Geddeth Smith Obituary
(John) Geddeth Smith

February 28, 1934 - April 20, 2025

New York City, New York - Geddeth Smith, actor and author, passed away at 91 years of age Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025 in Manhattan, his home of 67 years.

Born John Geddeth Smith in Columbia, South Carolina, known as "Gator", to John Geddeth Smith Sr, a postal worker and Dorothy Irby Smith, a high school math teacher. Geddeth attended Columbia High School where became the student council president and delivered the valedictory speech in 1952. He continued his studies earning a degree in English from the University of South Carolina in 1956 after which he enlisted in The United States Army to fulfill his required military service before moving to New York City in 1958 to pursue a career in the theater.

Geddeth married Francesca Cirillo Smith, a classical pianist and Brooklyn native, on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1960.

Geddeth developed a deep love of the theater and literature at an early age appearing in plays at Wardlow Junior High School and The Town Theater where he appeared as Ronnie Winslow in "The Winslow Boy" as a teenager. He won a scholarship to the renowned actress Eva LeGallienne's courses in Westport Connecticut and was subsequently hired by The National Repertory Theater for a national tour of Tyrone Gutherie's production of "Mary Stuart" with Ms. LeGallienne (who Geddeth considered and inspiration, mentor, and great friend) cast as the title role.

Over the course of his career Geddeth appeared in over a hundred productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and across the country in regional theaters playing a huge range of roles. Broadway credits include "Waiting in the Wings", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Imaginary Invalid", "Tonight at 8:30" and "A Touch of the Poet". Off and Off-Off Broadway credits include Sir Peter Hall's production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" at BAM, "The Shaugraun", "Shadow of a Gunman" and "Philadelphia Here I Come!" at The Irish Repertory Theater. Geddeth especially enjoyed working in regional theaters where smaller houses meant a more intimate and intense experience for the audience and the actors. Although Geddeth loved working anywhere, he was lucky enough to work for many years for director Paul Barry when he was artistic director of The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival where he performed such major roles as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", the title role in "Titus Andronicus", Vladimir in "Waiting for Godot" and many others. As any actor would, Geddeth loved Shakespeare and appeared in over 50 productions of the playwright's works.

Geddeth also wrote and performed several solo shows based on Edgar Allen Poe and "A Night in the Life of Dietrich Knickerbocker".

Although mostly working in theatrical settings, Geddeth also appeared on television and films appearing in "Milligan", "Man Without a Country", directed by Delbert Mann and "Blue Hotel" directed by Ján Kadár; he became close personal friends of both directors. Appearances on television include "Pan Am", "Friends from College" on Netflix and a brief and funny bit on The Colbert Report as "Mitchell MacCracken".

In addition to his passion for performing in the theater, he was fascinated by theatrical history. This led him to write and have published three biographies: "The Brief Career of Eliza Poe", "Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, America's Premier Tragedian" and "Walter Hampden: Dean of the American Theater". At the time of his death he was working on a fourth biography of the actor William Geer.

Geddeth is survived by Francesca, his wife of 65 years, their children; Thomas and Adrienne, three grandchildren; Nina, Emilio and Sofia, all of New York City, his brother Cary K. Smith of Fort Mill, S.C. and many nieces and nephews from both the Smith and Cirillo families.

A graveside service will be held Wednesday May 7, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. in Elmwood Cemetery, Columbia, South Carolina.

His family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be made to the Entertainment Community Fund (https://entertainmentcommunity.org).
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Published by The State from May 4 to May 6, 2025.


Originally from the South. Came to visit the family in New Haven and ate so many ears of fresh corn at dinner it became embarrasing.128

Appeared in movies and on Broadway, known for Bakery in Brooklyn (2016), Pan Am (2011) and The Man Without a Country (1973).

"I began writing biography after twenty-five years' experience as an actor, and I continue to work as both actor and biographer today. As an actor, I have been fortunate enough to have appeared in some of the finest plays in both the English and the American repertories. I have played over fifty roles in Shakespeare's plays, and I have also performed in the plays of Sheridan, Shaw, and Samuel Becket, as well as those of Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee, among many others. Studying, memorizing, and speaking the lines of these writers has, I believe, taught me something of the power and beauty that language can have, and I try to use this in my work as a biographer.
"Some of the biographers whose work I admire and who have taught me about the craft of biography are Plutarch, Lytton Strachey, Andre Maurois, Catherine Drinker Bowen, and Richard Marius. I strive to compose language that has the vigor, clarity, and brilliance of Edith Hamilton's prose. I do not trust the socalled 'warts-and-all' approach to biography. I believe that it is misleading, that it seeks to diminish the stature of its subject, and that in its zeal for exposing what is eccentric and petty it loses sight of what is extraordinary and important. It is also cynical; it attempts to rob us of our heroes.
"I have chosen to write about American actors because our theatrical history is rich and fascinating, and it is important that we do not lose touch with it. Its lifeblood has been its actors, and we must not forget their stories. We owe them too much.”