Charles Martin Smith
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Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American film actor, writer and director. Born in Van Nuys, California, Smith was discovered by a talent agent while acting in a school play, usually a rare occurrence. After a few years of working in film, he landed the role of Terry "The Toad" Fields in the George Lucas' 1973 film American Graffiti. The sequel More American Graffiti (1979), did not have the success of the original, but he gained notice in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), Never Cry Wolf (film) (1983), and the successful Starman (1984).
The rest of Smith's acting career has mainly been in supporting roles. He received good reviews for his work in The Untouchables (1987). After this he co-starred in The Hot Spot (1990) and Deep Cover (1992), and in the mid-1990s in less successful films such as Speechless (1994) and I Love Trouble. Smith played a major role in the controversial HBO film And the Band Played On (1994), then turned in a well-regarded performance in the TV miniseries Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo (1995). He also appeared in The Beast in (1996) and in a minor role in the big budget Deep Impact in 1998. More recently he has appeared in mini-series such as "P.T. Barnum" (1999), "Kingdom Hospital" (2004) and "The Triangle" (2005)as well as the upcoming feature film "Lucky You" (2007) directed by Curtis Hanson.
Along with his acting career, since the mid-1990's Smith has increasingly focused on his work behind the camera. His first film as director was the camp horror film "Trick or Treat" (1986) for Dino De Laurentiis. He was one of the directors of the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995) as well as the director of the initial episode ("Welcome to the Hellmouth") that launched the hit TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997). He next directed the hugely succesful feature film "Air Bud" (Disney, 1997), and two TV miniseries for Hallmark Entertainment, "Roughing It" (2001) and "Icon" (2005). He also he wrote and directed the Canadian feature film "The Snow Walker" (2003) for Lion's Gate Films, based on a story by Farley Mowat (Never Cry Wolf) which marked a return to the Arctic for Smith and garnered 9 Genie Award nominations (the Canadian Academy Award) including Best Picture and Best Director for Smith.
He now resides in Canada and continues to add to production, directing, acting and writing credits in a career that has spanned over 35 years.
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Categories: American film actor, 1950s birth stubs | 1953 births | Living people | American character actors | American film actors | American film directors | American television directors | American television actors | Brady Bunch actors | Tales from the Crypt actors | The X-Files actors | People from the San Fernando Valley | English-language film directors
