It must have been a whirlwind romance he has been described as “a large, untidy man possessed of a boundless energy and a constant desire for the company of others”. Olivia and Reggie met in real life July 1939, and they were married on August 18th 1939.
The best that can be said is that Reggie was certainly always ideally present when major events took place in several overseas places and this is mostly suggestive merely of a person able to give information about the flavour of events. “Was I rough trade or was I a gent slumming? I think that it went though his mind that I might make good spy material.”Īlthough it has been suggested that he was either a KGB spy or a double agent, the allegations have always been very vague and largely anecdotal. “I think I presented Anthony Blunt with a conundrum,” Smith wrote, in notes for an unwritten autobiography. MI5 later suspected Anthony Blunt of recruiting Reggie to spying when he visited Cambridge University in 1938. It is around this time that he appears to have joined the Communist Party. Reggie also founded the Birmingham University Socialist Society. He, McNeice, Walter Allen, and Henry Reed jointly put on a play at the university in March 1937. He was much influenced by the poet, and then a lecturer at the university, Louis McNeice. He also acted with the Municipal Players. Reggie and his brothers, Lester Roy and Raymond, were first educated in Lozells at Angelsey Street Infants and Westminster Road Juniors, before going on to King Edward’s, Aston.Īs a student at Birmingham University, Reggie was a rather controversial editor of the student magazine, The Mermaid, played cricket and rugby, and was a star actor and producer of many Dramatic Society shows and the annual Carnival Revue. His mother as well as bringing up three sons, scraping some money from cleaning. Throughout Reggie’s childhood his farther suffered from tuberculosis and was an invalid, dying around 1940. His father had been a tool-maker, working in the factory of William Mills. Reggie was born in 1914 at 84 Wills Street, Lozells, the son of William George and Annie May Smith. Reggie also took part in television programmes about the city. He returned many times to make radio programmes in Birmingham and about Birmingham. He spent his first and formative years in Birmingham and, throughout a long BBC career Reggie retained a love for his native city. ( pic: Reggie with Olivia in later years see below for their portayal as the semi-autobiographical Guy and Harriet by Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.)
He was a card-carrying Communist for twenty years. He was also married to the novelist, Olivia Manning. (Kathy) Thompson, Chattfield, MN Steve (Kim) Thompson, Harmony, MN Brian (Deana) Thompson, Park City, MT Donnie (Lisa) Thompson, Chattfield, MN along with many nieces and nephews.īill was preceded in death by his father: Stanley Smith.Reginald Donald Smith, always `Reggie’, was a BBC producer of such talent that he is frequently refered to as “legendary”.
Sister-in-law: Jackie Garnatz, Spring Valley, MN. Father and mother-in-law: Dale and Geraldine Thompson, Harmony, MN. Brothers: Fred Smith, Cresco, IA Robert Smith, Cresco, IA and Rick Smith, Cresco, IA. Sisters: Karen (Craig) Wedderspoon, Waukon, IA and Deb Priest, Cresco, IA. Visitation will be from 4:00 – 7:00pm on Thursday, Octoat the Schluter-Balik Funeral Home, 604 South Ave in Decorah and also after 10:00am on Friday morning at the church.īill is survived by his wife Kris. William “Bill” Smith, age 54 of Decorah, IA, passed away on Thursday, October 24, 2019, due to the results of an automobile accident outside of Decorah.įuneral services will be held at 11:00am on Friday, Novemat the Decorah Lutheran Church, 309 Winnebago Street in Decorah with Rev.
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