Reid Smith
Encyclopedia
Reid Smith is a wealthy Los Angeles
, California
, real estate
businessman, who maintained a sporadic acting
career from 1970 until about 1990.
’s NBC police drama, Chase
, starring Mitchell Ryan
in the title role of Captain Chase Reddick. Wayne Maunder
had a recurring role as Sergeant Sam MacCray. At mid-season, Smith was fired because Webb considered him lacking in motivation and dedication to acting. "I quit my acting lessons, quit trying to learn. I had a great opportunity, and I blew it," Smith later rued.
By 1980, he was cast to replace Charles Frank
in the role of Lester Hackett in the CBS western
miniseries
, The Chisholms
, with Robert Preston
in the lead as the patriarch
of a Virginia family headed by wagon train to California. Ironically, Mitchell Ryan also appeared on The Chisholms – in the role of Cooper Hawkins.
Other Smith roles included that of “Wells” in the 1972 episode "A Place to Hide" on NBC’s Bonanza
, as “Wheels” in the 1980 episode “Duelling Skates” of ABC
’s Mork and Mindy
, as “McGraw” in the 1980 episode “Mrs. Rosco P. Coltrane” of CBS’s The Dukes of Hazard, and as “Slade” in the episode entitled “Annie Oakley” on CBS’s Airwolf
, with Jan-Michael Vincent
.
He appeared as Teddy Bennett in the 1983 episode “Steele Among the Living” of NBC’s Remington Steele
and as Tad in the 1983 miniseries Malibu
. He guest starred as “Larry” in the 1987 episode “The Siege, Part 2” of ABC’s ‘’Dynasty
’’. In 1990, he appeared as Douglas Wittenberg in the episode “On Your Honor” of NBC’s ‘’L.A. Law
’’. His most recent role was as Mr. Battung in the 2004 film ‘’Silent Years’’.
, California, the son of a part-time model and television
announcer, Verne Smith, whose voice introduced the ABC sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
. Verne Smith left the family when Reid was only five. By the time he was nine, Smith was working to help support his mother and three sisters. He claimed to have dreamed of becoming a gangster
but went into legitimate business instead: "I was always thinking of ways to beat the system, to play the Monopoly game and win."
Smith put himself through University of California at Los Angeles and majored in economics
and television production. He made television commercials and sold used cars. He invested his first $7,000 in a $48,000 residence and resold it for $60,000. He now counts six cars in his garages—including a $69,000 Cobra. He has also dabbled in Appaloosa
horses, art, and antiques
.
with the actress Maud Wikstrom Adams
, five years his senior. Adams is a native of Lulea, Sweden
, a Baltic Sea
port near the Arctic Circle
. Her father was a comptroller; her mother, a government tax inspector. Adams was a speed skater and a model. She married advertising
executive Roy Adams, and the coupled divorce
d in 1975 after seven years of marriage.
At thirty, Smith had already amassed $10 million in real estate investments. He then owned seven houses. Smith’s mother, June, even served at the time as Adams’s secretary. Smith said that cohabitation “is the same as getting married, and I’m not grown up enough to settle down.” Adams said, “We spend as much time with each other as any [other] couple who live together, and we usually end up in the same bed. I just need some time and a place where I can be on my own.” Prior to his association with Adams, Smith had dated actress Jaclyn Smith
of ABC's Charlie's Angels
for a year and a half.
In 1980, Smith was taking tennis
lessons from his friend Sonny Bono
, prior to the singer’s subsequent career in Republican
politics. People magazine quoted Bono: “Reid has this naive optimism. He's not afraid to be a little boy." At the time, Smith was constructing a $3.5 million, then a much larger amount than in subsequent decades, Moroccan mansion with a wraparound view of Beverly Hills
.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
businessman, who maintained a sporadic acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
career from 1970 until about 1990.
Acting career
In 1973, Smith was cast in the supporting role of Officer Norm Hamilton in twenty episodes of Jack WebbJack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
’s NBC police drama, Chase
Chase (1973 TV series)
Chase is an American television series that aired on the NBC network from September 11, 1973 to August 28, 1974. The show was a production of Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television and marked the first show produced by Stephen J...
, starring Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan is an American actor most recently known for playing Edward Montgomery on the sitcom Dharma & Greg. He also worked with his on-screen wife from Dharma & Greg, Susan Sullivan, in the short-lived series Julie Farr, M.D..Ryan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Louisville,...
in the title role of Captain Chase Reddick. Wayne Maunder
Wayne Maunder
Wayne E. Maunder is a retired actor, originally from Canada, who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.-Three television series:...
had a recurring role as Sergeant Sam MacCray. At mid-season, Smith was fired because Webb considered him lacking in motivation and dedication to acting. "I quit my acting lessons, quit trying to learn. I had a great opportunity, and I blew it," Smith later rued.
By 1980, he was cast to replace Charles Frank
Charles Frank
Charles R. Frank is an American actor noted for playing Bret Maverick's cousin Ben Maverick in the 1978 TV-movie The New Maverick with James Garner and Jack Kelly, and in the short-lived 1979 television series Young Maverick. Graduated with the class of 1969 from MIddlebury College.-Career:From...
in the role of Lester Hackett in the CBS western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, The Chisholms
The Chisholms
The Chisholms is a CBS western miniseries starring Robert Preston, which aired thirteen episodes from March 29, 1979, to April 19, 1979, and from January 19, 1980, to March 15, 1980. The 1979 episodes showed the family moving from Virginia to Wyoming...
, with Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
in the lead as the patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
of a Virginia family headed by wagon train to California. Ironically, Mitchell Ryan also appeared on The Chisholms – in the role of Cooper Hawkins.
Other Smith roles included that of “Wells” in the 1972 episode "A Place to Hide" on NBC’s Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, as “Wheels” in the 1980 episode “Duelling Skates” of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
’s Mork and Mindy
Mork and Mindy
Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...
, as “McGraw” in the 1980 episode “Mrs. Rosco P. Coltrane” of CBS’s The Dukes of Hazard, and as “Slade” in the episode entitled “Annie Oakley” on CBS’s Airwolf
Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....
, with Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent is an American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf .-Early life:...
.
He appeared as Teddy Bennett in the 1983 episode “Steele Among the Living” of NBC’s Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
and as Tad in the 1983 miniseries Malibu
Malibu (film)
Malibu is a 1983 television film, based on a novel by William Murray. Featuring Kim Novak, Susan Dey, Troy Donahue and James Coburn, the all star miniseries involves a young couple from Milwaukee, who move into the fabled, high-society Malibu beach community, and become involved with the lives of...
. He guest starred as “Larry” in the 1987 episode “The Siege, Part 2” of ABC’s ‘’Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
’’. In 1990, he appeared as Douglas Wittenberg in the episode “On Your Honor” of NBC’s ‘’L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
’’. His most recent role was as Mr. Battung in the 2004 film ‘’Silent Years’’.
Early years and family
Smith was born in BurbankBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, California, the son of a part-time model and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
announcer, Verne Smith, whose voice introduced the ABC sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
. Verne Smith left the family when Reid was only five. By the time he was nine, Smith was working to help support his mother and three sisters. He claimed to have dreamed of becoming a gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
but went into legitimate business instead: "I was always thinking of ways to beat the system, to play the Monopoly game and win."
Smith put himself through University of California at Los Angeles and majored in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and television production. He made television commercials and sold used cars. He invested his first $7,000 in a $48,000 residence and resold it for $60,000. He now counts six cars in his garages—including a $69,000 Cobra. He has also dabbled in Appaloosa
Appaloosa
The Appaloosa is a horse breed best known for its colorful leopard-spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's color pattern is genetically the result of various spotting...
horses, art, and antiques
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
.
Personal life
In 1980, Smith was cohabitingCohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
with the actress Maud Wikstrom Adams
Maud Adams
Maud Solveig Christina Wikström , known professionally as Maud Adams, is a Swedish actress, known for her roles as two different Bond girls: in The Man with the Golden Gun , and as the title character in Octopussy .-Early life:Adams was born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström in Luleå, Sweden, the...
, five years his senior. Adams is a native of Lulea, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, a Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
port near the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
. Her father was a comptroller; her mother, a government tax inspector. Adams was a speed skater and a model. She married advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
executive Roy Adams, and the coupled divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1975 after seven years of marriage.
At thirty, Smith had already amassed $10 million in real estate investments. He then owned seven houses. Smith’s mother, June, even served at the time as Adams’s secretary. Smith said that cohabitation “is the same as getting married, and I’m not grown up enough to settle down.” Adams said, “We spend as much time with each other as any [other] couple who live together, and we usually end up in the same bed. I just need some time and a place where I can be on my own.” Prior to his association with Adams, Smith had dated actress Jaclyn Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...
of ABC's Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
for a year and a half.
In 1980, Smith was taking tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
lessons from his friend Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
, prior to the singer’s subsequent career in Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics. People magazine quoted Bono: “Reid has this naive optimism. He's not afraid to be a little boy." At the time, Smith was constructing a $3.5 million, then a much larger amount than in subsequent decades, Moroccan mansion with a wraparound view of Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
.