Alexis Smith(1921-1993)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Statuesque, smart Canadian-born Alexis Smith, with her blue/green eyes
and a seductively husky voice, lent a touch of class to her leading
ladies of the 1940s and 1950s.
After her family moved to California, Alexis grew into a precocious
talent and performed ballet in public by the age of thirteen -- dancing to
'Carmen' at the Hollywood Bowl. She later graduated with a degree in
drama from Los Angeles City College having previously won an acting
contest whilst still in high school. During a performance of a play on
campus she was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout and signed to
a contract in 1941. Until the early 1950s she was paired with the top
male stars in Hollywood, including
Clark Gable,
Humphrey Bogart,
William Holden and
Bing Crosby. While often simply decorative
(as, for example, in
Of Human Bondage (1946) and
Stallion Road (1947)), stylishly
attired by costume designers like
Milo Anderson and
Helen Rose in the most glamorous
gowns, Alexis also proved to be a capable and spirited actress in
spite of relatively few opportunities to break out of the mold of "the
other woman".
Early on in her screen career the studio's publicity department touted
Alexis -- much to her chagrin -- as the "Dynamite Girl". While she claimed
in later years to have typecast herself (saying that few of her assigned
roles ever challenged her on any level) Alexis nonetheless enjoyed good
critical reviews for many of her performances. She was also popular
with directors and film crews who appreciated her relaxed,
professional manner on the set. Commencing her Hollywood tenure, she was cast in two
films with Errol Flynn (she would
make a total of four films with him):
Dive Bomber (1941) and the boxing
drama Gentleman Jim (1942). Though
decidedly second fiddle to both the action and the charismatic Flynn,
Alexis made a good first impression as the fetching romantic interest.
Her next performance, in
The Constant Nymph (1943)
opposite Charles Boyer, was
described by a reviewer as an "intelligent rendition". Her biggest hit
of the mid-1940s was as Cole Porter's wife
in the inaccurate--but hugely successful--biopic
Night and Day (1946). She also
appeared in two "noir" films with Humphrey Bogart at his most menacing:
the interesting and underrated
Conflict (1945) and the excellent
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947).
As Clark Gable's wife in the gambling drama
Any Number Can Play (1949)
she was critically lauded as "genuinely appealing". In between, there
were also some conspicuous failures, in particular her rather stolid
performance in the period drama
The Woman in White (1948). She
had little to do in
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
and The Turning Point (1952)
and her best part in the 1950s, though small, was that of Carol Wharton
in
The Young Philadelphians (1959).
During the 1960s, Alexis took a sabbatical from the screen to appear on
stage with her husband, actor
Craig Stevens (her marriage, a
rare Hollywood success, lasted 49 years) in "Critic's Choice", "Cactus
Flower" and "Mary, Mary". She reserved her best acting for the stage,
becoming the Tony Award-winning star of
Stephen Sondheim's musical "Follies"
in which she played Phyllis during the 1971 run on Broadway (which
landed her on the cover of the May 3 issue of
'Time' Magazine) and at the
Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles in 1972. In 1973, she played Sylvia
Fowler in a revival of
Clare Boothe Luce's
"The Women" and was nominated for another Tony for her leading role of
Lila Halliday in "Platinum" in 1979.
Alexis was seen infrequently on television from the mid-'50s, sometimes
appearing on the same show opposite her husband. She had a recurring
role as the homicidal Lady Jessica Montfort in
Dallas (1978) during the 1984 and 1990
seasons and was nominated for an Emmy for a guest-starring role on
Cheers (1982). It was fitting, or
perhaps ironic, that her last film role in
The Age of Innocence (1993)
was as a New York socialite, the kind of stereotypical persona she had portrayed so
often in her heyday at Warners.
and a seductively husky voice, lent a touch of class to her leading
ladies of the 1940s and 1950s.
After her family moved to California, Alexis grew into a precocious
talent and performed ballet in public by the age of thirteen -- dancing to
'Carmen' at the Hollywood Bowl. She later graduated with a degree in
drama from Los Angeles City College having previously won an acting
contest whilst still in high school. During a performance of a play on
campus she was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout and signed to
a contract in 1941. Until the early 1950s she was paired with the top
male stars in Hollywood, including
Clark Gable,
Humphrey Bogart,
William Holden and
Bing Crosby. While often simply decorative
(as, for example, in
Of Human Bondage (1946) and
Stallion Road (1947)), stylishly
attired by costume designers like
Milo Anderson and
Helen Rose in the most glamorous
gowns, Alexis also proved to be a capable and spirited actress in
spite of relatively few opportunities to break out of the mold of "the
other woman".
Early on in her screen career the studio's publicity department touted
Alexis -- much to her chagrin -- as the "Dynamite Girl". While she claimed
in later years to have typecast herself (saying that few of her assigned
roles ever challenged her on any level) Alexis nonetheless enjoyed good
critical reviews for many of her performances. She was also popular
with directors and film crews who appreciated her relaxed,
professional manner on the set. Commencing her Hollywood tenure, she was cast in two
films with Errol Flynn (she would
make a total of four films with him):
Dive Bomber (1941) and the boxing
drama Gentleman Jim (1942). Though
decidedly second fiddle to both the action and the charismatic Flynn,
Alexis made a good first impression as the fetching romantic interest.
Her next performance, in
The Constant Nymph (1943)
opposite Charles Boyer, was
described by a reviewer as an "intelligent rendition". Her biggest hit
of the mid-1940s was as Cole Porter's wife
in the inaccurate--but hugely successful--biopic
Night and Day (1946). She also
appeared in two "noir" films with Humphrey Bogart at his most menacing:
the interesting and underrated
Conflict (1945) and the excellent
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947).
As Clark Gable's wife in the gambling drama
Any Number Can Play (1949)
she was critically lauded as "genuinely appealing". In between, there
were also some conspicuous failures, in particular her rather stolid
performance in the period drama
The Woman in White (1948). She
had little to do in
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
and The Turning Point (1952)
and her best part in the 1950s, though small, was that of Carol Wharton
in
The Young Philadelphians (1959).
During the 1960s, Alexis took a sabbatical from the screen to appear on
stage with her husband, actor
Craig Stevens (her marriage, a
rare Hollywood success, lasted 49 years) in "Critic's Choice", "Cactus
Flower" and "Mary, Mary". She reserved her best acting for the stage,
becoming the Tony Award-winning star of
Stephen Sondheim's musical "Follies"
in which she played Phyllis during the 1971 run on Broadway (which
landed her on the cover of the May 3 issue of
'Time' Magazine) and at the
Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles in 1972. In 1973, she played Sylvia
Fowler in a revival of
Clare Boothe Luce's
"The Women" and was nominated for another Tony for her leading role of
Lila Halliday in "Platinum" in 1979.
Alexis was seen infrequently on television from the mid-'50s, sometimes
appearing on the same show opposite her husband. She had a recurring
role as the homicidal Lady Jessica Montfort in
Dallas (1978) during the 1984 and 1990
seasons and was nominated for an Emmy for a guest-starring role on
Cheers (1982). It was fitting, or
perhaps ironic, that her last film role in
The Age of Innocence (1993)
was as a New York socialite, the kind of stereotypical persona she had portrayed so
often in her heyday at Warners.