Sidney Smith
actor, director
- Birth name:
- Sydney C. Smith
- Born:
- 1893-02-28, Faribault, Minnesota, USA
- Died:
- 1928-07-04, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Professions:
- actor, director
Biography
A midwinter baby, Sidney Smith first drew breath on 28 February 1893 in Faribault, Minnesota, long before the town’s quiet streets echoed with talk of motion pictures. By twenty-two he had slipped in front of the camera, lending his lanky frame and quick grin to The Ne’er Do Well (1915); a year later he gambled on A Safe Risk (1916). Behind the lens he proved equally restless, resurrecting the same roguish story for The Ne’er-Do-Well (1923) and steering its cast through a fresh reel of tropical mischief. Off-screen he claimed Ruth Beckman as his leading lady in marriage. The final curtain fell on 4 July 1928 in Los Angeles, where the California sun set on a career—like the man himself—short, bright, and gone before the credits could roll.
