Keith Wilfred Smith was born on the 24th of February 1926 in Liverpool. He made his debut with a uncredited part in the film 'I Am a Camera' (1955) and his first TV appearance was in 2 episodes of the comedy 'Confidentiality' (1955-56) as a Spiv. His career extended from the mid-fifties which saw him in films and playing many TV roles including Pvt. 'Professor' Hatchett in 'The Army Game' (1957), a policeman in 2 episodes of 'The Strange World of Gurney Slade' (1960), Mr Forbes in the TV series 'Whacko!' (1960), Mr Jones in 4 episodes of 'Sykes and A...' (1960-63), Dick Alderbeach in 40 episodes of 'The Newcomers' (1965-66), 6 episodes of the comedy series 'Charley's Grants' (1970), as the Interviewer in 10 episodes of 'The Dick Emery Show' (1971), various characters in 19 episodes of 'Q5' (1978-80), Spike Milligan's groundbreaking surreal comedy sketch series, and as Chalkie in 6 episodes of 'Andy Capp' (1980)
Among his most important film works are: 'The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom' (1968), 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins' (1971), 'The Beiderbecke Affair' (1985) and the 'Body Snatchers' (1993).
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| 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins' (1971) - the RAC man spots the badge on Ian Carmichael's roller. |
He worked until the end of the nineties, with his last movies being 'Captain Jack' (1999) as the last Quaker man. Being an accomplished fencer, he worked as a fencing coach at LAMDA, and trained many actors on fencing in films including Donald Sutherland. Keith also appeared in 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin' with his friend Leonard Rossiter as the manager of a Grot shop. Keith said, "The odd Sunday when we weren't rehearsing or playing we used to visit the Continentale Cinema in the Wirral and see some classic French and Italian films and I got the feeling - maybe rightly or wrongly - that he was greatly influenced by the style of acting we saw in those films" He also appeared in the 'George and Mildred' episode 'My Husband Next Door' on the 1st of November 1976 as the TV repair man taking away the Roper's TV set, in Series 1.
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| As the punctillious headmaster in 'The Beiderbecke Connection' |
Keith died in London on the 30th of March 2008 at the age of 82 from motor neurone disease.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/08/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-john_14.html
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