Cecil Smith (May 22, 1917 – July 11, 2009) was an American journalist, critic, screenwriter,

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

author, television host, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

military officer and bomber pilot. He was the longtime television critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' from the 1950s through the 1980s. Media scholar Melissa Crawley in her book ''The American Television Critic'' (2017,

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...

), stated that Smith along with Hal Humphrey were "two of the most influential" television critics of their era in criticism. At the time of his death in 2009, critic

Howard Rosenberg Howard Anthony Rosenberg (born June 10, 1942) is an American television critic. He worked at ''The Louisville Times'' from 1968 through 1978 and then worked at the ''Los Angeles Times'' for 25 years where he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

stated that Smith "was one of the giants in the business".

Early life, education, and career

Cecil Smith was born in

Marlow, Oklahoma Marlow is a city in Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,662 at the 2010 census. Geography Marlow is located in northern Stephens County, in the southern part of the state, at (34.643410, -97.958806). According t ...

on May 22, 1917. He moved with his family to Los Angeles and attended

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

. He earned degrees from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He began his career writing

s from 1938 through 1941. He then served as a captain in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

; flying a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. After the war, Smith worked as screenwriter in television; penning more than 50 scripts for American television. He concurrently joined the staff of the ''

'' in 1947 as a features writer and reporter. In 1958 he began writing his own television criticism column for that newspaper and was made entertainment editor. He continued in that role until 1964 when he was made drama critic for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He remained in that role for the next five years, until he was appointed the paper's television critic and a columnist for ''The Times Syndicate'' in 1969; roles he continued in until his retirement in 1982. For

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Smith hosted two seasons of the program ''Cecil Smith on Drama'' (1965–1966).

Personal life and death

Cecil's first marriage ended in divorce. He married his second wife Cleo Mandicos in the late 1950s. Cleo was

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

's first cousin and Lucille introduced the pair to each other in Las Vegas. After their marriage, they had two children together; a daughter, Tina, and a son, Marcus. Cleo worked as a producer and executive on several of Lucille Ball's radio and television programs. Cecil appeared as himself in the 1970 television episode "Lucy Meets The Burtons" in the series ''

Here's Lucy ''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's thir ...

'', and his son Marcus later appeared in the 1972 episode "Lucy and Her Prince Charming" as the ring bearer in Lucy's wedding. Cecil Smith died in

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

on July 11, 2009.

References

External links

Cecil Smith
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Cecil 1917 births 2009 deaths American television critics American television hosts American theater critics Los Angeles Times people Santa Monica High School alumni Stanford University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II Writers from Los Angeles Writers from Oklahoma