J. Scott Smart, also known as Jack Smart (November 27, 1902 – January 15, 1960), was an American radio, film and stage actor during the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.

Jack was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Buffalo, where he was a 1922 graduate of Lafayette High School. He is best known for his lead as Brad Runyon in the detective show The Fat Man, which aired on ABC from 1946 to 1951.(See Laughlin 1994, Dunning 1976, Buxton and Owen 1996.) Jack was a regular on the early March of Time and The Fred Allen Show. In fact, he played so many character roles during the early days of radio drama that he became known as the "Lon Chaney of Radio". Jack was also an accomplished stage actor and played roles in major productions of A Bell For Adano and Waiting for Godot. He appeared in many movies, including Kiss of Death and the movie version of The Fat Man. A running gag in the film was Smart getting in and out of the car he rented - a tiny MG! The film was an early major role for Rock Hudson. He vyed with noted other rotund actorBud Stevens for roles requiring fat fellows. In his later life, Jack lived in Ogunquit, Maine, and indulged his life-long passion for art in becoming a well-known painter and sculptor.

Jack died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Ohio.

[edit] References

• Buxton, Frank and Bill Owen (1996) The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950 (second edition), New York: Scarecrow Press.
• Dallman, V.Y. (1960) Obituary in the Illinois State Register, January 15, 1960.
• Dunning, John (1976) Tune In Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925 – 1976, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
• Laughlin, Charles D. (1994) J. Scott Smart, a.k.a. The Fat Man. York, Maine: Three Faces East Press.
• MacDonald, J. Fred (1979) Don't Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920 – 1960. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, p. 173.
• Plante, William C. (1960) "J. Scott Smart". The Players Bulletin, spring issue.
• Taylor, Robert (1989) Fred Allen: His Life and Wit. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

[edit] Listen to

• Internet Archive: The Fat Man (29 episodes) Note: Only the last six episodes in this archive are from the original American J. Scott Smart series; the rest are from the Australian series.

[edit] External links

• J. Scott Smart official website
• Jack Smart on IMDb
• Jack Smart on IBDB