Howard Smith

Acting

Howard Smith

Born 1893-08-10 · Attleboro, Massachusetts, U.S.

Howard Irving Smith (August 12, 1893 in – January 10, 1968) was an American character actor with a 50-year career in vaudeville, theater, radio, films and television. In 1938 he performed in Orson Welles's short-lived stage production and once-lost film, Too Much Johnson, and in the celebrated radio production, "The War of the Worlds". He portrayed Charley in the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman and recreated the role in the 1951 film version. On television Smith portrayed the gruff Harvey Griffin in the situation comedy, Hazel.

Acting credits

Call Northside 777 poster
6.7

In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal to look into the case. For some time, McNeal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.

Call Northside 777

1948

The Caddy poster
6.4

Although the son of a skilled golfer and an outstanding player in his own right, Harvey Miller is too nervous to play in front of a gallery, so he acts as coach and caddy for Joe Anthony, his girlfriend's brother.

The Caddy

1953

Kiss of Death poster
7.1

An ex-con trying to go straight must face a crazed criminal out for revenge.

Kiss of Death

1947

State of the Union poster
6.8

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

State of the Union

1948

A Face in the Crowd poster
7.6

The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.

A Face in the Crowd

1957

The Street with No Name poster
6.4

After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous.

The Street with No Name

1948

Wind Across the Everglades poster
6.2

Set in the early 20th century, the film follows a game warden who arrives in Florida to enforce conservation laws. He soon finds himself pitted against Cottonmouth, the leader of a fierce group of bird poachers.

Wind Across the Everglades

1958

Bon Voyage! poster
5.6

The Willards from Terre Haute, Indiana travels abroad for the once-in-a-lifetime vacation in Paris, France. Harry Willard believes that the greatest problem will be avoiding tap water, but bringing his three children will prove to be more troublesome

Bon Voyage!

1962

Murder, Inc. poster
6.5

Chronicles the rise and fall of the organised crime syndicate known as Murder, Incorporated, focusing on powerful boss Lepke and violent hit man Reles.

Murder, Inc.

1960

No Time for Sergeants poster
7.3

Georgia farm boy Will Stockdale is about to bust with pride. He’s been drafted. Will’s ready. But is Uncle Sam ready for Will?

No Time for Sergeants

1958

The Brass Bottle poster
6.3

A genie tends to get his master into more predicaments than he gets him out of.

The Brass Bottle

1964

Death of a Salesman poster
7.0

Willy Loman, an aging, failing salesman, struggles to accept reality and his failure to achieve the American Dream.

Death of a Salesman

1951

Don't Go Near the Water poster
5.3

Madison Avenue-trained Navy men handle public relations on a South Pacific island during World War II.

Don't Go Near the Water

1957

Too Much Johnson poster
5.4

This film was not intended to stand by itself, but was designed as the cinematic aspect of Welles' Mercury Theatre stage presentation of William Gillette's 1894 comedy about a New York playboy who flees from the violent husband of his mistress and borrows the identity of a plantation owner in Cuba who is expecting the arrival of a mail order bride. The film component of the performance was ultimately never screened due to the absence of projection facilities at the venue. Long-believed to be lost, a workprint was discovered in 2008 and the film had its premiere in 2013.

Too Much Johnson

2013

Her Kind of Man poster
6.3

A nightclub singer can't choose between a charismatic small-time gangster and an honest newspaperman.

Her Kind of Man

1946

I Bury the Living poster
6.2

The new manager of a small-town cemetery becomes convinced that he triggered the untimely deaths of several plot owners by tampering with a certain map. When nobody believes him, he risks his sanity to play God once again and prove his point.

I Bury the Living

1958

Sincerely, Willis Wade poster
8.0

A wealthy mill owner finances the education of a clever, but poor, young man.

Sincerely, Willis Wade

1956

Never Wave at a WAC poster
5.0

A divorced socialite decides to join the Army in an effort to see more of her colonel boyfriend. She soon encounters many difficulties with the lifestyle. Moreover, her ex-husband is working as a consultant, and he uses his position to disrupt her romantic plans by making her join a group of WACs testing new equipment.

Never Wave at a WAC

1953

Face of Fire poster
5.8

A local handyman saves a child in a fire, but the burns he receives disfigure his face so much that the townspeople avoid him.

Face of Fire

1959

The Front Page poster
NR

Earl Williams is set to hang tomorrow. When he escapes from his cell, reporter Hildy Johnson finds him, and thus seems likely to land the scoop of his career - only he's desperate to leave town tonight.

The Front Page

1945

No artwork available
NR

A magician is hired to prevent a jewel heist but the diamonds still disappear despite him being near them.

The Great Merlini

1951

Cry Murder poster
4.7

A young actress has retired from films to marry the son of a prominent and rich politician in New York City. The father objects strongly to the marriage. The actress is being blackmailed by a second-rate artist who has stolen some letters from her that could be misconstrued. During the payoff, she is knocked unconscious, and awakens to find herself involved in a murder and the police have her marked as the number-one suspect.

Cry Murder

1950