J. Scott Smart, aka Jack Smart (1902-1960), was a famous radio, film, and stage actor during the 1930's, 1940s and early 1950s. Jack was born on November 27, 1902, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as John Kenley Tener Smart after his father's best friend and one-time Governor of Pennsylvania, John Kenley Tener. His mother was May Smart. May's mother had been born a Scott, but along with her sister, she became orphaned and was later adopted by a Kansas farm family named Moses. Jack Smart graduated from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York, in June, 1922, at the age of 19. One of his fellow classmates was Francis "Fran" Striker, another well known radio man who created the Green Hornet and wrote for the Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon radio shows. Nickname: City of Good Neighbors, Queen City, City of Light Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County Mayor Byron Brown Area    - City 136. ... Fran Striker (1903 – September 4, 1962) was an American writer for radio and comics, best known for his contributions to The Lone Ranger. ... Green Hornet has several meanings: The Green Hornet character, created by George W. Trendle. ... The Lone Ranger was an early, long-running radio and television show based on characters created by George W. Trendle of Detroit, Michigan and developed by writer Fran Stryker of Buffalo, New York. ... Challenge of the Yukon was a long-running radio series that began on Detroits station WXYZ (as had The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet). ...

The Lon Chaney of Radio

Jack Smart bounced around quite a bit after graduating high school, but finally joined the McGarry Majestic Players, a Buffalo stock company, between 1923 and 1928. During this period he played numerous character roles. He also played stock for two seasons in Manchester, New Hampshire, with the John B. Mack Players (1928-29) and the Palace Players (1929). Nickname: Queen City Location in Hillsborough County Coordinates: Country United States State New Hampshire County Hillsborough County Incorporated 1751 Mayor Frank Guinta (R) Area    - City 90. ...

The year 1929 was a major turning point in Jack's life and marked the real beginning of the career in radio drama that would eventually make him a household name during the 1940s and early 1950s. This was the year that he moved to New York City to do radio work. Jack took to the world of radio like the proverbial fish to water. When he first arrived in New York, a friend of his, Kenneth Fickett, an announcer at NBC, introduced him to a director of the program, "Whispering Tables." Jack auditioned for the part of "singing waiter" and got it. This was apparently his first minor network radio role. His first major role was as Joe in "Mr. and Mrs.," a role he played opposite Jane Houston as Vi. "Mr. and Mrs." was first heard over CBS in 1929 and was a comedy based on the comic strip by Clare Briggs. Radio drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio. ... Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (including those in feature films, television series, animated shorts), doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides. ... NBC (an abbreviation for National Broadcasting Company, its former corporate name) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... CBS is derived from an abbreviation of Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of a company Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired in 1995. ... Clare A. Briggs (August 5, 1875-January 3, 1930) was an early American comic strip artist, perhaps best known for his and External link Lambiek Comiclopedia Categories: | | | ...

He also played "Jack," a straight man for Bert Lahr on another program of unknown title, but which aired around 1933. It seems likely that this was where he first met Lahr who was to become a life-long friend, and who would star along side Jack in the first American production of "Waiting for Godot." Jack played comedy and dramatic roles in numerous programs, including the Prince of Pilsen on the "Beauty Box" show, and the fast-talking, conceited, high-pressure salesman, J. Aubrey Bloomer, Jr., on the "Nine To Five" program. He had a rich baritone voice and was often called upon to sing. Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. ... Vladimir (left) and Estragon (right) hold Pozzo aloft (from a production by Naqshineh Theatre). ...

Jack was one of the charter members in 1931 of the "March of Time" cast, along with Bill Adams and Frank Readick, all three of whom were honored at a fifth anniversary party of the famous show in 1936. The "March of Time," first broadcast on March 6, 1931, was considered the best documentary drama on radio. It was aired on Friday nights and was sponsored by Time Magazine and produced by Louis de Rochemont. The week's major news events were enacted on the program by a company of extremely versatile character actors. In keeping with the program title, the "March of Time" scripts would often be rewritten up to the very last minute, so the actors had to be on their toes and improvise on the spot. Jack was one of the first actors on radio with both this kind of flexibility and the requisite skills in dialects and impersonations. He often had to do as many as six characterizations in a single "March of Time" broadcast. Jack's first and frequent role on the program was Huey Long. But he was to play an enormous range of historical characters over the years, including Chinese generals and Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia of New York City. As a consequence of this prodigious versatility, Jack came to be called the "Lon Chaney of radio." The March of Time was a newsreel that was shown in movie theaters from 1935 - 1951. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Louis de Rochemont (January 13, 1899-December 23, 1978) was a film maker known for creating, along with Roy E. Larsen from Time, Inc, the monthly movie-theater shown documentaries March of Time. ... Huey Pierce Long, Jr . ... Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia December 11, 1882–September 20, 1947) was the Republican Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945. ... Lon Chaney, Sr. ...

It should be noted that during these "golden days" of radio, an actor did not just work one show, but often many in the course of a week. In a 1932 interview, Jack mentions he had played roughly 1100 characters in nearly four continuous years of radio work.

Jack was a regular on the Fred Allen shows in all their incarnations from the very beginning of that great comic's radio career. The debut of Fred Allen's "Linit Bath Club" on CBS was on October 23, 1932. Linit was a beauty lotion produced by the Corn Products Company and Jack played an usher to a non-existent live audience. The show lasted 26 weeks. He eventually became a mainstay of the Mighty Allen Art Players and Allen's Alley. Fred Allen took over "The Best Foods Salad Bowl Review" from August 4 to December 1, 1933. Jack was back, along with Roy Atwell, Allen's wife, Portland, and Minerva Pious. Fred Allen's "Sal Hepatica Review" began on January 3, 1934 on NBC. Atwell was no longer featured, but Jack was, along with other standbys like Eileen Douglas, Minerva Pious and Lionel Stander. The now classic "Allen's Alley" began on December 6, 1942. This was where Jack created his character, Senator Bloat, which he did during the first couple of years of the "Alley," before leaving the show to do the play, "A Bell for Adano" (from December, 1944, for one year into 1945) and a bit part in a movie. Jack's Senator Bloat was followed by the now more famous Senator Claghorn played by Kenny Delmar in 1945. He has eyes like Venetian blinds and a tongue like an adder — radio/television critic John Crosby about humourist Fred Allen, portrayed here by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. ... Roy Atwell Date of Birth 2 May 1878 Syracuse,New York, USA Date of Death 6 February 1962 New York,New York, USA Actor,comedian,and composer,educated at the Sargent School of Acting. ... Portland Hoffa (b. ... Minerva Pious (March 5, 1903 - March 16, 1979) was an actress in American radio. ... Lionel Stander & Freeway Lionel Jay Stander (born January 11, 1908 in The Bronx, New York; died November 30, 1994 in Los Angeles, California) was an American character actor in movies and television. ... A Bell for Adano is a novel by John Hersey. ... Senator Claghorn, as portrayed by Kenny Delmar, in scene from Its a Joke Son, the Senators only film appearance Senator Beauregard Claghorn was a popular radio character on the Allens Alley segment of The Fred Allen Show beginning in 1945. ... Kenny Delmar [1] (b. ...

Jack also played roles on “The Shadow” during the 1932-33 season on NBC with Frank Readick as the sinister Shadow. He also was heard in the "Wizard of Oz" series, first as the Cowardly Lion and then as a donkey, "The O'Flynn" musical series (he sang on the last episode), "45 Minutes from Hollywood," Mr. Fuddle on the "Blondie" show, the "The Cavalcade of America" (began in 1935), Louie the brother-in-law in the situation comedy, "The Adventures of Mr. Meek" (began in 1940), and "Charlie Chan." Who knows what evil lurks. ... See: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum The Wizard of Oz (1939 movie) starring Judy Garland The Wizard of Oz (stage) Stage versions starting in 1903 The Wizard of Oz (animated series) The Wizard of Oz (game) The Wizard of Oz (movie) Various film versions See also... 1938 titlecard Number One Sons with the seat of his pants on fire (in the film) Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-Hawaiian detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, reportedly in part under inspiration from the career of Chang Apana. ...

After moving to Hollywood to do movies, Jack continued his radio work and played small comedy roles "to add color" in many of the early episodes of "Big Town," which began on CBS on October 19, 1937. This was a show first featuring Edward G. Robinson as Steve Wilson, a crusading editor of a paper fighting crime and corruption, and Claire Trevor as Lorelei Kilbourne, the society editor and Wilson's sidekick. Jack is listed in the cast of "Sing Out, Sweet Land" which was aired on the "The Theater Guild on the Air," October 21, 1945, on ABC with Burl Ives, Arthur Godfrey, Josh White, et al. He also worked at times for Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor on their comedy review shows. Big Town was a television melodrama which ran on the CBS network from 1950 through 1954 and on the NBC network from 1955 through 1956. ... Edward Goldenberg Robinson (December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was an American stage and film actor of Romanian origin. ... Trevor in Raw Deal (1948) Claire Trevor (March 8, 1910 - April 8, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning American actress, nicknamed Queen of Film Noir because of her many appearances in bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (14 June 1909 – 14 April 1995) was an acclaimed American folk music singer, author, and actor. ... Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. ... Josh White (born Josha Daniel White in Greensboro, North Carolina, February 11, 1914 or 1915; d. ... Bob Hope, KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was an English-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel. ... Jack Benny caricatured by Sam Berman for 1947 NBC promotion book Jack Benny (February 14, 1894, Chicago, Illinois – December 26, 1974, Beverly Hills, California), born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor. ... Eddie Cantor in the 1920s Eddie Cantor (January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964) was a comedian, singer, actor, songwriter, and one of the most popular entertainers in the United States of America in the early and middle 20th century. ...

New Faces, Hollywood and Back Again

Another turning point in Jack Smart’s remarkable career as a performer was his selection by Leonard Sillman for his "New Faces of 1936" review. Sillman usually picked relatively unknown talent for his annual reviews and many a reputation was launched from the publicity new stars gained from appearing in the show. In Jack's year, the show opened on May 19, 1936, at the Vanderbilt Theater in New York and lasted for 193 performances. The various skits featured such talent as Van Johnson, Imogene Coca, Billie Haywood and Marion Pierce (later Marion Pierce Parker). The young Van Johnson, who was a "chorus boy" in the show, was quite impressed with Jack's performances. During this author’s conversation with him, Van Johnson said, "He was a brilliant actor and a marvellous comedian. I stood in the wings every night to watch this man. But he wasn't friendly at all, so I never got to know him." Van Johnson Van Johnson (born Charles Van Johnson on August 25, 1916, in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American film and television actor. ... Imogene Coca (November 18, 1908 - June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress. ...

Producers from Universal Pictures caught Jack's act in “New Faces” and liked what they saw. They signed him to a movie contract. He was off to Hollywood in the fall of 1936. His first picture was as Beaton in "Top of the Town" with Doris Nolan, George Murphy, and Peggy Ryan. The film was released in 1937 and was directed by Ralph Murphy. Like many fat men, Jack was light on his feet and was an accomplished dancer. There is a publicity photo for "Top of the Town" with Jack dancing with Peggy Ryan and George Murphy and doing an elevation behind them. He was later to write-in a scene for the movie, "The Fat Man," which had him dancing with Julie London. Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor and politician. ... Peggy Ryan (born Margaret ORene Ryan on 28 August 1924 in Long Beach, California - 30 October 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American dancer who starred in a series of movie musicals at Universal Studios tapping with Donald OConnor. ...

He had parts in a number of Universal pictures during that first year in Hollywood. Most of them were comedies or musicals and all were released in 1937. They include:

• "100 Men and a Girl" with Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, and Leopold Stokowski, and directed by Henry Koster. Jack played a stage doorman.

• "When Love Is Young" with Virginia Bruce and Kent Taylor, and directed by Hal Mohr. Jack played Winthrop Grove, the Broadway producer.

• "Girl Overboard" with Gloria Stuart and Walter Pidgeon, directed by Sidney Salkow. Jack played Charlie Jenkins.

• "Love in a Bungalow" with Nan Grey and Kent Taylor, directed by Raymond McCarey. Jack played Wilbur Babcock.

• "The Wildcatter" with Scott Colton, Ward Bond and Jean Rogers, and directed by Lewis Collins. Jack played Smiley.

Universal Pictures released Jack after this spate of films, and he went on to play supporting roles in several other pictures for other companies before returning to Universal for his lead in "The Fat Man" movie later on. These pictures were completed over the course of the next eight years and were interspersed with his radio and theater work. The titles include: Deanna Durbin (born Edna Mae Durbin on December 4, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to English immigrant parents) was a popular young singer and actress in Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor of French and Irish descent. ... Leopold Stokowski (born Antoni StanisÅ‚aw BolesÅ‚awowicz April 18, 1882 in London, England, died September 13, 1977 in Nether Wallop, England) was the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air. ... Henry Koster (May 1, 1905-September 21, 1988) was born Herman Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany. ... Virginia Bruce (September 29, 1910–February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. ... Movie actor Kent Taylor (May 11, 1906 - April 11, 1987), born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, USA, appeared in over 110 films. ... Hal Mohr (b. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Walter Pidgeon Walter Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian actor. ... Movie actor Kent Taylor (May 11, 1906 - April 11, 1987), born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, USA, appeared in over 110 films. ... Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980 in Deerfield, Illinois), better known under his ring name Classic Colt Cabana, is a professional wrestler, currently working in Ring of Honor and on the independent circuit. ... Ward Bond (April 9, 1903 - November 5, 1960) was an American film actor. ... Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren on 25 March 1916 in Belmont, Massachusetts; died 24 February 1991 in Sherman Oaks, California) was an American actress, who is best know for her role as Dale Arden in the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Lewis Collins (born 27 May 1946 in Bidston, Birkenhead, Merseyside) is a British actor. ...

• "Some Like It Hot" (Paramount, 1939), with Bob Hope, Shirley Ross and Gene Krupa and his orchestra, and directed by George Archainbaud. Jack played Joe.

• "Johnny Apollo" (1940), with Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour and Lloyd Nolan, and directed by Henry Hathaway. Jack played the leader of Conga

• "Shadow of a Woman" (Warner Brothers, 1946), with Andrea King and Helmut Dantine, and directed by Joseph Santley. Jack played Freeman.

• "That Hagen Girl" (Warner Brothers, 1947), with Ronald Reagan, Lois Maxwell, Shirley Temple and Rory Calhoun, and directed by Peter Godfrey. Jack played a man in the drugstore.

• "Kiss of Death" (Fox, 1947), with Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark and Karl Malden, and directed by Henry Hathaway. Jack played Skeets, the restaurateur.

"That Hagen Girl" was notable as including Shirley Temple's first "young lady" role. And "Kiss of Death" was a classic thriller in which Jack played the restaurateur along side Victor Mature, who became a close friend. After Jack married his second wife, Mary-Leigh Call, the couple crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary with the Matures in 1951. The movie introduced Richard Widmark who turned in a chilling performance as a psychopathic killer. Bob Hope, KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was an English-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel. ... Shirley Ross (January 7, 1913 - March 9, 1975) was an American actress and singer. ... Gene Krupa Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was a famous and influential American jazz and big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style. ... Tyrone Power in Charles Laughtons production of John Browns Body, photo by Carl Van Vechten, March 3, 1953 Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. ... Dorothy Lamour (December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American motion picture actress, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, died in Hollywood, California. ... Lloyd Nolan (left) in The House on 92nd Street Lloyd Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. ... Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. ... Promotional photo from www. ... Helmut Dantine in Casablanca (1942) Helmut Dantine (October 7, 1917 - May 2, 1982) was a film actor remembered for playing many Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. ... Joseph Santley in Billy the Kid, 1906 Joseph Santley (January 10, 1889 - August 8, 1971) was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer of musical theatrical plays and motion pictures. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Lois Maxwell (born February 14, 1927) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise. ... Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928), later known as Shirley Temple Black, is an American diplomat and former film child actress. ... Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown Durgin on August 8, 1922 – April 28, 1999) was born in Los Angeles, California. ... Kiss of Death is a 1947 film noir movie written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. ... Victor Mature (29 January 1913 - 4 August 1999), an American film actor, was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a Tyrolean father, Marcellus George Mature, a cutler, and a Swiss-American mother, Clara Mature. ... Brian Donlevy in The Big Combo Brian Donlevy (born Waldo Bruce Donlevy on February 9, 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio, died April 6, 1972 in Woodland Hills, California) was an American actor, known for many film roles from the 1930s to the 1960s. ... Gray in Nightmare Alley (1947 movie) Coleen Gray (October 23, 1922- ) is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. ... Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death Richard Widmark (born December 26, 1914 in Sunrise, Minnesota) is an Academy Award-nominated American film actor. ... Karl Malden portraying Gen. ... Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. ... [] Among the women known to history as Queen Mary are: Mary of Hungary (1371-1395), queen regnant of Hungary, was the daughter of Louis I of Hungary and the wife of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. ...

Jack was back and forth between Hollywood and New Yorkduring this period. He opened on March 23, 1940, in the role of Taggert in the Broadway play, "Separate Rooms," starring Glenda Farrell, but was replaced by June 10th. In 1941 he played a country bumpkin on an episode of "The Prudential Family Hour" (CBS) who likes music but finds it all totally confusing and has to have it explained by the program's master of ceremonies, Deems Taylor. He also took roles in 1941 on the radio shows, "Mr. District Attorney" and "Crime Doctor." Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American film actress. ... Deems Taylor (born Joseph Taylor) (1885 - 1966) was a U.S. composer and music critic. ... Mr. ... The Crime Doctor (Dr. Bradford Thorne) is a supervillain appearing in the DC Comics universe, primarily as an enemy of Batman. ...

In 1941 he was elected to The Players Club, located in New York facing historic Gramercy Park, along with Edward Arnold & Ralph Bellamy. The Players became socially important to him and he stayed there every time he went to New York alone from then on. Jack was also a life member of the Actors Fund of America, and a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity, and the Screen Actors Guild. Edward Arnold (actor) Eddy Arnold (country singer) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Ralph Bellamy Ralph Bellamy (June 17, 1904 - November 29, 1991) was an American actor. ... The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists AFTRA is a performers union that represents actors in radio and television, much like the Screen Actors Guild does for movies, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers (both royalty artists and background singers), promo and voice-over... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... The Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) is the labor union representing over 120,000 film actors in the United States. ...

A Bell for Adano

Jack Smart returned to New York to take up the role of Pedro Vargas in the Boston production of S.N. Behrman's play, "The Pirate," with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The play opened for two weeks on October 26th. Jack changed his name for the program to "J. Scott Smart" instead of his usual "Jack Smart" in response to Lunt's criticism that his real name “had no class.” Jack's early mentor in show business, and the man who actually got him started was the actor, Tim Frawley. Jack would often say that Frawley should have warned him that his name sounded like an acrobat or a comedian, like "Bob Hope." The Pirate is a slang term for a supposed sex move performed during oral sex. ... Alfred Lunt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1932 Alfred Lunt (August 12, 1892–August 3, 1977) was an American actor. ... Portrait of Lynn Fontane by Carl Van Vechten, May 23, 1932 Lynn Fontanne (December 6, 1887 - July 30, 1983) was a famous stage and film star. ...

Jack apparently had real problems working with the Lunts. Alfred was no problem for him, but Lynn kept changing the lines on him. Lynn did not seem to share the problem, however, for she once said to Alfred within Jack's hearing, "I get more from Jack's eyes than I get from anybody's." Despite this adulation, doing "Pirate" nearly gave Jack a nervous breakdown. As with many new performances, the Boston run of "Pirate" was intended to smooth out the script and give it a test run before taking it to New York. The reviews were not all that encouraging. One reviewer suggested there were problems with the pace and dialogue of the original production. He also suggested that Jack did not seem to "realize all the possibilities" of his role. By the time the play opened in New York, it had been substantially revamped and Jack was replaced by Alan Reed as Pedro Vargas. Alan Reed (August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was the voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spin_off series. ...

Again, the fates seem to have been spinning their thread, even with Jack's difficulties with the Lunts, for it was his need for a rest-cure that sent Jack in search of his friend, John Falter, in Ogunquit, Maine. John Falter was a famous painter who also did covers for the Saturday Evening Post. Jack was one of Falter's favorite subjects and was featured anonymously on a number of Falter's Post covers. In the cover of March 25, 1944, he painted Jack as three different characters, one reading a newspaper, one leading a horse and one a street cleaner. In the May 19, 1945, cover, Jack is leaning over an iron fence on Park Avenue picking a flower. Then, Falter had him in a soda shop of an actual drug store located at the time on the corner of 4th Avenue and 20th (or 21st) Street, New York, in the cover of October 12, 1946. On the August 2, 1947, cover, Jack is walking in front of the present Old Village Inn in the center of Ogunquit, Maine. And Falter painted Jack ice skating on the cover dated January 11, 1958. There have been many publications called the Saturday Evening Post; several were/are local British newspapers. ...

Jack was in the cast of Vinton Freedley's production of "Dancing in the Streets," a musical comedy with music by Vernon Duke and based on the story by Matt Taylor. The play had a brief run at the Shubert Theater in Boston from March 23, 1943, until approximately April 10, 1943. Jack played a minor role as Col. Waverly Smithers, USMC (retired), while the great Mary Martin played the lead role as Mary Hastings. Jack left the cast at the play's closing in Boston in order to return to radio in "Snow Village," also featuring Dorothy Sands. Vernon Duke (1903-1969), composer/songwriter, wrote such favorites as I Cant Get Started with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, April In Paris with lyrics by E.Y. (Yip) Harburg (1932), and What Is There To Say for The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 also with Harburg. ... Matt Taylor (born October 17, 1981 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American soccer player, who currently plays striker for the C.D. Chivas USA of Major League Soccer. ... Shubert Theatre, Boston The Shubert Organization was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York in the late 19th century in upstate New York, entering into New York City productions in 1900. ... Mary Martin photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1949 Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) born in Weatherford, Texas was a Tony Award winning American star of (mainly stage) musicals. ...

In 1944 Jack landed a plum role in the cast of "A Bell for Adano," a play adapted by Paul Osborn from the short novel by John Hersey. The production was by Leland Hayward and starred Fredric March as the Major. Jack got rave reviews for his portrayal of one of the cart drivers. It enjoyed a reasonably long run, opening at the Cort Theater in New York for a year or so on December 6, 1944. The production and the company, including scenery and props, were brought to Washington, D.C., in celebration of President Roosevelt's birthday. A Bell for Adano is a novel by John Hersey. ... Paul Osborn (September 4, 1901-May 12, 1988) was a playwrite and screenwriter most well known for writing the screen adaptation of East of Eden as well as South Pacific, The Yearling, and Sayonara. ... John Hersey, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1958 John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. ... Leland Hayward (September 13, 1902 - March 18, 1971) was a popular, powerful and wealthy Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. ... Fredric March photograph by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Fredric March (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ...

The Fat Man

Following on the heals of the tremendous success of "A Bell for Adano" came yet another major turning point in Jack's already rich career. During the fall of 1945 he auditioned for and was given the lead in a new radio detective serial, "The Fat Man" which premiered on ABC on Monday, January 21, 1946, at 8:30PM, as part of a block of four new programs which also included "I Deal in Crime," "Forever Tops," and "Jimmy Gleason's Diner." "The Fat Man" originated in the studios of WJZ in New York and began as a modestly priced sustainer vaguely based upon character ideas in Dashiell Hammett's writings and fleshed out by producer, E.J. ("Mannie") Rosenberg. The announcer was Charles Irving. The directors for the program were Clark Andrews, creator of "Big Town," and Charles Powers. The main writer for the series was Richard Ellington, but it was also scripted by Robert Sloane, Lawrence Klee and others. The veteran character actor, Ed Begley co-starred as Sgt. O'Hara. Regulars on the program included Betty Garde, Paul Stewart, Linda Watkins, Mary Patton as Lila North, and Vicki Vola, also the female lead in "Mr. District Attorney." Amzie Strickland played the ingenue, Cathy Evans, and Nell Harrison played Runyon's mother during the early episodes. The cast also included Dan Ocko, Rolly Bester (wife of Alfred Bester, the science fiction writer), and Robert Dryden. An eleven piece orchestra was on hand to provide live music, and was directed by Bernard Green, who also wrote that memorably stirring theme. The sound effects were by Ed Blaney. Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... George The Fat Man Sanger is a musician who has composed music for over 200 different computer and video games, beginning in 1983. ... WJZ could refer to: WJZ-TV, a television station broadcasting on analog channel 13 / digital 38 in the Baltimore, Maryland area of the United States. ... Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. ... Sir Charles Graham Irving (4 May 1924 - 30 March 1995) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament for Cheltenham from October 1974 until his retirement in 1992. ... Big Town was a television melodrama which ran on the CBS network from 1950 through 1954 and on the NBC network from 1955 through 1956. ... Sir Charles Powers KCMG (8 March 1853 – 25 April 1939), Australian politician and judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1913 to 1929. ... Edward James Begley (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American film actor. ... Betty Garde (September 19, 1905- December 25, 1989) was an American film and television actress. ... Paul Stewart is the name of many notable people: Paul Stewart (driver) Formula One driver from the famous racing family Paul Stewart (actor) who appear in Citizen Kane This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Mr. ... Amzie Strickland (ca. ... Alfred Bester (born December 18, 1913 in New York City, died September 30, 1987) was a science fiction author and the winner of the first Hugo Award in 1953 for his novel The Demolished Man. ...

"The Fat Man" did not remain a sustainer for long. The show increased from 8.1% to 23.6% of the radio audience in its first year. This steady climb in popularity caught the attention of Norwich Pharmaceutical Company's advertising brass. They wanted a venue to advertise their Pepto Bismol, a product that had been introduced in 1935. The program was also moved to a more favorable Friday night slot at 8:30 among a block of higher-rated mystery programs. This move increased the ratings even more. Bismuth subsalicylate is the active ingredient in the popular medication Pepto-Bismol that is used to treat diarrhea and other temporary discomforts of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. ...

Brad Runyon, the "Fat Man," was a character completely opposite to "The Thin Man," who, as anyone into detective fiction knows, was another popular character actually based upon a Hammett novel. Where Nick Charles, the "Thin Man," was a tall, suave, married, aristocratic, martini-sipping amateur, Brad Runyon was a short, heavy, hard-fisted, charming and sensitive professional. He was closer in some respects to yet another successful Hammett character running on radio at the time, "Sam Spade" -- a character based upon Hammett's detective in the Maltese Falcon. The Thin Man is a 1933 mystery novel by Dashiell Hammett. ... Poster of the 1941 Warner Brothers film version of The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Huston Sam Spade was the leading character in the novel and movie The Maltese Falcon (1931). ... The Maltese Falcon is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett which was made into a quintessential film noir. ...

Hammett had nothing to do with selecting Jack Smart for the part of Brad Runyon. But it is not hard to understand how Jack landed it. He was a natural as Brad Runyon. He was a cinch for the part because, as he would often say, "it takes a fat man to sound like a fat man." And Jack was indeed a fat man. Where Brad Runyon weighed-in at a relatively svelte 237 lbs. (or 239 lbs., or 241 lbs., depending on which episode you listened to), Jack himself tipped the scales at around 270 lbs., which considering it was distributed over a 5 foot 9 inch frame meant that he measured up to the part with plenty to spare.

Brad Runyon's quick wit was in fact Jack's own and is evident when one listens to the episodes. When jibed by a "baddy" on one program about his weight, the Fat Man snarls back, "the only difference between you and me, Rudolph, is that my fat is from the neck down." Jack was active in assembling the final script, revising the plot, cutting material he didn't like, and even helping select supporting cast. In fact he had it written into his contract that he would receive a copy of a script two weeks before it was to air so that he could blue-line and change lines before it was finalized. This was an important factor in the quality of the series, for there were several writers over the years and those were the days before there were "continuity" people whose job it was to make sure that scripts did not contradict one another. Jack performed this continuity function very well. What a casual listener would not know, of course, was that Jack would often change the names of characters in the script to those of his friends. One of his friends in Ogunquit who was a fisherman at the time, William R. ("Barnicle Billy") Tower, Jr., tuned in to "The Fat Man" one night only to find that he and his boat had been lost at sea. And another of his friends, Mrs. Robert ("Peggy") Dale, became a nightclub owner, Peggy Dale, in the episode, "Murder Plays Hide and Seek."

He was also free to develop both the character of Brad Runyon, and the repetitive features of the program that made them so commanding as hallmarks. Take for example Jack's emphasis upon the word "murder-r-r." He only says it that way as a fluke at the end of the premiere episode of the series entitled "The 19th Pearl." But within weeks, all of Jack's friends had associated his role with saying the word "murder-r-r" in that distinctly sinister way. So within the first few episodes, the beginning of the program has the Fat Man giving a prologue that always ended with "murder-r-r," or "murder-er-r," said in just that way.

Although he had dropped out of the Fred Allen group, Jack continued to do other stage, movie and radio work for a time after starting "The Fat Man." He both was in summer stock in Long Beach and completed his part in the filming of "Kiss of Death" in New York during 1946. But by 1947 he had dropped out of other commitments, presumably because he had begun to make some real money for a change. It was during 1947 that he moved his residence permanently to Ogunquit, Maine. After moving there, Jack would commute by air from Boston to New York to work on "The Fat Man." Welcome to Ogunquit Ogunquit, pronounced o-GUHN-kwit, is a town in York County, Maine, United States. ...

• 1st season: 1945-46, sustaining program, Monday at 8:30
• 2nd season: 1946-47, sustaining program, Friday at 8:00
• 3rd season: 1947-48, Norwich sponsor, Friday at 8:00
• 4th season: 1948-49, Norwich sponsor, Friday at 8:00
• 5th season: 1949-50, Norwich sponsor, Friday at 8:00
• 6th season: 1950-51, sustaining program, Wednesday at 8:30

The show never lost its popularity, and by the end of the series “J. Scott Smart” had become a household name. One can still find many people old enough to have listened to the program that can readily associate Jack's stage name with "The Fat Man." What eventually killed the program was some really nasty politics. In 1950 Dashiell Hammett, who was peripherally involved in leftist politics, ran afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee when he refused to give up names of other activists. He was tried and imprisoned for his failure to cooperate with the Committee and was blacklisted along with the many other fine artists and entertainers who fell victim to the anti-communist hysteria of the day. And, all of his radio shows were cancelled because they had become tainted. Norwich, being ever-mindful of its public image, was quick to withdraw its sponsorship of "The Fat Man," and the program became once again a sustainer for its last season with companies like Clorets partially paying the bills. Universal Pictures, in its efforts to distance itself from any stigma caused by the association of Hammett with the imagined communist scourge, removed his name from the titles of the one "Fat Man" movie. It seems likely that they only released the picture at all because it was already in the can by the time that the full implications of Hammett's situation dawned on them. HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... Protestors opposing the jailing of the Hollywood Ten in 1950 (from the 1987 documentary Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist). ...

In any event, all of this was immensely frustrating to a fairly apolitical Jack Smart who was hoping both for a longer run of the radio show and a series of "Fat Man" movies to match the success of Dick Powell and Myrna Loy in the "Thin Man" films. But this was not to be, and we only have the one film upon which to judge what a full series of them might have been like. Richard Ewing Dick Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, and director. ... Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American motion picture actress. ... DVD cover The Thin Man is the title of the first of six comic detective films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a hard-drinking and flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they easily solve crimes. ...

The 77 minute film, "The Fat Man" was completed by Universal Pictures on August 21, 1950, then previewed at the Ritz Theater, Los Angeles on March 26, 1951, and finally released in May, 1951. Rosemary Clooney, the famous pop singer and an old friend, accompanied Jack to the premiere in his old home town, Buffalo. Also, Cliff Sterrett drew a cartoon version in 1952 of the publicity photo of Jack and Julie London dancing the Charleston in the movie. Rosemary Clooney on the cover of her 2000 collection 16 Biggest Hits Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American popular singer and actress. ...

The film was remarkable in many respects. Jack was superb, of course, as Brad Runyon. He should have been, considering that by this time he was 48 years old and a veteran actor with something like 25 years of entertainment industry experience under his very long belt. And, of course, there was that incredible voice that sounded like a well seasoned oboe. The movie was also memorable for its sterling supporting cast: Brad Runyan by J. Scott Smart, Pat Boyd by Julie London, Roy Clark by Rock Hudson, Bill Norton by Clinton Sundberg, Jane Adams by Jayne Meadows, Gene Gordon by John Russell, Detective Stark by Jerome Cowan, Ed Deets by Emmett Kelly, Lola Gordon by Lucille Barkley, Shifty by Teddy Hart, Chuck Fletcher by Robert Osterloh, and Happy Stevens by Harry Lewis. Julie London Julie London (September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress who was known for her smoky, sensual voice and role as Nurse Dixie McCall RN on the television show Emergency! (1972–1977). ... Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was a popular American film and television actor, noted for his good looks, and most remembered as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s. ... Jayne Meadows (b. ... John Russell is the name of several notable individuals, including: Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell – British Prime Minister (It is generally considered incorrect to refer to Lord John Russell as John Russell, because his honorifix was treated as part of his name and did not indicate a peerage. ... Cowan in The Maltese Falcon Jerome Cowan (October 6, 1897 - January 24, 1972) appeared in over 100 films but is probably best remembered for his role as the doomed private eye partner of Sam Spade, Miles Archer, in The Maltese Falcon. ... Emmett Kelly (1898 – March 28, 1979), a native of Sedan, Kansas, was an American circus performer, who created the memorable clown figure Weary Willie, based on the hobos of the Depression era. ... Teddy Hart (born Teddy Annis on February 2, 1980 in Calgary, Alberta), is a Canadian professional wrestler. ... Harry Lewis was a successful film supporting actor who appeared as a goon alongside Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo (1948 film). ...

The movie provided the first feature role for Rock Hudson, Jayne Meadows and Julie London. The handsome Rock Hudson went on to play the leading man in numerous comedy and dramatic films, and the gorgeous Julie London became a renowned recording artist. Although he was not featured in the cast, Marvin Kaplan played the part of a truck driver, and turned-in a remarkably funny comic role. So did Teddy Hart as the sticky-fingered Shifty. The darkly handsome John Russell played what he always played best, a ruthless heavy. And of course the incomparable Emmett Kelly played Ed Deets, the clown that had always wanted a circus of his own. The producer was Aubrey Schenck, the director was William Castle, and the screenplay was written by Harry Essex and Leonard Lee, based upon a story by Leonard Lee. The music was, as always, by Bernard Green, and photography was by Irving Glassberg. These were all top-notch professionals. Marvin Kaplan (born January 24, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York) is a character actor and voice artist. ... Aubrey Schenck (August 26, 1908 - April 14, 1999) was a film producer from the 1940s through the 1970s. ... William Castle (April 24, 1914–May 31, 1977) born William Schloss, was an American film director, producer, and actor. ... Leonard Lee C.M., is a recipient of the Order of Canada. ...

The Ogunquit Years

For some reason, Jack was not tarred with the same odious blacklisting brush as many of his fellow actors. "The Fat Man" was no sooner history than he had landed another leading role, this time as the "Top Guy." The premiere episode, which aired on ABC on Wednesday, October 17, 1951, was entitled "The Case of the One Way Street" and featured Jack as a "crime-busting" police commissioner of a large metropolitan city. Ross Martin played a regular supporting role. The "Top Guy" was not, however, a rerun of Brad Runyon in disguise. According to Jack, the "Top Guy" was actually based upon the career of Theodore Roosevelt who had been New York City's police commissioner at one time. Jack dropped out of "Top Guy" at the end of the first season and passed the role to his friend, Jay Jostyn, who carried it for its second and last season during 1952-53. Ross Martin (March 22, 1920 - July 3, 1981) is an American actor most known for playing Artemus Gordon in the western TV series The Wild Wild West. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ...

After nearly a half century of dabbling in fine art, Jack Smart finally took the plunge and became a full-time serious artist. In 1947 Jack traded in his New York flat for an old fisherman's shack at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, which at the time was a very exciting place for a serious artist to live (today it is also a favorite tourist destination). There was the kind of ambience at the Cove that every artist dreams of. Fixated on developing his painting and sculpting, Jack nevertheless did not entirely gave-up on acting and theater work and he continued to be a presence at The Players all during the 1950s. He appeared in a drama on the television program, "Robert Montgomery Presents," sometime during 1954 or 1955. And he was a headliner as Falstaff in the company of Shirley Jones as Juliet and Lon Clark as Romeo at the annual costume ball entitled "Shakespeare on Parade" thrown by the Art Students League of New York, April 27, 1956, in the ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel. Welcome to Ogunquit Ogunquit, pronounced o-GUHN-kwit, is a town in York County, Maine, United States. ... Robert Montgomery Presents was a dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. ... Shirley Jones, in a still from the opening credits of The Partridge Family Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning singer and actress, perhaps best known for her role as Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother of five children, in the television series The Partridge Family... A prominent landmark situated on Madison Avenue and 45th Street in midtown New York City, The Roosevelt Hotel was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt. ...

He also was given the last, and perhaps the most important role of his stage career. The call came sometime in November, 1955, and was for the part of Pozzo in the first American production of Samuel Beckett's now famous play, "Waiting for Godot." Jack spent all of December rehearsing for the role and the play ran from January 3, 1956 for two weeks at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Coral Gables, Florida. This was the premiere production in the new Playhouse, and it co-starred Bert Lahr, Tom Ewell and Charles Weidman. It is perhaps ironic from Jack's point of view that though his portrayal of Pozzo was given favorable comments, the play as a whole was panned by reviewers in Florida. The production was ill-fated from the beginning. Theater audiences were not prepared for the dense existentialist outlook that the play represented, and reviewers at that point in the history of theater did not know what to make of Beckett, or of his handiwork. The later New York production did far better, retaining Bert Lahr, but replacing Tom Ewell with E.G. Marshall and Jack with Kurt Kaszner. Schneider was replaced by the fine director, Herbert Berghof. Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... Vladimir (left) and Estragon (right) hold Pozzo aloft (from a production by Naqshineh Theatre). ... The Coconut Grove Playhouse is a legitimate theater in Miami, Florida. ... Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. ... Everett Gunnar Marshall (June 18, 1910 - August 24, 1998) was an American actor who starred in 1957 movie 12 Angry Men. Marshall was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. ...

Jack retired completely from acting after this debacle and devoted himself to his art work, producing many fine paintings collages and sculptures that were exhibited in various shows in Maine and elsewhere. Jack died of pancreatic cancer on January 15, 1960. V.Y. Dallman, the editor of the [[Illinois State Register]] and an old family friend, wrote the official obituary, excerpts of which were published in newspapers all over the United States, as well as in Time Magazine's "Milestones." A memorial retrospective exhibition of 29 of his paintings and sculptures was mounted in the summer of 1960 in celebration of the Barn Gallery's new wing. The exhibit also travelled to the Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery at the University of Miami, near the Coconut Grove Playhouse where Jack had played in "Waiting for Godot." It ran from February 14 through April 9, 1961. The University of Miami (also known as UM or just The U) is a private university founded in 1925 with its main campus in the city of Coral Gables in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States. ...

References

Frank Buxton and Bill Owen, The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950, New York: Avon Books.

Dallman, V.Y. (1960) Obituary in the Illinois State Register, January 15, 1960.

John Dunning, Tune In Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976. [picture of Jack as The Fat Man]

Laughlin, Charles D. (1994) J. Scott Smart, a.k.a. The Fat Man. York, ME: Three Faces East Press (the official and most complete biography of Jack Smart).

J. Fred MacDonald (1979) Don't Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920-1960. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, p. 173.

William C. Plante (1960) "J. Scott Smart." The Players Bulletin, spring issue.

Robert Taylor (1989) Fred Allen: His Life and Wit. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

External Links

• Biographical article by Charles D. Laughlin, Jack Smart's official biographer

• The IMDb data base on Jack Smart

• Frank Passage's log of "The Fat Man" program

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