Gerald Oliver Smith

Gerald Wilson Oliver Smith (June 26, 1892 – May 28, 1974) was an English-born actor who spent most of his career in the United States, both in New York City as a stage actor and in the Hollywood film industry.

Born in Sidcup, Kent, England, Smith debuted as a music hall singer in London. He came to the United States as part of a London Gaiety Company production of To-night's the Night. His Broadway career began in 1916, and he appeared in, among other productions, three George Gershwin musicals: Lady Be Good (1924), Oh, Kay! (1928) and Pardon My English (1933). He also had bit parts in silent films, such as The Mysterious Miss Terry (1917), and went on to appear in talkies and musicals in the 1930s and 1940s. He began working in Hollywood in 1937, and was frequently typecast as a genteel butler or pompous English gentleman. His film appearances included Casablanca, National Velvet, and One Hundred Men and a Girl. Smith appeared in more than one hundred movies, often in small roles, and was not always mentioned in the credits. From 1952 to 1956 he made several television appearances. He retired to the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital late in life.

On May 28, 1974, Smith died in Woodland Hills, California, at age 81. He is buried at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Los Angeles.