Pete Smith

from New York City, New York, USA

Image of Pete Smith

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.

Timeline

2002Aged 110

  • Poster for Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

    Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

1955Aged 63

1954Aged 62

1953Aged 61

  • The Mosconi Story

    Narrator

  • Poster for Dogs 'n Ducks

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Cash Stashers

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for This Is a Living?

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Things We Can Do Without

    Narrator (voice)

1952Aged 60

  • Musiquiz

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Reducing

    Narrator (voice)

1951Aged 59

  • Poster for Camera Sleuth

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Bargain Madness

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Fishing Feats

    Narrator (voice)

1950Aged 58

  • Pest Control

    Narrator

  • Poster for Crashing the Movies

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Did'ja Know?

    Narrator (voice)

  • A Wife's Life

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Wrong Way Butch

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Curious Contests

    Narrator (voice) (as a Smith named Pete)

1949Aged 57

1948Aged 56

1947Aged 55

1946Aged 54

1945Aged 53

1944Aged 52

1943Aged 51

1942Aged 50

  • Poster for Aqua Antics

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for What About Daddy?

    Narrator

  • Poster for Acro-Batty

    Narrator

  • Poster for Victory Quiz

    (Unknown)

  • Football Thrills of 1941

    Narrator

  • Poster for Calling All Pa's

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Tree in a Test Tube

    as Interlocutor (voice)

  • Poster for Marines in the Making

    Narrator (voice)

1941Aged 49

1940Aged 48

1939Aged 47

1938Aged 46

1937Aged 45

  • Dexterity

    Narrator

  • Poster for Bar-Rac's Night Out

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Penny Wisdom

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Grand Bounce

    Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

  • Poster for Pigskin Champions

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Equestrian Acrobats

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Romance of Radium

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Candid Cameramaniacs

    Narrator

  • Poster for Friend Indeed

    Narrator

1936Aged 44

  • Let's Dance

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Jonker Diamond

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Harnessed Rhythm

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Killer Dog

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Hurling

    Narrator

  • Poster for Wanted - A Master

    Narrator (voice) / Dog (voice)

1935Aged 43

  • Poster for Donkey Baseball

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Trained Hoofs

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Water Sports

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for La Fiesta de Santa Barbara

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Audioscopiks

    Commentator (voice)

1934Aged 42

  • Poster for Roping Wild Bears

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Two

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Three

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Manhattan Melodrama

    Racetrack Announcer (Voice) (uncredited)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Four

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Five

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Six

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Seven

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Pro Football

    Narrator (voice)

  • Goofy Movies Number Eight

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Strikes and Spares

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number Nine

    Narrator (voice)

  • Goofy Movies Number Ten

    Narrator (voice)

1933Aged 41

  • Poster for Throttle Pushers

    Narrator(voice)

  • Poster for Inflation

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Handlebars

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Menu

    Narrator (voice)

  • Fine Feathers

    Narrator

  • Poster for Goofy Movies Number One

    Narrator (voice)

1932Aged 40

1931Aged 39

  • Poster for Trader Hound

    Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

  • Poster for Wild and Woolly

    Narrator (voice)

Year unknown

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