Pete Smith (film producer)

Pete Smith
Smith in a 1918 issue of The Moving Picture World
Born	Peter Schmidt (1892-09-04)September 4, 1892 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	January 12, 1979(1979-01-12) (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Nationality	American
Occupation	Publicist, short subject filmmaker and narrator
Years active	1931–1955
Known for	Pete Smith Specialties
Spouse(s)	Marjorie Ganss (m. 1918; d. 1957) Anne Dunston (m. 1962)
Children	1
Awards	Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (1938, 1941) Academy Honorary Award (1953)

Pete Smith (September 4, 1892 – January 12, 1979) was an American publicist, short subject producer and narrator.

A native of New York City, Smith began working as a publicist at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1920s. He later moved into film making. He is best known for his series of shorts, the Pete Smith Specialties, which were in production from the 1930s to the 1950s. Smith produced and narrated over 150 shorts which earned him two Best Live Action Short Film Academy Awards. In 1953, he was awarded an Academy Honorary Award for his short films.

Smith's later years were spent in a Santa Monica convalescent home due to ill health. In January 1979, Smith jumped to his death from the roof of the home.

Smith was born Peter Schmidt in New York City. He began his career as an aide for a vaudeville performers union. Smith then worked as an editor and critic for a trade magazine before becoming a press agent. By 1915 he was doing movie publicity for Bosworth, Inc., followed by the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Co., Artcraft Pictures Corporation, and Famous Players-Lasky. He was one of the founding members of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers.

In 1925, Smith was hired as the head of publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Louis B. Mayer. He was later recruited to overdub the actions of trained dogs in the studio's Dogville Comedies. Smith would go on to narrate the studio's sports newsreels; he would embellish the action by running certain scenes in reverse, or adding his own commentary.

Both MGM and the movie-going public picked up on Smith's flair for comedy, and he was given his own series, Pete Smith Specialties; he produced and narrated 150 short subjects for MGM from the 1930s to 1955. His distinctively sharp tenor voice and nasal tone were instantly recognizable and a trade-mark of the series.