While trying to break into Hollywood, this star worked at a deli. She had no idea that her tenacity and love of acting would eventually land her a highly sought award, beating out other performers.
This actress, known for her appearance in 1996’s “Twister,” has spent the majority of her life on stage. She became an industry icon.
Celebrity’s Road to Stardom
This iconic star was born on November 3, 1930, in Topeka, Kansas. Her father worked for the phone company during the day and directed biblical plays at a Protestant church in the evening. For her, acting appeared to be a true calling.
She stressed, “They weren’t for entertainment,” but said that she enjoyed the plays. The celebrity recalls enjoying rehearsals, and when her father needed someone to step in, she knew all of the lines.
Eventually, her father handed his youngest daughter an Old Testament garb and her own major role. She warmly remembered the excitement of performing, saying, “That was the beginning.” By the age of 18, she had married.
She married Wesley Smith, a teacher, and they soon moved to New York. During her audition, the actress worked at a deli slicing salami and checked hats at the Russian Tea Room.
When she got her first acting job, she pondered changing her name to something more glamorous than what she has now. However, she concluded it was not worth the effort.
She ultimately chose to keep her married name, which fitted her perfectly—straightforward, simple, and honest. Her focus remained on acting, not the fame that came with it.
In 1955, she achieved a significant milestone by appearing in LIFE Magazine among three young Broadway performers, including Jayne Mansfield. Reflecting on the opportunity, she shrugged and stated, “Somebody must have gotten the idea to put us all on the cover.”
She glanced right at the camera while dressed in her stage outfit, an off-the-shoulder crimson dress. The magazine applauded her “pale-faced intensity,” with Mansfield standing behind her in a strapless sequin gown.
At the time, the actress was 25 years old and the oldest of the photographed stars, many of whom were still in their teens. By 2017, the celebrity had been acting for so long that when she mentioned inventing a new line-learning approach in “recent years,” she really meant “the last 25 or so.”
By that point, she was the sole star who had survived the filming. Her longevity in the profession appears to be the result of an actor’s impulse to seek out new jobs, rather than a planned career path. The star acknowledged, “I don’t think I was ever particularly a planner.”
Around the time of the magazine cover, she told a writer that she had not “realised all of my stage ambitions.” She wasn’t talking to fame or honours; she just wanted to play Nina in “The Seagull.”
On Broadway, the star eventually appeared in works by Harold Pinter, Bertolt Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, John Steinbeck, Sam Shepard, and Tony Kushner, as well as three Chekhov plays. However, by the time she took on “The Seagull,” she had grown out of Nina and had become the ferocious Madame Arkadina instead.
She is well noted for her roles in the 2002 film “Minority Report” and the 2017 film “Lady Bird.” Despite starting her work at a time when women’s appearance standards were rigorous and cosmetic operations were becoming more common, she preferred to mature naturally.
Sticking to Natural Beauty and Working with Other Greats
She used to be concerned about her age, but not out of vanity. She kept her dark hair white on top as she grew older. She stated, “Nature just decided to grey me that way,” adding, “I really liked the way it happened.”
Until then, her difficulty was to appear younger than her age, even younger than her driver’s license. For example, when she was 22, she made her Broadway debut in “Time Out for Ginger” as a 16-year-old drama queen.
A few years later, while preparing a sketch for “The Loretta Young Show,” a director commented that she did not appear aged enough for one of her character’s lines. She responded, “Why don’t we say I’m between 15 and 100?”
The actress liked the ad-lib so much that she utilised it in the skit and throughout interviews. Her career has been steady on stage and screen since her 1952 Broadway debut in “Time Out for Ginger,” which was quickly followed by her film debut in “East of Eden.”
She has cooperated with great theatre luminaries throughout the years and will offer her thoughts from those encounters on a 2020 episode of Stagecraft, Variety’s theatre podcast. One such individual was Lee Strasberg, a famed acting teacher.
During her Broadway stint in “The Inheritance” and before playing in Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” she stated that she learnt as much by observing other performers as from performing. She made history that same year by receiving a coveted prize.
Making History.
Lois Smith received her first Tony Award nomination in 1990 for “The Grapes of Wrath,” followed by another in 1996 for “Buried Child.” Both were for the best featured actress in a play.
At the age of 90, she became the oldest actor to receive a Tony Award for acting, which was her first. Lois was honoured for her role as Margaret, a caretaker in an AIDS-related men’s refuge, in Part 2 of Matthew López’s six-hour-plus epic, “The Inheritance.”
Reflecting on the work, she stated, “I love the processes of live theatre.” She joined the production at the workshop period, when López was still finalising the script, which was inspired by E. M. Forster’s novel “Howards End.”
“E. M. Forster gave us—there’s a famous two-word message from Howards End, which is so apt, I think, tonight for all of us who are here celebrating the importance, the functions, of live theatre: ‘Only connect,'” she repeated.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times described her performance—the play’s only female role—as “quietly brilliant.” She succeeded over impressive nominees such as Jane Alexander for “Grand Horizons,” Cora Vander Broek for “Linda Vista,” and Annie McNamara and Chalia La Tour for “Slave Play.”
The previous record holder, Cicely Tyson, won a Tony at the age of 88 in 2013 for Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful.” In a March 2020 interview with Variety, Lois mentioned that her schedule filming “The Inheritance” was relatively low.
She stated that she did not appear onstage until late in the play’s two-part run and only performed three times per week. The actress explained, “I think to myself, ‘Now what’s going to happen to me?'”
She continued, “This might be the last of me. What would I answer if somebody asked me to do eight concerts every week? It’s difficult to imagine at this time.” Even years later, she continued to act and attend red carpet events. Fans who saw her in her 90s had only positive things to say.
Still Acting and Gracing the Red Carpet
Lois attended the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in 2024 to promote her picture “The Uninvited.” She portrayed Helen, a strange intruder at a Hollywood party. When asked about the role’s allure, she stated that “a part of complexity and mystery” pulled her in.
She was intrigued by the question of whether her character was ill or if something else was going on. Lois was also requested to offer tips to aspiring actresses. She remembered being asked this in another interview years ago.
Her advice was straightforward: “Be on time and enjoy yourself.” In 2023, an X account commemorated her 93rd birthday with images from her youth and a recent shot. The caption said, “Happy 93rd Birthday, Lois Smith! Born on November 3, 1930. She has played over 140 parts and made her cinematic debut in East of Eden.
Lois Smith’s incredible career exemplifies tenacity, passion, and genuineness. Her story continues to inspire generations of artists and fans all across the world.