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Jay Smith

Jay R. Smith

Biography[]

Character: Jay R. Smith
Birthday: August 29, 1915
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: October 5, 2002
Place of Death: Las Vegas, Nevada
First Short: Boys Will Be Joys
Last Short: Moan & Groan, Inc.
Number of Shorts: 36 Year Active: 1925–1955
History: Jay R. Smith was the freckled, skinny kid brought in to replace Mickey Daniels. He lived close enough to the studio that he able to commute to work by his own bicycle. After Our Gang, he did a few walk-on roles in The Boy Friends series, but when he left Hal Roach Studios for the last time, he remembers wondering how the studio was going to last without him. In a sort of prophetic vision, the studio did go out of business without him, but it took thirty years to do it.
As an adult, Jay "Pinky" Smith married and became a father. He became a part of the retail paint business and later retired in Kailua, Hawaii. Of his Our Gang tenure, he responds:

"None of us took it seriously when it was happening, but looking back, it was a very pleasant time of my life, and as I grow older, it gets more valuable."

After the death of his wife, Jay eventually took in a homeless man named Charles "Wayne" Crombie. In October of 2002, Jay was found stabbed to death in the Las Vegas desert. He was 87 years old. Crombie was later arrested for Smith's murder and eventually admitted to the murder.

Jay Smith is the older brother of Donald Smith.

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