J. Scott Smart (born John Kenley Tener Smart, November 27, 1902 – January 15, 1960) was an American radio, film and stage actor during the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.

Early years

Smart was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Buffalo, where he was a 1922 graduate of Lafayette High School. He also attended Miami Military Institute. Smart told a reporter that, before entering show business, he held 30 jobs in three years. Those jobs included selling shoe polish, heaving coal on a boat, being fire chief in a factory, drawing cartoons for a newspaper and designing ads for an advertising agency.

Career

When he was 21, Smart began acting in stock theater in Buffalo, New York. He acted there for five years. After that, a friend set up an audition for a program on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. The result was Smart's first role on radio, that of a singing waiter on ''Whispering Tables.'' His

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

credits include ''A Bell for Adano'' (1944) and ''Separate Rooms'' (1939). Smart is best known for his lead as Brad Runyon in the detective show '' The Fat Man'', which aired on ABC Radio from 1946 to 1951. (See Laughlin 1994, Dunning 1976, Buxton and Owen 1996.) Jack was a regular on ''

The March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. ...

'' and ''

The Fred Allen Show ''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepat ...

''. In fact, he played so many character roles during the early days of radio drama that he became known as the "

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

of Radio". Jack was also an accomplished stage actor and played roles in major productions of ''

A Bell For Adano ''A Bell for Adano'' (1945) is a film directed by Henry King and starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. It was adapted from the 1944 novel of the same title by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1945. In his review of t ...

'' and '' Waiting for Godot''. He appeared in many movies, including '' Kiss of Death'' and the movie version of '' The Fat Man''. A running gag in the film was Smart getting in and out of the car he rented - a tiny MG! The film was an early major role for Rock Hudson. He vied with noted other rotund actor Bud Stevens for roles requiring fat fellows. In his later life, Smart's roles in radio programs included those shown in the table below. He was also a member of the casts of ''The Family Hour''Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 113-114. and ''The Teen-Timers Club'' and was heard frequently on ''

Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

'' and '' Inner Sanctum Mystery''.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 245.

Personal life

Smart married Alice Coy Wright on July 23, 1931. He was married to Mary-Leigh Smart from 1951 until his death in 1960. They had no children. Jack, together with Mary-Leigh, were an established part of the local arts community in

Ogunquit, Maine Ogunquit ( ) is a resort town in York County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,577. Ogunquit is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ogunquit, which means "be ...

. Late in life his widow, Mary-Leigh Smart bequeathed a 41-acre oceanfront estate as the Surf Point Artist Colony.seacoastonline.com article by Susan Morse Posted Oct. 4, 2009

Later years

Smart lived in

, and indulged his lifelong passion for art in becoming a painter and sculptor. He also had a summer theater in Ogunquit.

Death

Smart died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Illinois.

Filmography

References

*Buxton, Frank and Bill Owen (1996) ''The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950'' (second edition), New York: Scarecrow Press. *Dallman, V.Y. (1960) Obituary in the ''Illinois State Register'', January 15, 1960. *Dunning, John (1976) ''Tune In Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976'', Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. *Laughlin, Charles D. (1994) ''J. Scott Smart, a.k.a. The Fat Man''. York, Maine: Three Faces East Press. *MacDonald, J. Fred (1979) ''Don't Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920–1960''. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, p. 173. *Plante, William C. (1960) "J. Scott Smart". ''The Players Bulletin'', spring issue. *Taylor, Robert (1989) ''Fred Allen: His Life and Wit''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Listen to

Internet Archive: ''The Fat Man'' (29 episodes)
Note: Only the last six episodes in this archive are from the original American J. Scott Smart series; the rest are from the Australian series.

External links

J. Scott Smart official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, J. Scott 1902 births 1960 deaths American male radio actors American male film actors American male stage actors Male actors from Philadelphia People from Ogunquit, Maine 20th-century American male actors Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni