---
name: "Harold Jacob Smith"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/harold-jacob-smith"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "2 July 1912"
died: "28 December 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T03:25:42.038932+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Harold Jacob Smith

Writer. Born 2 July 1912 in New York, USA. Died 28 December 1970.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 2 July 1912, New York, USA
- **Died:** 28 December 1970
- **Also known as:** Hal Smith
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Jacob_Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1585851, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808414/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/69320

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Defiant Ones*](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Harold Jacob Smith (2 July 1912 – 28 December 1970) was an American screenwriter. Born in New York City, he worked primarily in film and television from the late 1940s onwards, often credited as Hal Smith on earlier projects.

His most notable credit was the co-written screenplay (with Nedrick Young, under the pseudonym Nathan E. Douglas) for *The Defiant Ones* (1958), which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Smith collaborated again with Young on the screenplay for Stanley Kramer's *Inherit the Wind* (1960), earning an Oscar nomination. Other credits include *It Came from Beneath the Sea* (1955) and *The River's Edge* (1957).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Fi1m 74, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)

## Complete filmography (18)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Inherit the Wind* (1999), Screenplay
- *The Defiant Ones* (1986), Story
- *The McMasters* (1970), Screenplay
- *Inherit the Wind* (1960), Screenplay
- *Enchanted Island* (1958), Screenplay
- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Writer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)
- *Swiss Family Robinson: Lost in the Jungle* (1958), Screenplay
- *The River's Edge* (1957), Screenplay, Story
- *It Came from Beneath the Sea* (1955), Screenplay
- *The Unexpected* (1952), series, Writer
- *Customs Agent* (1950), Story
- *Black Eagle* (1948), Screenplay
- *Thunderhoof* (1948), Screenplay
- *Dangerous Business* (1946), Screenplay
- *Night Editor* (1946), Screenplay
- *Music in Manhattan* (1944), Story
- *She's a Soldier Too* (1944), Story
- *Good Luck, Mr. Yates* (1943), Story

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1961: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Inherit the Wind*
- 1959: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *The Defiant Ones*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Edgar Awards 1959: Edgar Awards (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/harold-jacob-smith