Jack Smith

Radio crooner "Smilin' Jack Smith" was a popular 40s and 50s personality. He was born Jack Ward Smith on November 16, 1913, on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. His father, Walter Reed Smith, was the captain of the naval destroyer USS Dixie. Jack was named after the fort they were stationed at the time, Fort Ward. Jack's younger brother, Walter Reed Smith II, later known as Walter Reed, became a well-respected character actor and occasional leading man. Following his parents' divorce at age 11, Jack, a good student, decided to study to be an architect, following in the path of three of his uncles. However, at age 15, he earned a job singing lead in a trio at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel's famed Cocoanut Grove, replacing Bing Crosby's trio, The Rhythm Boys, who had just been fired. They went on to call themselves The Three Ambassadors. The group clicked and managed to find consistent work in swanky hotels and clubs from San Francisco to New York. The