Charles Martin Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Charles Martin Smith
Smith at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1953-10-30) October 30, 1953 (age 71) Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor director writer
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Ursula Martin ​ (divorced)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Frank Smith (father)
Relatives	Paul Smith (uncle) Hank Smith (uncle)

Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American actor, director, and writer. He lives in British Columbia, Canada. He is well-known for playing Terry "The Toad" Fields in the movie American Graffiti (1973). He also directed popular family films like Air Bud and Dolphin Tale.

Charles Martin Smith: Actor and Director

Early Life and Discoveries

Charles Martin Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist. His uncle, Paul Smith, was also an animator and director. Charles lived in Paris for three years when he was young. His father managed a French animation studio there. He later studied theater at California State University, Northridge.

Charles was discovered by a talent agent while acting in a school play. After working in TV and film for a few years, he got a big role. This was Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas's 1973 movie American Graffiti. He played this role again in the 1979 sequel, More American Graffiti.

Becoming a Movie Star

In 1974, Charles starred with Ron Howard in The Spikes Gang. He also played one of Buddy Holly's bandmates in The Buddy Holly Story. Later, he was a race car driver in Disney's Herbie Goes Bananas.

A very important role for him was playing a scientist in Never Cry Wolf (1983). He also earned praise for his role as Mark Shermin in Starman. In this film, his character was a SETI member who helped an alien.

He appeared in the famous movie The Untouchables. In the 1990s, he was in films like Speechless and Deep Impact. He also played Dr. Harold Jaffe in the 1993 HBO film And the Band Played On.

Life After Never Cry Wolf

Charles Martin Smith spent almost three years filming Never Cry Wolf. This movie was based on a book by environmentalist Farley Mowat. Charles was very involved in making this film. He helped with the writing and creative process. He said it was the "loneliest film" he ever worked on. This was because he was often the only actor present during filming in Canada's Yukon and Alaska.

During filming, he fell in love with the Northwest. He decided to move to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he has lived since the mid-1980s. He became good friends with the author, Farley Mowat.

Directing Movies and TV Shows

Since the mid-1990s, Charles Martin Smith has focused more on directing and writing. His first film as a director was the horror-comedy Trick or Treat (1986). He also acted in this movie.

He directed the successful family film Air Bud (1997) for Disney. He also directed episodes of TV shows like Space: Above and Beyond and the very first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In 2003, he wrote and directed The Snow Walker. This Canadian film was based on another story by Farley Mowat. It received nine Genie Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Smith.

He also wrote and directed Stone of Destiny in 2007. This film was shown at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

His next big directing project was Dolphin Tale (2011). This movie was based on a true story about a dolphin. It starred Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman. The film was very popular and earned over $100 million worldwide.

He then wrote and directed the sequel, Dolphin Tale 2 (2014). He based the story on real events at the Clearwater Marine Hospital. The entire cast from the first movie returned for the sequel. His most recent directing work includes A Dog's Way Home (2019) and A Gift from Bob (2020).

Filmography

Television Credits

See also

In Spanish: Charles Martin Smith para niños