Alexis Smith

Alexis Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was an actress.

Born Gladys Smith in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, after Mary Pickford she was the second Canadian born with the name "Gladys Smith" to make their way to stardom in New York City and Hollywood. She would say later in life that she preferred New York, while her husband favored California. She was quite tall, standing at least 5'9", and to fit her, the long, stylish dresses that former Warners' star Kay Francis had worn were allotted to her.

As stage actress Alexis Smith, she was signed to a contract by Warner Brothers Studios in Hollywood after being seen in a play. Her earliest film roles were uncredited bit parts and it took several years for her career to gain momentum, but her appearance in The Constant Nymph was well received and led to bigger parts. During the forties she appeared opposite some of the most popular male stars of the day such as Errol Flynn in San Antonio (1945), Humphrey Bogart in The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), and Cary Grant in the hyperfictionalized and ultrasanitized version of Cole and Linda Porter's life together in Night and Day (1946).

Some of her other films include Rhapsody In Blue (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), and The Young Philadelphians (1959).

She made the cover of the May 3, 1971, issue of Time magazine with the announcement that she would be starring in the Hal Prince Broadway production of Follies. In 1972 she won a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical" for her performance. She next appeared in the musical Platinum in which she earned good reviews, but the show quickly closed. Almost twenty years later she would be nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in the television sitcom Cheers in 1990.

Alexis Smith was married to the actor Craig Stevens from 1944 for 49 years until her death in Los Angeles, California from brain cancer on the day after her 72nd birthday. They had no children and he was her only survivor.

Her final film, The Age of Innocence (1993) was released shortly after her death.

Rumours of her sexuality began when lesbian author Rita Mae Brown dedicated her book about the life of a Florida lesbian, Rubyfruit Jungle, to Smith.

Broadway plays

Platinum (1978)
Summer Brave (1975)
The Women (1973)
Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (1973)
Follies (1971)

Filmography

Lady with Red Hair (1940)
She Couldn't Say No (1940)
The Great Mr. Nobody (1941)
Flight from Destiny (1941)
Here Comes Happiness (1941)
Affectionately Yours (1941)
Singapore Woman (1941)
Three Sons o' Guns (1941)
Dive Bomber (1941)
The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Passage from Hong Kong (1941)
Steel Against the Sky (1941)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Constant Nymph (1943)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
The Doughgirls (1944)
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
Conflict (1945)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
San Antonio (1945)
One More Tomorrow (1946)
Night and Day (1946)
Of Human Bondage (1946)
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Stallion Road (1947)
So You Want to Be in Pictures (1947) (short subject)
The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948)
Always Together (1948) (Cameo)
The Woman in White (1948)
Whiplash (1948)
South of St. Louis (1949)
One Last Fling (1949)
Any Number Can Play (1949)
Montana (1950)
Wyoming Mail (1950)
Undercover Girl (1950)
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
Cave of Outlaws (1951)
The Turning Point (1952)
Split Second (1953)
The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
The Eternal Sea (1955)
Beau James (1957)
This Happy Feeling (1958)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
It Intrigues Other Worlds (1974)
Busby Berkeley (1974) (documentary)
Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
Casey's Shadow (1978)
The Trout (1982)
Tough Guys (1986)
The Age of Innocence (1993)

See also

*List of notable brain tumor patients