Lane Smith

Lane Smith

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This article is about the American actor. For the American children's book illustrator, see Lane Smith (illustrator).

Lane Smith
Smith as Perry White in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, 1993
Born	Walter Lane Smith III (1936-04-29)April 29, 1936 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	June 13, 2005(2005-06-13) (aged 69) Northridge, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, presenter
Years active	1966–2005
Spouse(s)	Sydne MacCall[1] (1985–?; divorced; 1 child) Debbie Benedict (2000–2005; his death; 2 children)

Walter Lane Smith III, known as Lane Smith (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005), was an American actor. His well-known roles included portraying collaborator entrepreneur Nathan Bates in the NBC television series V, Mayor Bates in the film Red Dawn, newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Coach Jack Reilly in The Mighty Ducks, district attorney Jim Trotter III in My Cousin Vinny and American President Richard Nixon in The Final Days, for which he received a Golden Globe award nomination.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
• 3 Death
• 4 Filmography
  • 4.1 Film
  • 4.2 Television
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life[edit]

Lane Smith was born in 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from The Leelanau School, a boarding school in Glen Arbor, Michigan and spent one year boarding at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania before going off to study at the Actors Studio in the late 1950s and early 1960s along with Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino; there he was recognized with their Hall of Fame. Smith served two years in the United States Army.^[2][3]

Career[edit]

After his graduation, he found steady work in New York theater before making his film debut in Maidstone in 1970. During the 1970s, he regularly made appearances in small film roles including Rooster Cogburn in 1975 and Network in 1976. In 1981 he appeared in the Sidney Lumet-directed film Prince of the City. He also acted on television, notably playing a United States Marine in Vietnam in the television miniseries A Rumor of War and in the 1980 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Gideon's Trumpet starring Henry Fonda, José Ferrer and John Houseman. He is also credited for playing McMurphy 650 times in the 1971 Broadway revival of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

He made a major breakthrough in 1984 with significant roles in Red Dawn, Places in the Heart and the television series V. He also played on Quincy, M.E. in season 8, episode 7, "Science for Sale" as an oncologist searching for a cure to cancer. In 1989, Smith gained great recognition for his portrayal of former Pres. Richard Nixon in the docudrama The Final Days. Newsweek praised Smith's role by stating, "[Smith] is such a good Nixon that his despair and sorrow at his predicament become simply overwhelming." Smith later earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. He also appeared in the original Broadway stage production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross as James Lingk. For his role, he received a Drama Desk Award.^[2]

In 1990, he appeared in Air America playing a United States Senator, a role for which he was selected based on his resemblance to then-Minority Leader Bob Dole. Two years later, he played a small-town district attorney opposite Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny, followed by a role as Coach Jack Reilly in The Mighty Ducks. However, it was not until 1993 that Smith landed his first major television role as Perry White in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, for four seasons before ending in 1997. In 1994, he portrayed New York Yankees front officeman Ron in The Scout, along with Albert Brooks (Al Percolo, Yankees scout) and Brendan Fraser (player Steve Nebraska). In 1998, Smith appeared in a major role as fictional television anchorman Emmett Seaborn in the HBO miniseries From The Earth to the Moon. Smith's final film appearance was in The Legend of Bagger Vance in 2000.

Death[edit]

Smith was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease) in April 2005. He died of the disease at his home in Northridge, California on June 13, 2005 at the age of 69.^[2] He was survived by his wife, Debbie Benedict Smith and his son Robert Smith.^[4]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	Unholy Matrimony	Partygoer	Uncredited
1970	Maidstone
1973	Last American Hero, TheThe Last American Hero	Rick Penny
	Cops and Robbers	Perpetrator
1974	Man on a Swing	Virginia De Leo
1975	Rooster Cogburn	Leroy
	Everybody Rides the Carousel
1976	Network	Robert McDonough
1977	Between the Lines	Roy Walsh
	Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, TheThe Bad News Bears in Breaking Training	Officer Mackle
1978	Blue Collar	Clarence Hill
	On the Yard	Blake
1980	On the Nickel	Preacher
	Honeysuckle Rose	Brag, Cotton's manager
	Resurrection	Don
1981	Prince of the City	Tug Barnes
	Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.	Smilin' Jack
1982	Frances	Dr. Symington
1984	Purple Hearts	Cmdr. Markel
	Red Dawn	Mayor Bates
	Places in the Heart	Albert Denby
1986	Native Son	Britton
1987	Weeds	Claude
	Prison	Warden Eaton Sharpe
1989	Race for Glory	Joe Gifford
	Night Game	Witty
1990	Air America	Senator Davenport
1992	My Cousin Vinny	D.A. Jim Trotter, III
	Mighty Ducks, TheThe Mighty Ducks	Coach Jack Reilly
	Distinguished Gentleman, TheThe Distinguished Gentleman	Dick Dodge
1993	Son in Law	Walter Warner
1994	Flight of the Dove, TheThe Flight of the Dove	Stephen Hahn
	Scout, TheThe Scout	Ron Wilson
1996	War at Home, TheThe War at Home		Uncredited
1998	Getting Personal	Dr. Maddie
	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	Ezra Grahme
	Hi-Lo Country, TheThe Hi-Lo Country	Steve Shaw
2000	Caprice, TheThe Caprice	Thunderhead[5]
	Legend of Bagger Vance, TheThe Legend of Bagger Vance	Grantland Rice

Television[edit]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Kojak	Clyde Regan	Episode: Queen of the Gypsies
	Valley Forge	Spad	NBC television film
1975, 1979	Rockford Files, TheThe Rockford Files	Willet CIA Agent Donnegan	Episode: Claire Episode: The Battle-Ax and the Exploding Cigar
1977	Displaced Person, TheThe Displaced Person		Television film
	Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer, TheThe Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer		NBC television film
1978	Death in Canaan, AA Death in Canaan	Bob Hartman	CBS television film
	Crash	Flight Engineer Romano	ABC television film
1979	Solitary Man, TheThe Solitary Man	Jack Collins	CBS television film
	Disaster on the Coastliner	John Carlson	ABC television film
1980	City in Fear	Brian	ABC television film
	Gideon's Trumpet	Fred Turner	CBS television film
	Rumor of War, AA Rumor of War	Sgt. William Holgren	CBS miniseries
	Georgia Peaches, TheThe Georgia Peaches	Randolph Dukane	CBS television film/unsold television pilot
	Mark, I Love You	Don Payer	CBS television film
1981	Dallas	Prosecutor	Episode: "Gone, But Not Forgotten"
	Dark Night of the Scarecrow	Harless Hocker	CBS television film
	Hart to Hart	Roy Hamlin	Episode: Hart, Line, and Sinker
1982	Prime Suspect	Tom Keating	CBS television film
	Thou Shalt Not Kill	Clarence Blake	NBC television film
	Lou Grant	Dr. Lawrence	Episode: Unthinkable
	Quincy, M.E.	Dr. Paul Flynn	Episode: Science for Sale
	Member of the Wedding, TheThe Member of the Wedding	Mr. Addams	Television film
1983	Special Bulletin	Morton Sanders	NBC television film
	Chiefs	Hoss Spence	CBS miniseries
1984	Something About Amelia	Officer Dealy	ABC television film
1984–1985	V	Nathan Bates	13 episodes
1985	Hill Street Blues	Mike	Episode: El Capitan
	Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues	Captain Max Rosenberg	CBS television film
	Bridge Across Time	Anson Whitfield	NBC television film
1986	Amazing Stories	Dr. Caruso	Episode: Dorothy and Ben
	Twilight Zone, TheThe Twilight Zone	Professor Joseph Fitzgerald	Segment: Profile in Silver
	Dress Gray	Col. King	NBC television film
	If Tomorrow Comes	Warden Brannigan	CBS miniseries
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Robert Warren	Episode: Happy Birthday
	Kay O'Brien	Doctor Robert Moffitt	13 episodes
1987	A Place to Call Home	Sam	CBS television film
1988	In the Heat of the Night	Sonny Mims	Episode: Road Kill
	Killer Instinct	Dr. Butler	NBC television film
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Pol. Chief Underwood	Episode: The Search for Peter Kerry
	Final Days, TheThe Final Days	Richard Nixon	ABC television film Golden Globe Award (nominated)
1990	Challenger	Larry Mulloy	ABC television film
	Blind Vengeance	Col. Blanchard	NBC television film
1991	Good Sports	R.J. Rappaport	21 episodes
	Good & Evil	Harlan Shell
	False Arrest	Martin Busey	ABC television film
1992	Duplicates	Mr. Fryman	USA Network television film
1993–1997	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Perry White	84 episodes
1994	Murphy Brown	Danger Duke	Voice only Episode: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
1995	Dweebs		Episode: The Cyrano Show
1996	Clueless	Dan Hafner	Episode: Romeo & Cher
1997	Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy	Senator Silverthorne	FOX television film
1998	Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits	Dr. Malcolm Boussard	Episode: Glyphic
	From the Earth to the Moon	Emmett Seaborn	HBO television film
1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Reverend Thornton Powers	Episode: Power Angels
	Inherit the Wind	Reverend Jeremiah Brown	Showtime television film
2000	King of the Hill	Charlie Fortner Nate Hashaway	Voice only Episode: Hanky Panky (1) Episode: Meet the Propaniacs Episode: Flush with Power
2001	Bull	Russell Dantly	Episode: Amen
	DAG	Agent Baxter	Episode: The Triangle Report
	WW3	John Sullivan	Fox television film
	Practice, TheThe Practice	Judge H. Finkel	Episode: The Candidate (1)
2002	Judging Amy	Mr. Radford	Episode: People of the Lie
2003	Out of Order	Frank	Showtime television film