Anecdotes

Smith's former Laramie (1959) co-star and friend of four decades, Robert Fuller, paid tribute to him at the Festival of the West on 20 March 2010, in Scottsdale, Arizona, 15 years after Smith's death in 1995.

According to his obituary, Robert Van Orden changed his name to John Smith in order to be "the only one in the business". His parents were Errol and Margaret Van Orden. The family was of Dutch, German and Irish ancestry.

Before he became an actor, he worked at MGM as a mail boy and soon advanced to be the head of the mail room.

After his last guest-starring role on Project UFO, Smith retired from acting at the age of 47.

After guest starring as the fire captain in a two-part episode of "Emergency" in 1972, Smith had the option to continue in the role for the series, but chose not to do so.

Was a guest at the very first Festival of The West in 1990. In later years, failing health prevented him from attending.

He introduced Julie London to Robert Fuller, and remained close friends with Fuller for 40 years until his death in 1995.

Died just 1 week before Doug McClure; he was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.

Met Robert Fuller and Doug McClure in 1956, while working on the movie La loi du Seigneur (1956), though they didn't all participate in the movie.

Graduated from Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, California, in 1949. A classmate was future baseball manager Sparky Anderson.

When "Laramie" was cancelled at the last minute in 1963, the production company, Revue, offered John a starring role in a new detective series, but Smith declined the offer.

He had just completed starring in 122 episodes of his television series 'Laramie' when he was offered the romantic lead opposite Claudia Cardinale in 'Circus World'. John Wayne requested Smith for the role. Wayne gave him his first credited screen role in 'The High and the Mighty in 1954. At the time, Smith was under contract to Wayne. Smith and John Wayne remained close until Wayne's death.

Acting mentor was John Wayne.

Early in Smith's career he was a member of the The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, appearing in the Bing Crosby films La route semée d'étoiles (1944) and Les cloches de Sainte-Marie (1945).

Worked with Robert Fuller and Julie London on episodes of two television series: Laramie (1959) and Emergency! (1972).

Had a daughter from an out-of-wedlock relationship.

He changed his name to have something more suitable for his career.