Tucker Smith

Tucker Smith
As Ice in West Side Story
Born	Thomas William Smith (1936-04-24)April 24, 1936 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	December 22, 1988(1988-12-22) (aged 52) Los Angeles, California
Cause of death	Laryngeal cancer
Occupation	Actor, dancer, singer
Years active	1955–1986

Tucker Smith, born Thomas William Smith (April 24, 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – December 22, 1988, Los Angeles, California), was an American actor/dancer/singer best known for his role as Ice in the movie musical West Side Story.

Tucker Smith was an American Theatre Wing scholarship winner and he first moved to New York City from his native Philadelphia in September 1955. Shortly afterward, he joined the national tour of Damn Yankees. In 1958 he joined the cast of the original Broadway production of West Side Story, as a replacement for the role of Big Deal, then going on to play the roles of Diesel and Snowboy. He understudied for the character of Riff and had played that role many times. The musical went on a national tour in the United States from June 14, 1959‚ to April 23, 1960‚ and Smith went along with it.

Smith was one of the several cast members from the Broadway production that were chosen to appear in the movie version of West Side Story. He was contracted to play Ice, a role newly created for the movie. In the film, Smith was the singer and central performer of the pivotal song “Cool‚” originally sung by the character of Riff in the Broadway musical. Besides performing “Cool‚” Smith would also dub some of Russ Tamblyn’s singing in “Jet Song.”

After the film, Smith continued his association with West Side Story. He played Riff in both the 1962 Los Angeles and 1963 Sacramento productions of the musical, the latter with Sylvia Lewis in the role of Anita. He reprised the role again in 1964, when West Side Story went on tour in Tokyo, Japan. Right before West Side Story's tour in Japan, Smith had performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair at the DuPont Pavilion in the musical The Wonderful World of Chemistry. That same year, Smith was in the cast for the Broadway musical Anyone Can Whistle. After a pre-Broadway run in Philadelphia, the show closed after a week and only nine performances.