamond | Narrator (voice) | 1936-03-27 |
Movie | Donkey Baseball | Narrator (voice) | 1935-03-02 |
Movie | La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | Narrator (voice) | 1935-12-07 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Four | Narrator (voice) | 1934-05-05 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Five | Narrator (voice) | 1934-06-06 |
Movie | Manhattan Melodrama | Racetrack Announcer (Voice) (uncredited) | 1934-05-04 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Three | Narrator (voice) | 1934-03-24 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Two | Narrator (voice) | 1934-02-24 |
Movie | Roping Wild Bears | Narrator (voice) | 1934-02-10 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Seven | Narrator (voice) | 1934-09-18 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Ten | Narrator (voice) | 1934-12-01 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Six | Narrator (voice) | 1934-07-28 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Nine | Narrator (voice) | 1934-11-03 |
Movie | Strikes and Spares | Narrator (voice) | 1934-10-20 |
Movie | Pro Football | Narrator (voice) | 1934-09-22 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number Eight | Narrator (voice) | 1934-10-06 |
Movie | Inflation | Narrator (voice) | 1933-06-15 |
Movie | Handlebars | Narrator (voice) | 1933-08-26 |
Movie | Goofy Movies Number One | Narrator (voice) | 1933-12-23 |
Movie | Menu | Narrator (voice) | 1933-09-23 |
Movie | Snow Birds | Narrator (voice) | 1932-08-20 |
Movie | Swing High | Narrator (voice) | 1932-11-12 |
Movie | Trader Hound | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1931-04-08 |