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Topic: Jack Smith, 'Smiling'
"Smiling" Jack Smith, a singer and recording artist who had his own radio show in the 1940s and early '50s and later took over as host of the popular "You Asked for It" TV show, has died. He was 92. The young trio, with Jack as soloist, became known as the Three Ambassadors. In addition to a long stint at the Cocoanut Grove with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra and then the Jimmie Grier band, they sang at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco and did uncredited chorus work in films before returning to the Grove in 1933 to appear with Phil Harris' band, with which they toured. They also sang in films and on the radio as part of the Swing 14 on "The Philip Morris Show," as part of the Hit Paraders on "Your Hit Parade" and as part of the chorus on "The Kate Smith Hour."
Smith, a baritone with a tenor lilt, went solo in 1939 and later recorded songs such as "I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time," "Jack, Jack, Jack" and "Civilization."
Smith landed his own 15-minute, five-nights-a-week radio show on CBS in 1945. Regulars on "The Jack Smith Show," which continued into the early '50s, included Dinah Shore, Margaret Whiting and Ginny Simms.
Updated: Tuesday, 11 July 2006 7:50 PM EDT
