Theatre Register

William Smith

Shows · William Smith

Director 1933–2021 On stage 1908–1934

William Emmett Smith Jr. (March 24, 1933 – July 5, 2021) was an American actor and stunt performer. His career spanned nearly 80 years across film and television, often in imposing or villainous character roles. Smith starred as Texas Ranger Joe Riley on the Western television series Laredo (1965-67), and played the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the acclaimed television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) and Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (1976-77). He played prominent roles in films like Any Which Way You Can (1980), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), and Red Dawn (1984). He was also a leading man in several exploitation and action films, during the 1970s and 1990s.

On stage 4 productions, 26 years

1908 Ski-Hi Madison Square Roof Garden · Original · directed by Robert A. Marks 15 perf.
1927 Four Walls John Golden Theatre · Original 144 perf.
1933 The Mountain Provincetown Playhouse · Original · directed by Fred Eric 4 perf.
1934 Too Many Boats Playhouse Theatre · Original 7 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Also credited on1 work

Yip Yip Yaphank

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature1 passages

  • The Irish never presented their own life on the and to chance upon an Irish-produced play set at home was rare. William Smith Clark in The Early Irishtheatre-pdfs/McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, v. 3 (I-N).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — director — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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