
Lane Smith
Actor · 1936 – 2005 · Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Lane Smith (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor . He graduated from the Leelanau School, a boarding school in Glen Arbor, Michigan, and spent one year boarding at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, before going off to study at the Actors Studio in the late 1950s and early 1960s along with Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino; he was recognized in their Hall of Fame. Smith served two years in the United States Army. After graduating, Smith found steady work in New York theater before making his film debut in Maidstone in 1970. During the 1970s, he regularly made appearances in small film roles including Rooster Cogburn in 1975 and Network in 1976. In 1981, Smith appeared in the Sidney Lumet-directed film Prince of the City. He also acted on television, notably playing a United States Marine in Vietnam in the television miniseries A Rumor of War and in the 1980 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Gideon's Trumpet starring Henry Fonda, José Ferrer and John Houseman. Smith is also credited for playing McMurphy 650 times in the 1971 Off-Broadway revival of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Smith made a major breakthrough in 1984 with significant roles in Red Dawn, Places in the Heart and the television series V. He also played on Quincy, M.E. in season 8, episode 7, "Science for Sale" as an oncologist searching for a cure to cancer. In 1989, Smith gained recognition for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in the docudrama The Final Days. Newsweek praised the performance, writing, "Smith] is such a good Nixon that his despair and sorrow at his predicament become simply overwhelming." Smith earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. He also appeared in the original Broadway stage production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross as James Lingk. He received a Drama Desk Award for his performance. In 1990, Smith appeared in Air America playing a United States Senator, a role for which he was selected based on his resemblance to then-Minority Leader Bob Dole. Two years later, he played a small-town district attorney opposite Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny, followed by a role as Coach Jack Reilly in The Mighty Ducks. In 1993 Smith landed the role of Perry White in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which he played for four seasons until 1997. In 1994, he portrayed New York Yankees front officeman Ron in The Scout, alongside Albert Brooks and Brendan Fraser. In 1998, Smith appeared in a major role as fictional television anchorman Emmett Seaborn in the HBO miniseries From The Earth to the Moon. His final film appearance was in The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). Smith was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease) in April 2004. He died of the disease at his home in Northridge, California on June 13, 2005 at the age of 69. He was survived by his wife, Debbie Benedict Smith and his son Robert Smith.
Movies24
Movie7.5ComedyDramaTwo carefree pals traveling through rural Alabama on their way back to college are mistakenly arrested and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a cousin who's a lawyer - Vincent Gambini, a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who has just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. When he arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend to try his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!
My Cousin Vinny
1992 · 2K votes
Movie6.3ThrillerWarIt is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces.
Red Dawn
1984 · 926 votes
Movie7.8DramaWhen veteran anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to viewers that he will kill himself during his farewell broadcast. Network executives rethink their decision when his fanatical tirade results in a spike in ratings.
Network
1976 · 2.1K votes
Movie5.8ActionAdventureAir America was the CIA's private airline operating in Laos during the Vietnam War, running anything and everything from soldiers to foodstuffs for local villagers. After losing his pilot's license, Billy Covington is recruited, and ends up in the middle of a bunch of lunatic pilots, gun-running by his friend Gene Ryack, and opium smuggling by his own superiors.
Air America
1990 · 683 votes
Movie6.6DramaRomanceWorld War I has left golfer Rannulph Junuh a poker-playing alcoholic, his perfect swing gone. Now, however, he needs to get it back to play in a tournament to save the financially ravaged golf course of a long-ago sweetheart. Help arrives in the form of mysterious caddy Bagger Vance.
The Legend of Bagger Vance
2000 · 1K votes
Movie7.2DramaIn 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.
Places in the Heart
1984 · 203 votes
Movie6.6ComedyDramaAfter reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn't eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly. The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway, and leads them to take on Reilly's tough players.
The Mighty Ducks
1992 · 1K votes
Movie6.0ComedyDramaCountry girl Rebecca has spent most of her life on a farm in South Dakota, and, when she goes away to college in Los Angeles, Rebecca immediately feels out of place in the daunting urban setting. She is befriended by a savvy party animal named Crawl, who convinces the ambivalent Rebecca to stay in the city. When Thanksgiving break rolls around, Rebecca, no longer an innocent farm girl, invites Crawl back to South Dakota, where he pretends to be her fiancé.
Son in Law
1993 · 311 votes
Movie7.1CrimeDramaA group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada.
Over the Edge
1979 · 146 votes
Movie7.0DramaThrillerNew York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.
Prince of the City
1981 · 190 votes
Movie6.0DramaRomanceAn intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War II, in its twilight. Pete and Big Boy are masters of the prairie, but ultimately face trickier terrain: the human heart.
The Hi-Lo Country
1998 · 102 votes
Movie6.4AdventureDramaAfter a band of drunken thugs overruns a small Indian Nation town, killing Reverend Goodnight and raping the women folk, Eula Goodnight enlists the aid of US Marshal Cogburn to hunt them down and bring her father's killers to justice.
Rooster Cogburn
1975 · 233 votes
Movie6.0ComedyA Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, the U.S. Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists.
The Distinguished Gentleman
1992 · 340 votes
Movie6.3DramaTV MovieTwo great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.
Inherit the Wind
1999 · 43 votes
Movie6.5HorrorTV MovieBubba, an intellectually disabled man, is falsely accused of attacking a young girl. Disguised as a scarecrow, he hides in a cornfield, only to be hunted down and shot by four vigilante men. After they are acquitted due to lack of evidence, the men find themselves being stalked one by one.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
1981 · 203 votes
Movie7.0DramaJeremy Collier is a Vietnam veteran who has returned home and is struggling to cope with the war experiences that haunt him. He is also at odds with his family, who cannot begin to understand what he has been through. Jeremy's battles with his family finally spiral out of control on Thanksgiving Day, when a bitter secret is revealed
The War at Home
1996 · 29 votes
Movie6.9DramaThe true story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.
Frances
1982 · 128 votes
Movie5.2ComedyWhen his star recruit botches a Major League Baseball debut, humiliated talent scout Al Percolo gets banished to rural Mexico, where he finds a potential gold mine in the arm of young phenom Steve Nebraska. Soon, the New York Yankees put a $55 million contract on the table—provided a psychiatrist can affirm Nebraska's mental stability.
The Scout
1994 · 124 votes
Movie5.8DramaWarA Navy surgeon and a nurse fall in love while serving in Vietnam during the war. Their affection for one another provides a striking contrast to the violence of warfare.
Purple Hearts
1984 · 14 votes
Movie5.7DramaA young hell raiser quits his moonshine business and tries to become the best NASCAR racer the south has ever seen. Loosely based on the true story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson.
The Last American Hero
1973 · 42 votes
Movie7.3DramaCrimeFed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, three auto assembly line workers hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters.
Blue Collar
1978 · 215 votes
Movie5.3DramaA San Quentin inmate, sentenced to life without parole, writes a play that catches the interest of a reporter.
Weeds
1987 · 20 votes
Movie5.3ActionThrillerA deranged engineer, bent on revenge for the deaths of his wife and daughter, sets two passenger trains on a collision course, and con-man William Shatner puts his life on the line to ward off the crash.
Disaster on the Coastliner
1979 · 18 votes
Movie5.9CrimeThrillerWhen a young schoolteacher is found dead in her car in a parking lot in broad daylight, police chief Lee Tucker can find no clues pointing to her killer. Flamboyant self-proclaimed psychic Franklin Wills offers his help to the skeptical policeman, and, when his supposed visions about the case begin to reveal clues and information that only the killer could possibly have known, he becomes a suspect himself.
Man on a Swing
1974 · 27 votes
Series24
TV7.6Talk ShowThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · 97 votes
TV7.7DramaSci-Fi & FantasyAnthology series composed of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end, with occasional recurring story elements that were often tied together during season-finale clip shows.
The Outer Limits
1995 · 249 votes
TV7.4AnimationComedySet in Texas, this animated series follows the life of propane salesman Hank Hill, who lives with his overly confident substitute Spanish teacher wife Peggy, wannabe comedian son Bobby, and naive niece Luanne. Hank has conservative views about God, family, and country, but his values and ethics are often challenged by the situations he, his family, and his beer-drinking neighbors/buddies find themselves in.
King of the Hill
1997 · 702 votes
TV7.6DramaA provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”
The Practice
1997 · 114 votes
TV7.5MysteryCrimeAn unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · 471 votes
TV6.6DramaComedyAmerican Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
American Playhouse
1982 · 8 votes
TV7.5DramaJudging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character is a judge who serves in a family court, and in addition to the family-related cases that she adjudicates, many episodes of the show focus on her own experiences as a divorced mother, and on the experiences of her mother, a social worker who works in the field of child welfare. This series was based on the life experiences of Brenneman's mother.
Judging Amy
1999 · 86 votes
TV7.6CrimeDramaCranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he didn't commit, Rockford takes on cases others don't want, aided by his tough old man, his lawyer girlfriend and some shady associates from his past.
The Rockford Files
1974 · 133 votes
TV7.6DramaCrimeA realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Hill Street Blues
1981 · 130 votes
TV7.5CrimeDramaLos Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976 · 123 votes
TV6.9Action & AdventureDramaA much more lavish version of the popular Superman television series which had first aired forty years earlier, Lois & Clark focused more on the Man of Steel's early adult years in Metropolis. With the unknowing help of Lois Lane, Clark Kent created Superman there in Metropolis after finding work at the world-famous Daily Planet newspaper, where he meets fellow reporter Lois Lane.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1993 · 519 votes
TV7.7Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaThis 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or three) rooted in horror or suspense, often with a surprising twist at the end. Episodes usually feature elements of drama and comedy.
The Twilight Zone
1985 · 266 votes
TV6.9Action & AdventureCrimeWealthy couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a self-made millionaire and his journalist wife, moonlight as amateur detectives.
Hart to Hart
1979 · 135 votes
TV7.0DramaWesternModern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.
Walker, Texas Ranger
1993 · 589 votes
TV7.4ComedyDramaThe trials of a former television station manager turned newspaper city editor, and his journalist staff.
Lou Grant
1977 · 32 votes
TV7.2DramaMysteryThe New Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986, and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated re-imagining of the classic 1955 series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1985 · 64 votes
TV7.5Sci-Fi & FantasyComedyA truly amazing, fantastical, science fiction, funny and odd, and sometimes scary, sad and endearing anthology series presented by Steven Spielberg with guest appearances by many famous actors, actresses, and directors.
Amazing Stories
1985 · 237 votes
TV7.3CrimeDramaA bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.
Kojak
1973 · 155 votes
TV8.1Action & AdventureDramaThe story of the United States' space program, from its beginnings in 1961 to the final moon mission in 1972.
From the Earth to the Moon
1998 · 138 votes
TV7.1Sci-Fi & FantasyOnce again, Earth is the battleground. But now the aliens whose human guise hides their true reptilian natures are wiser. They believe the secret to their survival on Earth lies in the DNA of the newly born half-human, half-spaceling Starchild. But that's something the world's Resistance Fighters cannot allow.
V
1984 · 214 votes
TV6.4ComedyCLUELESS is a television series spun off from the 1995 teen film of the same name. The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season. The show then spent its last two seasons on UPN ending on May 25, 1999.
Clueless
1996 · 44 votes
TV8.4WesternFamilyIn post-Civil War Kentucky, wealthy widower Ned Logan raises a family all on his own on his horse farm. His streetwise adopted son clashes with the youngest son, Clay, as well as the southern society. Meanwhile, Sean reconsiders his impending engagement to debutante Vivian Winters.
Legacy
1998 · 5 votes
TV6.8DramaBull is a short-lived American drama series created by Michael S. Chernuchin, who had worked on Law & Order and Brooklyn South in 2000. It was TNT's first original series, and was cancelled in the middle of Season 1. The show's name is in reference to the bull market, but the airing of the series coincided with the dot-com bubble crash that turned what had until then been a bull economy in the United States into a bear market.
Bull
2000 · 5 votes
TV5.0DramaHollywood Beat is a mid-1980s American television police drama starring Jack Scalia, Jay Acovone, Edward Winter, and John Matuszak. The series aired Saturday night at 8:00 p.m Eastern time. A pair of undercover cops, Nick McCarren (Jack Scalia) and Jack Rado (Jay Acovone) cruise the filthy, neon-lit streets of Hollywood, looking for crime in all the right places as rock music blares in the background.
Hollywood Beat
1985 · 1 votes