Madolyn Smith is a retired American actress, known for her roles in the films ''
Urban Cowboy
''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford Uan "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spur ...
'' (1980), ''
2010: The Year We Make Contact'' (1984), and ''
Funny Farm'' (1988).
Career
Smith first came to public attention with her role as Pam in the 1980 film ''
Urban Cowboy
''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford Uan "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spur ...
''. She later co-starred in the films ''
2010'' (1984), the
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to ''
2001: A Space Odyssey'', and ''
All of Me'' (1984), a
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
-
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...
comedy.
Reviewing the latter film,
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
wrote in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' that Smith was a "talented and stunning brunette ... who knows how to make guile and bitchery funny, and who has a comic charge comparable to Lily Tomlin's." In the early 1980s she also appeared in several
TV movies, including ''
Pray TV'', ''
Rehearsal for Murder
''Rehearsal for Murder'' is an American murder mystery television film starring Robert Preston and Lynn Redgrave, and directed by David Greene. The script, written by Richard Levinson and William Link, won a 1983 Edgar Award from the Mystery W ...
'' and ''
Deadly Intentions''. She portrayed
Jehan Sadat
Jehan Sadat ( ar, جيهان السادات ''Jihān as-Sadāt'', ; née Safwat Raouf; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist, the First Lady of Egypt from 1970 until her husband's assassination in 1981. As Egypt ...
, wife of Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
, in the 1983 TV
miniseries ''
Sadat
Sadat ( ar, سادات) is a suffix, which is given to families believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Iran, after the revolution, it is mandatory to mention "Seyed" or "Sadat" in the names of or whose descent from Muham ...
'', and played
Ernie Kovacs
Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer.
Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years aft ...
' wife Dorothy in the 1984 TV movie ''
Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter''.
Smith starred as Tracy Whitney in the 1986 TV miniseries ''
If Tomorrow Comes If Tomorrow Comes may refer to:
* ''If Tomorrow Comes'' (film), a 1971 American TV film
* ''If Tomorrow Comes'' (novel), a 1985 novel by Sidney Sheldon
* ''If Tomorrow Comes'' (miniseries), a 1986 miniseries based on the novel
* ''If Tomorrow C ...
'', based on the
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxe ...
novel of the same name. She subsequently costarred in films like ''
Funny Farm'' (1988) opposite
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
and ''
The Super'' (1991) with
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...
; the 1990 TV movies ''
The Plot to Kill Hitler
''The Plot to Kill Hitler '' is a 1990 television film based on the July 20 plot by German High Command to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944. Brad Davis stars as Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who plants a bomb in the conference room of ...
'' and ''
The Rose and the Jackal''; and the 1990 miniseries ''
The Kennedys of Massachusetts
''The Kennedys of Massachusetts'' is a 1990 TV miniseries that aired on ABC. Focusing mainly on the fifty-four year marriage of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Kennedy. The events depicted in the series are based upon the book by Doris Kearns G ...
''.
Smith guest-starred in a 1989 episode of the
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
Cheers'' titled "What's Up, Doc?". She was the first choice of the creators to replace Shelley Long. She also appeared in multiple episodes of the 1993 drama series ''
Class of '96
''Class of '96'' is an American drama series that aired on Fox from January to May 1993. The series was created by John Romano and filmed mostly at the University of Toronto.
Synopsis
The series focused on seven students at Havenhurst College ...
''. Her last TV appearance was in a 1994 episode of ''
Due South'', after which she formally retired. Smith later provided some narration in the 2010
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
''
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...
: The Struggle for American Architecture''.
Personal life
Born in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Smith graduated from the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
.
She married
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
player
Mark Osborne in 1988.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
Madolyn Smithat
Trading Card Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Madolyn
Living people
Actresses from Albuquerque, New Mexico
University of Southern California alumni
American film actresses
American television actresses
20th-century American actresses
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women