Howard Smith

Howard Irving Smith (August 12, 1893 – January 10, 1968) was an American character actor with a 50-year career in vaudeville, theatre, radio, films, and television. In 1938, he performed in Orson Welles's short-lived stage production and once-lost film, Too Much Johnson, and in the celebrated radio production, "The War of the Worlds". He portrayed Charley in the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman and recreated the role in the 1951 film version. On television, Smith portrayed the gruff Harvey Griffin in the situation comedy, Hazel.

Biography Howard Irving Smith was born August 12, 1893, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, to parents George H. Smith and Sybelle Pollard Smith.

Smith began as a concert singer, but his hopes of an opera career were ended after his service in the 77th Infantry Division in World War I. Enrico Caruso suggested that he try a musical act in vaudeville. He formed a team with his friend Harry Meeker, and later as a comedian, he shared bills with Frank Fay, Sophie Tucker, James Barton, and Bessie Clayton.

In 1928, with big-time vaudeville ending, Smith landed a job on radio's popular The Collier Hour, and received $35 for three minutes work. His radio career continued with The March of Time, Cavalcade of America, Forty Minutes in Hollywood and Crime Doctor. He played the role of Will Brown, Homer's father, on radio's The Aldrich Family and later reprised the role on the NBC television series.

A member of the repertory company of Orson Welles's CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air and The Campbell Playhouse, Smith played the role of the ill-fated bomber commander in the 1938 production of "The War of the Worlds". Smith appears as Cuban plantation owner Joseph Johnson in Welles's rediscovered film Too Much Johnson — slapstick sequences that were to be integrated into a theatre production that was briefly staged in August 1938 before it was shelved.

After New York stage appearances in Solitaire, Decision, and Dear Ruth, Smith created the role of Charley in the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman. He may be best remembered for his recreation of the role in the 1951 screen version.

His other film credits include Kiss of Death, Call Northside 777, The Street with No Name, State of the Union, A Face in the Crowd, and No Time for Sergeants. He made his film debut in 1918, in Young America. He was cremated and his ashes are buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. The Tom Ewell Show (1960, TV series) – Warren Prescott The Twilight Zone (1960–1962, TV Series) – Polk / Misrell Hazel (1961–1965, TV Series) – Harvey Griffin Bon Voyage! (1962) – Judge Henderson The Dakotas (1963, TV Series) – Ed Turner The Brass Bottle (1964) – Senator Grindle Vacation Playhouse (1964, TV Series) – T.J. Gittings Green Acres (1966) – Judge Clemens The John Forsythe Show (1966, TV Series) – Oakes The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1967, TV Series) – Cummings Bewitched (1967, TV Series) – C.L. Morton The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1967) – Cummings (final film role)