Acting
Born Peter Schmidt in New York City, Pete Smith got a job after graduating business college with The Player magazine and later with Billboard magazine. That led to his being hired as a publicist for Famous Players-Lasky and Artcraft Pictures, and he was later appointed publicity director at Paramount Pictures. Director Marshall Neilan hired Smith to be the publicist for his own production company, and Smith left New York for Hollywood. After Neilan's company closed, Smith freelanced for a short period before being hired by MGM in 1925 as the head of its publicity department, a position he held until 1930. The job that really brought him recognition, however, was his producing, writing and narrating a series of shorts known as "Pete Smith Specialties" for MGM. The one-reelers covered just about every subject imaginable, from the animal world to the latest technology to how to handle annoying patrons in movie theaters, all delivered with Smith's trademark wry, bemused narration. Many of the later shorts were written and directed by actor Dave O'Brien, using the name David Barclay. Sixteen entries in the series were nominated for Oscars, and two of them won. The series came to an end in 1954, though there were enough made to continue releasing into 1955. Smith's later years were plagued by bad health, and he spent more and more time being hospitalized. In 1979, with his health deteriorating rapidly, he committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his ninth-floor hospital room. He was 86 years old.
MGM Parade
1955 · TV
Manhattan Melodrama
1934 · Movie
Ice Aces
1948 · Movie
Camera Sleuth
1951 · Movie
Donkey Baseball
1935 · Movie
Victory Quiz
1942 · Movie
Film Antics
1954 · Movie
Cash Stashers
1953 · Movie
Bargain Madness
1951 · Movie
Radio Hams
1939 · Movie
Killer Dog
1936 · Movie
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
2002 · Movie
Movie Pests
1944 · Movie
Sure Cures
1946 · Movie
Snow Birds
1932 · Movie
Weather Wizards
1939 · Movie
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
1935 · Movie
Hurling
1936 · Movie
Seventh Column
1943 · Movie
Fala: The President's Dog
1943 · Movie
Harnessed Rhythm
1936 · Movie
Culinary Carving
1939 · Movie
Marines in the Making
1942 · Movie
Studio Visit
1946 · Movie
Wrong Way Butch
1950 · Movie
Menu
1933 · Movie
Wanted - A Master
1936 · Movie
Water Sports
1935 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Two
1934 · Movie
The Grand Bounce
1937 · Movie
Trader Hound
1931 · Movie
The Great Morgan
1945 · Movie
The Tree in a Test Tube
1942 · Movie
Crashing the Movies
1950 · Movie
Army Champions
1941 · Movie
Fishing Feats
1951 · Movie
Spots Before Your Eyes
1940 · Movie
Penny Wisdom
1937 · Movie
Third Dimensional Murder
1941 · Movie
This Is a Living?
1953 · Movie
Fancy Answers
1941 · Movie
Cuban Rhythm
1941 · Movie
Fala at Hyde Park
1946 · Movie
Take a Cue
1939 · Movie
Hollywood Scout
1945 · Movie
The Jonker Diamond
1936 · Movie
Equestrian Acrobats
1937 · Movie
Seeing Hands
1943 · Movie
Quicker'n a Wink
1940 · Movie
Just Suppose
1948 · Movie
Handlebars
1933 · Movie
Swing High
1932 · Movie
Trained Hoofs
1935 · Movie
Fisticuffs
1938 · Movie
Let's Cogitate
1948 · Movie
Dogs 'n Ducks
1953 · Movie
Desert Regatta
1932 · Movie
The Domineering Male
1940 · Movie
Marine Circus
1939 · Movie
Friend Indeed
1937 · Movie
Bar-Rac's Night Out
1937 · Movie
Candid Cameramaniacs
1937 · Movie
What About Daddy?
1942 · Movie
Treasures from Trash
1946 · Movie
Color Scales
1932 · Movie
Pro Football
1934 · Movie
Curious Contests
1950 · Movie
Things We Can Do Without
1953 · Movie
Romance of Radium
1937 · Movie
Water Trix
1949 · Movie
Throttle Pushers
1933 · Movie
Groovie Movie
1944 · Movie
Wedding Bills
1940 · Movie
Aqua Antics
1942 · Movie
Anaesthesia
1938 · Movie
Reducing
1952 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number One
1933 · Movie
Strikes and Spares
1934 · Movie
Calling All Pa's
1942 · Movie
Inflation
1933 · Movie
Heroes at Leisure
1939 · Movie
Hollywood Daredevils
1943 · Movie
Poetry of Nature
1939 · Movie
You Can't Win
1948 · Movie
Fish Tales
1954 · Movie
Aeronutics
1941 · Movie
Diamond Demon
1947 · Movie
Roping Wild Bears
1934 · Movie
Audioscopiks
1935 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Three
1934 · Movie
Did'ja Know?
1950 · Movie
How to Hold Your Husband - BACK
1941 · Movie
Now You See It
1947 · Movie
Acro-Batty
1942 · Movie
Flicker Memories
1941 · Movie
The New Audioscopiks
1938 · Movie
Sports Oddities
1949 · Movie
Bowling Tricks
1948 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Four
1934 · Movie
Wild and Woolly
1931 · Movie
Rough Riding
1954 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Six
1934 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Nine
1934 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Five
1934 · Movie
Goofy Movies Number Seven
1934 · Movie
