Debonair, dark-haired, exceedingly handsome Roger LaVerne Smith was born in South Gate, California to Dallas and Leone Smith on December 18, 1932. At age 6, his parents enrolled him at a professional school for singing, elocution and dancing lessons. By age 12, the family moved to Nogales, Arizona, a small town on the Mexican border where he appeared in high school theater productions, was made president of the school's acting club and became a star linebacker for his high school football team. While studying at the University of Arizona in Tucson on a football scholarship, Roger entered and won several amateur talent prizes as a singer and guitarist which led to a TV appearance with Ted Mack and his Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948) program. Stationed in Hawaii at a Naval Reserve, Roger had a chance meeting with film legend James Cagney who, impressed with the boy's clean-cut good looks and appeal, encouraged Roger to give Hollywood a try. Roger did so and it didn't take long for Columbia Pictures to snap him up 1957. While there, young Roger gained experience on such TV anthologies as "Damon Runyon Theatre," "Celebrity Playhouse," "Ford Television Theatre" and "George Sanders Mystery Theatre" and made such films as No Time to Be Young (1957), Operation Mad Ball (1957) and Crash Landing (1958). He also played the older "Patrick Dennis" role in the madcap Rosalind Russell farce Auntie Mame (1958). Roger reconnected with Cagney around this time who not only hired him to play his son, "Lon Jr.", in the Lon Chaney biopic Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), but made him his co-star in the musical comedy-drama Never Steal Anything Small (1959). In a successful move to the Warner Bros. studio, Roger won the role of wisecracking private detective "Jeff Spencer" in the hip TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958). He also wrote several of the show's episodes and played the detective character in rollover episodes of "Surfside 6" and "Hawaiian Eye." In 1962, the actor was hospitalized after falling down at home and losing consciousness. He was diagnosed two days later with a blood clot on the brain. Although he had recovered post-surgery), it forced him to leave the series temporarily and slowed down his career considerably to the point he almost quit. Wed to budding Australian-born actress Victoria Shaw in 1956, they had three children. A Warner Bros. contract player, she appeared in an episode of his popular series. The marriage crumbled, however, and they divorced in 1965. He next met singer-actress Ann-Margret and they married in 1967. This marriage lasted 50 years, until his death. Roger's health continued to be a mysterious issue following his title role in the Warner Bros. short-lived TV series Mister Roberts (1965) and it forced an early retirement after he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a degenerative muscle/nerve disorder. He would last star as the title detective in the low-budget A.C. Lyles production of Rogue's Gallery (1968). In the meantime, he appeared on talk shows with his wife and delved into producing and writing -- with The First Time (1969) and C.C. & Company (1970). Instead, Roger remained in the background and focused instead on managing, producing and nurturing his wife's musical career. In the 1970s, he proved instrumental in her successful comeback in Las Vegas (he produced her stage shows). He also helped to break her "sex kitten" image with critically acclaimed films and produced several of her 1970's TV musical specials. Roger died of complications from his long-term illness on June 4, 2017, at age 84, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
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Biography from IMDb.
- December 18, 1932
- June 4, 2017 (aged 84)
- South Gate, California, USA
- Actor, producer and writer
- 11 on MovieCove · 23 credits in all
What are Roger Smith's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Power.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 7
Light 5 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 3 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 1
Gentle 2 · Charged 6 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 4 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 3
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 6 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 5 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 0
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
Usually the Ally: 2 of 4 analyzed roles.
- Allyas Bob Miller in No Time to Be Young (1957)
- Allyas Patrick Dennis - Older in Auntie Mame (1958)
- Heroas Dan Cabot in Never Steal Anything Small (1959)
- Heroas John Rogue in Rogue's Gallery (1968)
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Roger Smith's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Roger Smith's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
23 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 10 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Ann-Margret: When You're Smiling (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
C.C. & Company(1970)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all filmsAnn-Margret: From Hollywood with Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
The First Time(1969)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
Criminal Affair (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
Rogue's Gallery(1968)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Mister Roberts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Kraft Suspense Theatre (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1963)
Surfside 6 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Hawaiian Eye (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all films
Auntie Mame(1958)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
77 Sunset Strip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Crash Landing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Wagon Train(1957)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all shows
Sugarfoot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Operation Mad Ball(1957)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Man of a Thousand Faces(1957)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
No Time to Be Young(1957)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
West Point (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)
Father Knows Best(1954)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
The Ford Television Theatre (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1952)
Career shape
Star power in the 74th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 23 titles from 1952 to 1973.
Film career
- 1957Screen debut· Man of a Thousand Faces
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Roger Smith's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 37th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 11 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the acting 68/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles; fans 78, detractors 46. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Roger Smith work with?
People who share at least 2 of Roger Smith's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jack Albertson shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Jack AlbertsonShared titles: Never Steal Anything Small (1959), Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)See all 2 shared titles with Jack Albertson
- James CagneyShared titles: Never Steal Anything Small (1959), Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)See all 2 shared titles with James Cagney
Producers
- Allan CarrShared titles: C.C. & Company (1970), The First Time (1969)See all 2 shared titles with Allan Carr
