Having finalized his divorce from his first wife, Australian actress Victoria Shaw, Smith was dating Ann-Margret. Surgery successfully corrected the problem and Smith was able to resume performing, but in 1965, Smith was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, which causes extreme weakness.īut by that time, Smith was entering a new phase. He left 77 Sunset Strip in 1963 after five seasons when a blood clot was discovered in his brain. Smith’s career in front of the camera, however, was cut short by medical issues. An engraving on the sidewalk at 8524 Sunset between La Cienega Boulevard and Alta Loma Road commemorates the location where the series’ offices supposedly were. Ironically, the 77 address didn’t exist as Sunset Boulevard has only four-digit street numbers. (The real-life Hollywood nightclub, owned by Dean Martin, served as the actual backdrop in the show.)įrom its jazzy, finger-snapping theme by Mack David and Jerry Livingston to the teen idol popularity of Byrnes’ character, 77 Sunset Strip captured the cultural zeitgeist of the era during its six-season run from 1958-64. played his partner, Stu Bailey.Īlso lending a hand in the adventures was Kookie ( Edd Byrnes), who parked cars next door at Dino’s Lodge. ![]() ![]() On 136 episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, Smith portrayed Jeff Spencer, one-half of a breezy detective pair who solved crimes and chased women while working out of their ultra-hip offices on the Sunset Strip. Smith, who went on to manage the career of Ann-Margret, his wife of 50 years, died Sunday at Sherman Oaks Hospital, a representative for the actress told The Hollywood Reporter. ![]() Roger Smith, the suave leading man of television who starred on the popular 1950s-’60s ABC private eye series 77 Sunset Strip before a neuromuscular disease ended his acting career in his 30s, has died.
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