Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons Smith, known as Alexis Smith, was a Canadian-born
stage, film, and television actress and singer. She appeared in several major
Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s,
winning a Tony Award in 1972. Early life
Born in Penticton, British Columbia, to Gladys and Alexander Smith, her family
relocated to Los Angeles when she was about a year old. Smith grew up in
Southern California, attending Hollywood High School. When she was 13 she made
her professional debut, performing ballet at the Hollywood Bowl. She was
discovered in 1940 at Los Angeles City College, acting in a school production,
by a Warner Brothers' talent scout. Acting career
= Film career = After being discovered by a talent scout
while attending college, Smith was signed to a contract by Warner Bros. Her
earliest film roles were uncredited bit parts, and it took several years for her
career to gain momentum. Her first credited role was in the feature film
Dive Bomber, playing the female lead opposite Errol Flynn. Her appearance in
The Constant Nymph was well received and led to bigger parts.
During the 1940s, Smith appeared alongside some of the most popular male
stars of the day, including Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim and San Antonio,
Fredric March in The Adventures of Mark Twain, Humphrey Bogart in Conflict and
The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Cary Grant in a sanitized, fictionalized version of the
life of Cole and Linda Porter in Night and Day, and Bing Crosby in Here Comes
the Groom, her favorite role. Among Smith's other films are Rhapsody
In Blue, Of Human Bondage, and The Young Philadelphians. She also appeared on a
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis radio broadcast on 25 January 1952.
= Stage career = While Smith was under contract at Warner
Bros., she met fellow actor Craig Stevens; they wed in 1944. In later
years, Smith toured in several stage hits including the 1955 National company
of Plain and Fancy, co-starring with her husband in Jean Kerr's Mary, Mary and
Cactus Flower. Smith appeared on the cover of the May
3, 1971, issue of Time as the result of the critical acclaim for her singing and
dancing role in Hal Prince's Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's
Follies, which marked her long-awaited Broadway debut. In 1972, she won the
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.
Her stage career continued through the 1970s, with appearances in the 1973
all-star revival of The Women, the short-lived re-working of William Inge's
drama Picnic, re-titled Summer Brave, and the ill-fated musical Platinum,
which earned Smith another Tony nomination for her performance but
closed after a brief run. She then toured for more than a year as the madam
in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, including a seven-month run in Los
Angeles. = Later work =
Smith returned to the big screen with star billing at the age of 54 in
Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough opposite Kirk Douglas, followed by The
Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane with Martin Sheen and Jodie Foster the
following year and Casey's Shadow with Walter Matthau in 1978.
One of her final film roles came in 1986, again with Douglas when he
reunited with frequent co-star Burt Lancaster for a 1986 crime comedy, Tough
Guys. Smith had a recurring role on the
television series Dallas as Clayton Farlow's sister Lady Jessica Montford in
1984, and again in 1990. She also starred in the short-lived 1988 series
Hothouse, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on Cheers
in 1990. Death
Alexis Smith died of brain cancer in Los Angeles in 1993 on the day after her
72nd birthday. She had no children and her sole survivor was her husband of 49
years, actor Craig Stevens. Smith's final film, The Age of Innocence, was
released shortly after her death. Her body was cremated and her ashes were
scattered over the Pacific. Filmography
Stage work Private Lives
Bell, Book and Candle Wonderful Town
Mary, Mary Follies
The Women Applause
Summer Brave Platinum
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Pal Joey
Nymph Errant Radio appearances
References = Notes =
= Bibliography = External links
Alexis Smith at AllMovie Alexis Smith at the Internet Broadway
Database Alexis Smith at the Internet Movie
Database Alexis Smith at the TCM Movie Database