Roger Smith

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Roger Smith
Smith with his former wife, Victoria Shaw, in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip, 1962.
Born	Roger LaVerne Smith (1932-12-18) December 18, 1932 (age 79) South Gate, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, singer
Years active	1956-1977
Spouse	Victoria Shaw (1956-1965) (divorced) 3 children Ann-Margret (1967-present)

Roger LaVerne Smith (born December 18, 1932) is an American television and film actor and screenwriter. He starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He is married to actress Ann-Margret.

Early life

A debonair and handsome leading man in his youth, Smith was born in South Gate, California, the son of Dallas and Leone Smith. When he was six, his parents enrolled him into a stage school, where he took singing, dancing and elocution lessons. 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.

Career

Smith served with the Naval Reserve in Hawaii. After a chance meeting with the 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 son in Man of a Thousand Faces.

Smith signed with Columbia Pictures in 1957 and made several films, then moved to Warner Bros. in 1959.

His greatest film exposure came with playing the adult nephew Patrick Dennis in Auntie Mame, with Rosalind Russell in the title role. His signature television role came as Jeff Spencer, a private detective in the firm of Bailey & Spencer partnered with Stuart Bailey, played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Like some other detective shows of the period, this show's title was its address: 77 Sunset Strip.

Smith appeared in 74 episodes of this Warner Bros.-produced series but left the popular ABC program in 1962 because of a blood clot in his brain. He recovered from this injury post-surgery. Several years later his health declined and he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease. His condition went into remission in 1985. Following his retirement from performing, he managed his wife Ann-Margret's career and produced her popular Las Vegas stage shows.

Smith appeared very rarely on television once his health deteriorated, but did participate on This is Your Life when host Ralph Edwards devoted an episode to Ann-Margret. In addition to the appearances credited below, Smith also has been on several game shows.

Personal life

Smith married twice. His first wife was Australian-born actress Victoria Shaw, and together they had three children: daughter Tracey (b. 1957), and sons Jordan (b. 1958) and Dallas (b. 1961). He has five grandchildren: Leone (b. 1981), Alex (1984–2008), Rosalyn (b. 1988), Zach (b. 1990) and Cameron (b. 1995). He has two great grandchildren, twins Axel and Radley (b.  2010). Smith and Shaw divorced in 1965. He has been married to Ann-Margret since May 8, 1967.

According to cfidarren.com, Smith was a Private Pilot with an instrument rating issued in 11/30/1966.

Filmography

References

Personal life and early life sections verified by daughter Tracey L. Smith.

External links

• Roger Smith at the Internet Movie Database