IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

‘You Asked for It’ host Jack Smith dies at 92

M.C., singer known as ‘The Man With the Smile in His Voice’ had leukemia
/ Source: The Associated Press

Jack Smith, a singer and recording artist who hosted the popular “You Asked for It” television show, has died. He was 92.

Smith died of leukemia July 3 at his home in Westlake Village, said Dorris Halsey, a longtime friend.

Smith began a singing career in the early 1930s and worked many years in radio, but is perhaps most remembered as host of the ABC series in its final season in 1958.

The show invited viewers to send in suggestions for unusual things that they wanted to see on the air, like people with uncommon talent or seeing the inside vault at Ft. Knox.

Smith returned as host of a syndicated version of “You Asked for It” in the 1971-72 season, and the show was produced sporadically until 1977.

He picked up the “Smiling” Jack Smith moniker after becoming a solo performer on “The Prudential Hour,” a popular musical show on CBS.

After many fans commented that Smith sounded as though he was smiling when he sang, host Deems Taylor to dub him “The Man With the Smile in His Voice.”

In 1945, Smith began a 15-minute, five-nights-a-week radio show on CBS. Regulars on “The Jack Smith Show,” which continued into the early ’50s, included Dinah Shore, Margaret Whiting and Ginny Simms. Smith’s radio work earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Smith’s wife of 67 years, Victoria, died in 2003. He had no immediate survivors. At Smith’s request, there will be no funeral service.