1950-1965
In October 1950, he went to New York, working at first as an usher at the Alvin Theater,
where Mr. Roberts was playing.
Early in 1951 he made his Broadway
debut as Tybalt in the Dwight Deere Wiman production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,
starring Olivia de Havilland. For his performance he received a Theatre World Award as one of the "Promising
Personalities of the Year." His other Broadway plays include: Anouilh's Legend of Lovers,
Carson McCullers' Square Root of Wonderful, Calder Willingham's End
As A Man, O'Casey's Shadow of a Gunman, and Terence Rattigan's Man
and Boy (which he performed in London and in New York).
In 1952 Mr. Smithers was accepted
as a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. He regards the influence of its Artistic Director Lee Strasberg as a key element
in his work as actor and director. End As A Man and the 1958 production of Shadow
of a Gunman both originated as projects in the Studio.
As
Treplev in Checkov's The Sea Gull, he received an Obie Award for the Best Performance
of the Year by an Actor in an Off-Broadway Play. Also Off-Broadway, he played leading roles in Frank Gilroy's Who'll Save
the Plowboy? (Obie Award for Best Off-Broadway Play of the Year) and in
George Bellak's The Troublemakers.
