Roger LaVerne Smith (December 18, 1932 â€" June 4, 2017) was an
American television and film actor, producer and screenwriter. He
starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip and in the
comedy series Mister Roberts. Smith went on to manage the career of
Ann-Margret, his wife of 50 years.Smith was born in South Gate,
California, the son of Leone Irene (Adams) and Dallas L. Smith. When
he was six, his parents enrolled him into a stage school, where he
took singing, dancing and elocution lessons. He grew up in Nogales,
Arizona where his family moved when he was 12. He was educated at the
University of Arizona at Tucson on a football scholarship. He won
several amateur talent prizes as a singer and guitarist.Smith served
with the Naval Reserve and was stationed in Hawaii with the Fleet
All-Weather Training Unit-Pacific, a flight training unit near
Honolulu. After a chance meeting with actor James Cagney, he was
encouraged to try a career in Hollywood. (Cagney had also encouraged
other young actors, including Don Dubbins, for whom he found roles in
two 1956 films.) He would later play Cagney's character's son in Man
of a Thousand Faces.Smith signed with Columbia Pictures in 1957 and
made several films, then moved to Warner Bros. in 1958. On April 16,
1958, Smith appeared with Charles Bickford in "The Daniel Barrister
Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. His greatest film exposure was the role
of the adult Patrick Dennis in Auntie Mame, with Rosalind Russell.
American television and film actor, producer and screenwriter. He
starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip and in the
comedy series Mister Roberts. Smith went on to manage the career of
Ann-Margret, his wife of 50 years.Smith was born in South Gate,
California, the son of Leone Irene (Adams) and Dallas L. Smith. When
he was six, his parents enrolled him into a stage school, where he
took singing, dancing and elocution lessons. He grew up in Nogales,
Arizona where his family moved when he was 12. He was educated at the
University of Arizona at Tucson on a football scholarship. He won
several amateur talent prizes as a singer and guitarist.Smith served
with the Naval Reserve and was stationed in Hawaii with the Fleet
All-Weather Training Unit-Pacific, a flight training unit near
Honolulu. After a chance meeting with actor James Cagney, he was
encouraged to try a career in Hollywood. (Cagney had also encouraged
other young actors, including Don Dubbins, for whom he found roles in
two 1956 films.) He would later play Cagney's character's son in Man
of a Thousand Faces.Smith signed with Columbia Pictures in 1957 and
made several films, then moved to Warner Bros. in 1958. On April 16,
1958, Smith appeared with Charles Bickford in "The Daniel Barrister
Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. His greatest film exposure was the role
of the adult Patrick Dennis in Auntie Mame, with Rosalind Russell.
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