Beloved film publicist Lois Smith dies at 84 - Boston Herald

Lois Smith of Newbury, a beloved and trailblazing film publicist and friend of this writer, died Sunday in Maine while on a trip with her husband, former New York Times [NYT] reporter Eugene Smith.

Over the course of her career, Smith represented such iconic figures as Marilyn Monroe, Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, Liza Minnelli, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Altman and Sean Penn.

Smith, who was 84, suffered a fall at a bed and breakfast and died later in a Maine hospital.

After attending the University of Southern California, Smith, a childhood theater buff, returned home to New York City, intending to pursue a career as a journalist, a male-dominated profession at that time.

Instead, Smith worked with, among others, Arthur P. Jacobs, whose client roster included Monroe. The star, who was then married to Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio, studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Smith's love of theater gave her an entree to such rising stars and "Method" devotees as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Dennis Hopper and Dustin Hoffman.

Eventually, Smith, along with Pat Kingsley of Rogers & Cowan, Gerry Johnson and Patricia Newcombe, founded Pickwick Public Relations in 1969. After a stint with the well-known NYC publicist Peggy Siegal, Smith returned to her previous company, which had meanwhile merged with Maslansky/Konigsberg and was known as PMK. Her partners in that A-list powerhouse were Kingsley, Neil Konigsberg and Leslee Dart, who now heads the publicity firm 42West.

"You don't have to be a dragon lady to be good at this," Dart said when asked what set Smith apart. Dart recalled visiting Smith in the hospital after the publicist had open heart surgery, only to find Streep already in the room, painting Smith's toenails.

Smith was a gifted Academy Awards strategist. Among the many Oscar winners she boosted were "All the President's Men" (1976), "Sophie's Choice" (1982) and "The Last Emperor" (1987).

Lois and Eugene Smith married and had four children. Their daughter Brooke Smith is an actress known for roles in "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Grey's Anatomy."

Known to mentor clients and journalists alike, this writer included, Smith received the Publicists Guild Lifetime Achievement award in 2003. In describing her in a press statement yesterday, Scorsese said, "Lois Smith was a legend. She was warm, wise, funny and generous. She was one of the sharpest people in the business. She was also my friend, and I was lucky to have known and worked with her."

Of her friend and colleague, Streep said yesterday in a release, "Lois Smith had a giant heart and a gorgeous spirit that paraded up and down the press line in her signature red coat. ... We all loved and depended on her, and she is the last of her line to have had unquestioned authority over the paparazzi. When she swept her arm, they scattered in amused deference and real respect."

Smith was on the Advisory Committee of the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline and brought such luminaries as Streep and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker there for events.

After retiring and moving to Plum Island in 2000, Smith liked to visit New York City to go to the theater with such friends as pioneering film critic Judith Crist, who died in August.

In addition to her husband, Gene, Smith is survived by Brooke and sons Eric and Luke. A third son, Scott, died in 1985.

Signing off one of our many phone conversations, during which I sought strength, guidance and a laugh from her, Lois said, "Onward and upward."

Upward, dear friend.