Richard Smith

Richard Smith (September 17, 1886 – 1937), also known as Dick Smith, was a screenwriter, actor, and film director. Smith was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and became a comedian active in the vaudeville era. He met his wife Alice Howell in 1910 and the two performed together as Howell and Howell. After working under direction of Mack Sennett at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City, Smith moved to Los Angeles, California. Smith and his wife starred in reels together produced by L-KO Kompany.

While Howell was contracted at Universal Studios, Smith directed her in films described in the book Clown Princes and Court Jesters as, "some of Universal's most memorable comedies of the twenties". He met his wife Alice Howell when she was a member of a production by DeWolf Hopper, in 1910. The Howell and Howell duo performed together for three years. Their performances included burlesque and vaudeville. Mack Sennett directed Smith at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City. Under the production company Reelcraft Pictures, Smith wrote and directed several films which his wife starred in.

After his wife became an actress in features at Universal Studios in 1921, Smith directed her in multiple comedies. Smith also had an acting role in the film as an artist. He served as director in 1921 of Humor Risk, the first film starring the Marx Brothers. Smith directed actors including Bert Roach and Neely Edwards in the 1925 film A Nice Pickle, and Charles Puffy the same year in Muddled Up. After Howell retired from film in the 1926, Smith kept up with his contracted work at Universal and wrote a set of comedy films called "The Collegians". Smith died in 1937 in Los Angeles, California, at fifty years old.

Filmography