--- name: "John Smith" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-smith-151004" roles: [] born: "6 March 1931" died: "25 January 1995" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 70 average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-20T03:05:08.139599+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." --- # John Smith Actor. Born 6 March 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Died 25 January 1995. ## Details - **Born:** 6 March 1931, Los Angeles, California, USA - **Died:** 25 January 1995 - **Also known as:** Robert Errol Van Orden - **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 acting, 2 other - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 69 (2), 1950s 72 (1) - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, Music 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $46m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q376158, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808774/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/151004 ## Biography John Smith (born Robert Errol Van Orden, 6 March 1931 – 25 January 1995) was an American actor. He began his career as a member of the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, which appeared in the films *Going My Way* (1944) and *The Bells of St. Mary's* (1945). His agent Henry Willson changed his name to John Smith. Smith appeared in films including *The High and the Mighty* (1954), *We're No Angels* (1955), *Friendly Persuasion* (1956) as Caleb Cope, and *Circus World* (1964). He starred in the television western series *Cimarron City* (1958–1959) as Lane Temple and *Laramie* (1959–1963) as Slim Sherman. He was married to actress Luana Patten from 1960 to 1964. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, wikitree.com, latimes.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) ### Performed in (1) - *Friendly Persuasion* (1956), Fi1m 72, as Caleb Cope — [page](https://film.one/film/friendly-persuasion.md) ### Also credited (2) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *The Bells of St. Mary's* (1945), Fi1m 64, as Choir Member (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-bells-of-st-marys.md) - *Going My Way* (1944), Fi1m 74, as Choir Member (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/going-my-way.md) ## Complete filmography (48) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Meteor* (2011), as Narrator - *Police Woman* (1974), series, Actor - *Justin Morgan Had a Horse* (1972), as Mr. Ames - *Emergency!* (1972), series, as Capt. Hammer - *Blood Legacy* (1971), as Dr. Carl Isenburg - *Marcus Welby, M.D.* (1969), series, as Doc Hunter - *Adam-12* (1968), series, as Ron McKee - *Hondo* (1967), series, Actor - *Hondo and the Apaches* (1967), as Ed Dow - *Waco* (1966), as Joe Gore - *Circus World* (1964), as Steve McCabe - *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Dee Garvey - *Laramie* (1959), series, as Slim Sherman - *Island of Lost Women* (1959), as Joe Walker - *Cimarron City* (1958), series, as Deputy Sheriff Lane Temple - *Handle with Care* (1958), as Bill Reeves - *Sea Divers* (1958), as Mike Gilbert - *The Crooked Circle* (1957), as Tommy Kelly - *The Lawless Eighties* (1957), as William Wesley Van Orsdel - *The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm* (1957), as Brad Johnson - *Fury at Showdown* (1957), as Miley Sutton - *Tomahawk Trail* (1957), as Pvt. Reynolds - *The Women of Pitcairn Island* (1956), as Thursday October Christian - *Friendly Persuasion* (1956), as Caleb Cope — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/friendly-persuasion.md) - *Wire Service* (1956), series, as Howie - *Rebel in Town* (1956), as Wesley Mason - *Hot Rod Girl* (1956), as Jeff Northrup - *Quincannon, Frontier Scout* (1956), as Lt. Phil Hostedder - *Telephone Time* (1956), series, as Philip Horton - *Ghost Town* (1956), as Duff Dailey - *The Bold and the Brave* (1956), as Smith - *Desert Sands* (1955), as Pvt. Rex Tyle - *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Irving Randall - *Frontier* (1955), series, as Willie Magill - aka The Colfax Kid - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as David - *We're No Angels* (1955), as Medical Officer Arnaud - *Wichita* (1955), as Jim Earp - *Seven Angry Men* (1955), as Frederick Brown - *The Millionaire* (1955), series, as Charles 'Lucky' Swanson - *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as Rep Aeronaut, Mr. Ames - *Father Knows Best* (1954), series, as Utah - *The High and the Mighty* (1954), as Milo Buck - *Letter to Loretta* (1953), series, as Art - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, Actor - *The Ford Television Theatre* (1952), series, Actor - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, Actor - *The Bells of St. Mary's* (1945), as Choir Member (uncredited) — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-bells-of-st-marys.md) - *Going My Way* (1944), as Choir Member (uncredited) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/going-my-way.md) ## Gallery - ![John Smith](https://film.one/media/person/1234571/gallery-3290eb987fab.jpg) John Smith — MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/John_Smith_1957.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![John Smith and Dabbs Greer in Hot Rod Girl. This film is in the public domain now. (1956)](https://film.one/media/person/1234571/gallery-1fd32fe73096.jpg) John Smith and Dabbs Greer in Hot Rod Girl. This film is in the public domain now. (1956) — Film screenshot (Nacirema Productions), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/John_Smith_and_Dabbs_Greer_in_Hot_Rod_Girl.jpg/1280px-John_Smith_and_Dabbs_Greer_in_Hot_Rod_Girl.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John Smith](https://film.one/media/person/1234571/gallery-5902ffb79c62.jpg) John Smith — Image via TMDB - ![John Smith](https://film.one/media/person/1234571/gallery-64aa78933bc0.jpg) John Smith — Image via TMDB --- © 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/john-smith-151004