Pete Smith

Acting · 0.6 popularity

Age

133

Movies

170

Born: September 4, 1892 – January 12, 1979
From: New York City, New York, USA

Biography

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.

Works

170 films

Do Someone a Favor!

19547.0

Diamond Demon

19477.6

Fala at Hyde Park

19469.0

Fala: The President's Dog

19437.0

Fancy Answers

19417.0

The Jonker Diamond

19364.9

Camera Sleuth

19517.0

Manhattan Melodrama

19347.0

Fishing Feats

19517.5

Army Champions

19416.0

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara

19356.1

Film Antics

19546.0

Just Suppose

19487.0

Olympic Events

193210.0

Fisticuffs

19387.0

Acro-Batty

19427.5

Killer Dog

19365.6

Victory Quiz

19426.3

Aqua Antics

19427.0

Musiquiz

19525.5

Radio Hams

19397.3

Flicker Memories

19415.8

Marines in the Making

19426.3

19335.4

Safety Sleuth

1944

Guest Pests

19457.0

Pest Control

1950

Studio Visit

19465.5

Curious Contests

195010.0

Ice Aces

19487.0

Swing High

19327.1

Hollywood Scout

19456.5

I Love My Wife BUT!

19477.0

Hollywood Daredevils

1943

Dexterity

19379.0

Wanted - A Master

19366.8

What About Daddy?

19427.0

Wedding Bills

19408.5

Treasures from Trash

19467.0

A Wife's Life

19506.0

Neighbor Pests

1947

Water Trix

19496.3

Bowling Tricks

19486.5

Weather Wizards

19397.0

Romance of Radium

19376.2

Aeronutics

19417.0

Donkey Baseball

19356.0

Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

20027.0

The Fall Guy

19557.5

Cuban Rhythm

19417.0

Trader Hound

19316.0

Social Sea Lions

19407.0

Snow Birds

19326.3

Dogs 'n Ducks

19535.0

I Love My Mother-In-Law But...

19487.2

Fish Tales

19547.0

Hurling

19369.0

The Great Morgan

19456.0

Strikes and Spares

19346.4

Quicker'n a Wink

19407.0

Water Sports

19356.5

Color Scales

19327.0

Have You Ever Wondered?

19476.5

The Mosconi Story

1953

Audioscopiks

19355.7

Microscopic Mysteries

19326.7

Sportsman's Memories

1944

Fine Feathers

19336.7

Bargain Madness

19516.7

Pro Football

19347.0

Let's Cogitate

19487.5

Rough Riding

19546.5

Let's Dance

19367.0

Pigskin Champions

1937

Man's Greatest Friend

19388.0

Handlebars

19336.0

This Is a Living?

19536.0

Please Answer (I.Q. #3)

19409.0

The Man Around the House

1955

The Domineering Male

19407.3

The Tree in a Test Tube

19425.2

Seeing Hands

19436.3

Ain't It Aggravatin'

19546.0

Water Wisdom

19439.0

Wild and Woolly

19317.0

Take a Cue

19398.5

Memory Tricks

19417.0

Equestrian Quiz: What's Your I.Q.? No. 11

19466.5

Harnessed Rhythm

19365.5

Animals in Action

19557.0

Penny's Picnic

19388.0

Inflation

19338.0

Football Thrills of 1940

1941

Anaesthesia

19387.0

Goofy Movies Number Two

19346.6

Groovie Movie

19446.3

Friend Indeed

19376.7

Seventh Column

19437.0

Did'ja Know?

19505.0

Desert Regatta

19326.3

Penny's Party

19388.0

Crashing the Movies

19507.0

Out for Fun

19549.0

Roping Wild Bears

19347.0

Trained Hoofs

19357.5

Athletiquiz: What's Your I.Q.? No. 12

19478.0

Football Thrills No. 10

19478.0

Super Cue Men

19498.0

Equestrian Acrobats

19378.0

Goofy Movies Number One

19336.0

Cash Stashers

19537.0

Those Good Old Days

19498.0

Double Diving

193910.0

The New Audioscopiks

19386.7

Water Bugs

19418.5

Stuffie

194010.0

Third Dimensional Murder

19418.0

Lions on the Loose

19416.5

We Can Dream, Can't We?

1949

The Camera Caught It

1954

Heroes at Leisure

19397.0

Calling All Pa's

19426.7

'What's Your 'I.Q.'?': Number Two

19408.0

The Grand Bounce

19377.0

Sports Oddities

19499.0

Home Maid

19447.0

Three on a Rope

19387.5

Hot on Ice

19388.0

Poetry of Nature

19396.0

Culinary Carving

19397.0

Grid Rules

19389.0

Let's Talk Turkey

19396.3

Maintain the Right

19407.0

Goofy Movies Number Ten

19346.5

Goofy Movies Number Three

19345.8

Goofy Movies Number Eight

19347.0

Wrong Way Butch

19506.4

Football Thrills No. 9

1946

Goofy Movies Number Six

19346.0

Goofy Movies Number Four

19344.8

Throttle Pushers

19337.5

Now You See It

19476.6

Goofy Movies Number Five

19347.5

Spots Before Your Eyes

19409.0

How to Hold Your Husband - BACK

19416.3

You Can't Win

19484.9

Football Thrills of 1938

19397.0

Goofy Movies Number Seven

19345.7

I Love My Husband, But!

194610.0

Movie Pests

19446.1

Bar-Rac's Night Out

19376.5

Goofy Movies Number Nine

19347.0

Penny Wisdom

19376.3

Candid Cameramaniacs

19377.5

Set 'em Up

193910.0

Just What I Needed

1955

Sure Cures

19465.7

Football Thrills of 1944

19456.5

Football Thrills of 1941

1942

Gettin' Glamour

19465.0

Football Thrills of 1942

1943

Football Thrills of 1943

1944

Football Thrills of 1937

193810.0

Badminton

19459.0

Reducing

19525.3

Football Thrills of 1939

2026

Things We Can Do Without

19537.3

Penny To the Rescue

19417.0

Surfboard Rhythm

19479.0

Marine Circus

19396.0