Dean smith biography actor john
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Dean Smith (sprinter)
American athlete and stuntman (1932–2023)
Smith in 2013 | |
| Full name | Finis Dean Smith |
|---|---|
| Born | (1932-01-15)January 15, 1932 Breckenridge, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 24, 2023(2023-06-24) (aged 91) |
Finis Dean Smith (January 15, 1932 – June 24, 2023) was an American track and field athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics; he was also an actor and noted stuntman, appearing in many films and TV series.[1][2][3]
Early life, education, and sports career
[edit]Born in Breckenridge, Texas, Smith won the Amateur Athletic Union championships in 100 m in 1952. At the HelsinkiOlympics, he was fourth in the 100 m and ran the leadoff leg for the American gold medal-winning 4 × 100 m relay team.[1] As a sprinter on the Longhorn track team, Smith ran a 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds, one-tenth of a second off the world record at the time.[3]
Af
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Cowboy Stuntman: From Olympic Gold to the Silver Screen
First, let's be clear that this is a memoir, and not a biography (or autobiography). What is the difference? A memoir is a collection of selected memories. They don't always have to be told sequentially, from youngest to oldest (though in this case they are). A biography, on the other hand, is the story of someone's life. I like the way Wikipedia puts it: "An autobiography tells the story of a life, while memoir tells a story from a life...".
Why is this an important distinction? Because if you are looking for a biography/autobiography of Dean Smith ... Olympic Champion and Hollywood stuntman ... you may be disappointed. But if you want to hear (read) stories that Dean Smith has to tell about his years running and doing stunts, you will be incredibly entertained.
What is nice about the narrative style that Dean Smith and Mike
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Biography
Dean Smith was raised in Eliasville, Texas, and later lived in Breckenridge, Texas, where he raised horses and longhorn cattle. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he competed in track and football. He won an Olympic gold medal for the 400-meter relay in the 1952 Helsinki games and finished fourth in the 100 dash in the closest race in Olympic history. He was the lead-off man on the University of Texas world record relay team, 1954-55, and AAU national champion in the 100-meter dash. He played with the Los Angeles Rams during exhibition season and was traded to the Pittsburg Steelers at which time he decided to enter the movie business. He also won amateur rodeo championships for bareback bronco riding and calf roping.
He was an honorary member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame (2006), the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (1985), Stuntman's Hall of Fame (1980), and the University of Texas Hall