Lois Smith

Lois Smith
File:Lois Smith 1950s.jpg Lois Smith, 1950s
Born	Lois Arlene Humbert (1930-11-03) November 3, 1930 Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1952–present
Spouse	Wesley Smith (1948-1970) (divorced)

Lois Smith (born November 3, 1930) is an American actress. She has played supporting roles in films including East of Eden, Five Easy Pieces, Resurrection, Fatal Attraction, Fried Green Tomatoes, Dead Man Walking, Tumbleweeds, Twister, and Please Give. In television she has performed on series like True Blood and Desperate Housewives.

Smith is also known for her extensive work in the theatre, receiving two Tony Award nominations for originating the role of Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1990) and for the role of Halie in a revival of Buried Child in 1996. She also starred in an acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of The Trip to Bountiful in 2005 for which she received an Obie Award for Best Actress, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award.

She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007 for her outstanding contributions to the theatre. In 2013 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Obie Award for excellence in Off-Broadway performance. In her career she has also taught, directed, and written for the stage.

Personal life

Born Lois Arlene Humbert in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of six children to Carrie (née Gottshalk (1897-1982) and William Humbert (1895-1950), who worked for a telephone company. Her father died in 1950 at age 46. Her family included her two sisters Alice and Marvelle and three brothers William, Dilman, and Phillip all of whom are now deceased. Her father moved the family to Seattle when Lois was 11 years old and he was heavily involved in the church. William would put on plays at church in which young Lois would perform in. She went on to study theatre at the University of Washington but did not graduate. At age 18 in 1948 she married Wesley Dale Smith who she met in college and they divorced in 1970. The couple had one daughter together Moon Elizabeth Smith.

She and her husband decided to leave Seattle and moved to New York City to begin their professional careers around 1951. After she worked with Elia Kazan on East of Eden, he encouraged her to study with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, which she did. She was also mentored in her early years in New York City by John Van Druten. In November 1955, she was featured on the cover of Life Magazine. Lois grew up in a religious family and is also now an ordained minister

Theatre

Smith made her Broadway debut in 1952 at age 22 in the play Time Out For Ginger as Joan opposite Nancy Malone as Ginger and Melvyn Douglas as their father. She followed this in 1955 with The Wisteria Trees, a play that starred Helen Hayes. In 1956 she performed opposite Helen Hayes in The Glass Menagerie. Also in 1955, she was given the lead role of Josephine Perry in Sally Benson's play The Young and Beautiful which ran for 65 performances at the Longacre Theatre.

In 1957 Smith originated the role of Carol Cutrere in Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, which also starred Maureen Stapleton. In 1958 she was directed by José Ferrer in Edwin Booth.

In 1973 she returned to Broadway to appear in a revival of The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill. In 1975 she performed the role of Gaby in the play Harry Outside by Corinne Jacker. She also played the lead female role in the play Touching Bottoms by Steve Tesich in 1978 opposite Harold Gould. In 1979 she played the role of Denise in the play Hillbilly Women by Elizabeth Stearns at the Long Wharf Theatre.

In 1987 she played Jessie Bliss in The Stick Wife by Darrah Cloud with the Hartford Stage Company. In 1988, Smith was cast with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago as Ma Joad in their play The Grapes of Wrath. This was an adaptation of the 1939 novel of the same that had first been adapted as a 1940 film, in which the character of Ma Joad was played by Jane Darwell who had won an Academy Award for her performance. Smith originated the role on stage and after going on tour, in 1990 the production reached Broadway and Smith earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Also in 1988 Smith originated the role of Mrs. Campbell in The Man Who Climbed The Pecan Trees by Horton Foote. In 1989 she performed in an Off-Broadway production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare in the role of Mistress Overdone.

In 1995 Smith starred as Halie in a revival of Buried Child by Sam Shepard at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company which transferred to Broadway in 1996, and for which she received her second nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. In 1997 Smith played the role of Betty in Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson Off-Broadway in a cast that included Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 1998 she played the role of Kandall Kingsley in Impossible Marriage by Beth Henley in cast that included Holly Hunter. In 2001 she starred in the title role of Mother Courage and Her Children and in 2002 she starred in a revival of The Royal Family as Fanny Cavendish with Amy Morton as her daughter Julie, both plays with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

In 2005, Smith starred in an Off-Broadway production of The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts with the Signature Theatre Company for which she received an Obie Award for Best Actress, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award.

In 2010 she performed the role of Vera in After the Revolution by Amy Herzog for which she was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award. In 2012 she originated the role of Mable Murphy in the play Heartless by Sam Shepard and in 2013 she starred in a revival of My Old Friends by Horton Foote. She is currently starring in a new play by Jordan Harrison titled Marjorie Prime, originating the title role of Marjorie at the Mark Taper Forum.

From 1965 to 1967 Smith starred in several plays as a company member with the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia. She has been a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1993. She was also previously a company member with the Studio Ensemble Theatre.

Film

Smith made her film debut in 1955 directed by Elia Kazan in the Oscar-winning East of Eden alongside James Dean, Julie Harris, and Jo Van Fleet. Her next film was the western Strange Lady in Town which stars Greer Garson. Smith then focused on television work, not making a film until The Way We Live Now in 1970. She then earned critical acclaim for her role as Partita Dupea, the sister of Jack Nicholson's character in Five Easy Pieces (1970) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and for which Smith won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1972, she played a supporting role in Up the Sandbox, which stars Barbra Streisand. In 1976 Smith played another supporting role in Next Stop, Greenwich Village alongside Shelley Winters. In 1980 she appeared in Resurrection which stars Ellen Burstyn. In 1981 she was directed by Arthur Penn in Four Friends and in 1983 she appeared in Reuben, Reuben. In 1987 she was directed for a second time by Bob Rafelson in Black Widow and appeared in Fatal Attraction which stars Glenn Close. Fatal Attraction was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

In 1988 Smith played a supporting role in the Robert Deniro comedy Midnight Run directed by Martin Brest. In 1990 she was directed by Peter Weir in the Oscar-nominated film Greencard. In 1991 she played a supporting role alongside Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes and in 1995 she appeared in the ensemble film How to Make an American Quilt. She next played the mother of Susan Sarandon in the Oscar-winning film Dead Man Walking. In 1996 Smith played the aunt of Helen Hunt in Twister. In 1999 she played a supporting role in Tumbleweeds which stars Janet McTeer and in 2001 she was directed by Sean Penn in The Pledge. In 2002 she was directed by Steven Spielberg in Minority Report which stars Tom Cruise. In 2004 she played the mother of Laura Linney's character in P.S..

In 2006 Smith portrayed Helen Bessolo, the mother of George Reeves, in Hollywoodland and in 2008 she was directed by John Madden in Killshot. In 2010 Smith played a supporting role in Please Give directed by Nicole Holofcener and in 2012 she appeared in the Disney film The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

External links

• Lois Smith at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Lois Smith at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lois Smith at IMDb
• Lois Smith at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
• Theatre in Chicago - 2008 interview
• ATW's Downstage Center - 2011 interview