Editing Douglas Smith (broadcaster)

{{Short description|British radio actor and announcer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}

{{Infobox person
| birth_name    = Douglas Arthur Smith
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1924|02|11|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1972|10|15|1924|02|11|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Kingston upon Thames]]
| employer      = [[BBC]]
| occupation    = {{ubl|[[Announcer#Radio|Radio Announcer]]|[[News presenter|Newsreader]]|[[Actor]]}}
| notable_works = {{ubl|''[[Beyond Our Ken]]''|''[[Round the Horne]]''}}
}}

'''Douglas Arthur Smith'''<ref>''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007''</ref> (11 February 1924 – 15 October 1972)<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book	|last=Stevens |first=Christopher |title=Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84854-195-5 |page=370}}</ref> was a British radio announcer and comedian who spent 25 years with the [[BBC]].<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=Mr Douglas Smith |newspaper=[[The Times]] |publisher=[[Thomson Corporation]] |department=Obituaries |location=London |page=14 |date=16 October 1972 |issn=01400460}}</ref> He began his [[broadcasting]] career with the BBC European Service (now the [[BBC World Service|World Service]]) in 1946 and later worked as an announcer and newsreader on the [[BBC Home Service|Home Service]] and the [[BBC Third Programme|Third Programme]].<ref name="Stevens"/> He is probably best remembered as the formal announcer on ''[[Beyond Our Ken]]'' (1958–1964), its successor ''[[Round the Horne]]'' (1965–1968) and the short-lived ''[[Stop Messing About]]'' (1969–1970), where his "[[Received Pronunciation|BBC accent]]" was used to comic effect.<ref name="Stevens"/> In this role, he advertised ''Dobbiroids'' (a fictional product for horses) and the huge number of naïve sound effects he made to assist in the development of humorous and often bizarre plots.<ref name="Stevens"/> Smith performed "Nobody Loves a Fairy When She's Forty" in an episode of ''Round the Horne''. Many of his roles were portrayals of inanimate objects, e.g., volcanoes, "and I, Douglas Smith, play the part of the volcano", and "I, Douglas Smith, in my most taxing role to date, play the part of the world." (spoof on 'Around the World in 80 Days').

A Croydonian, he died aged 48 in [[Kingston upon Thames]].<ref name="times"/>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Douglas}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:British male comedians]]
[[Category:British male radio actors]]
[[Category:BBC people]]
[[Category:20th-century British comedians]]
[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Croydon]]
[[Category:People from Croydon]]


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