J. Scott Smart

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1902 and his family later moved to Buffalo, New York,{{cite news|last1=Albert|first1=Dora|title=Radio's Jack of All Trades|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6297995/oakland_tribune/|work=Oakland Tribune|date=February 16, 1936|location=California, Oakland|page=79|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 18, 2016}} {{Open access}} where he was a 1922 graduate of Lafayette High School. He also attended the Miami Military Institute.{{cite news|last1=Siegel|first1=Norman|title=Radio's Jack Smart Clicks In Lunt and Fontanne Play|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19420927&id=7yobAAAAIBAJ&pg=5267,5842952&hl=en|accessdate=20 August 2016|work=The Pittsburgh Press|date=September 27, 1942|page=Fourth Section - 9}}

Smart told a reporter that before entering show business, he held thirty jobs in three years, including selling shoe polish, heaving coal on a boat, being a fire chief in a factory, drawing cartoons for a newspaper, and designing ads for an advertising agency.

When he was twenty-one, Smart began acting in stock theater in Buffalo. He acted there for five years. After that, a friend set up an audition for a program on NBC. The result was Smart's first role on radio, that of a singing waiter on Whispering Tables. His Broadway credits include A Bell for Adano (1944) and Separate Rooms (1939).{{cite web|title=(J. Scott Smart search results)|url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?shows=on&people=on&theatres=on&q=J.+Scott+Smart&qasset=00000150-ac80-d16d-a550-ecbe99590000|website=Playbill Vault|accessdate=20 August 2016}}

Image:Fatmanlobby.jpg

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.{{r|rp|page1=114-115}} (See Laughlin 1994, Dunning 1976, Buxton and Owen 1996.) A regular on The March of Time and The Fred Allen Show,{{r|rp|page1=121-123}} he played so many character roles during the early days of radio drama that he became known as the "Lon Chaney of Radio".{{cite news|last1=SteinHauser|first1=Si|title=Ace Character Actor of Networks Quits Radio For Role In Talkies|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19360826&id=tSUbAAAAIBAJ&pg=2150,228571&hl=en|accessdate=20 August 2016|work=The Pittsburgh Press|date=August 26, 1936|page=24}} He was also an accomplished stage actor and played roles in major productions of A Bell For Adano and Waiting for Godot. He appeared in many movies, including Kiss of Death and the movie version of The Fat Man. 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 HourTerrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4513-4}}. Pp. 113-114. and The Teen-Timers Club{{r|rp|page1=327}} and was heard frequently on Grand Central Station and Inner Sanctum Mystery.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2834-2}}. P. 245.

Smart married Alice Coy Wright on July 23, 1931.{{cite news|title=Wave Marks|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Radio-Guide-IDX-Site/IDX/1934/Radio-Guide-34-07-28-OCR-Page-0009.pdf|accessdate=20 August 2016|work=Radio Guide|date=July 28, 1934|page=9}} He was married to Mary-Leigh Smart from 1951 until his death in 1960. They had no children, but were an established part of the local arts community in Ogunquit, Maine.

Smart continued to live in Ogunquit, where he directed a summer theater. He also became a painter and sculptor.

Smart died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Illinois.

{{Reflist}}

• 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.

• [https://archive.org/details/otr_fatman 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.

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• [http://cdlaughlin.googlepages.com/home J. Scott Smart official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121205223611/http://cdlaughlin.googlepages.com/home |date=2012-12-05 }}
• {{IMDb name|0806670}}
• {{IBDB name|111639}}

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Category:1902 births

Category:1960 deaths

Category:American male radio actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:Male actors from Philadelphia

Category:People from Ogunquit, Maine

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni

Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois