ĭuring the Korean War he was a Russian Intercept Interrogator and flew secret ferret missions over Russia. Smith is fluent in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, French and German. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. studies for a MGM contract and stunt doubling for the former Tarzan Lex Barker in the 1958 French film The Strange Awakening. He taught Russian at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University and a Master's degree in Russian Studies from UCLA. He also played semi-pro football in Germany and competed in motocross and downhill skiing events. Smith held a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer and studied martial arts with kenpo instructor Ed Parker for several years. Smith is a record holder for reverse-curling his own bodyweight. He won the 200 pound (91 kg) arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times and also won the United States Air Force weightlifting championship. Smith served in the United States Air Force. Smith is a lifelong bodybuilder and has the distinction of being the final Marlboro Man before cigarette advertising was discontinued on television.

Born in Columbia, Missouri, Smith began his acting career at the age of eight in 1942 he entered films as a child actor in such films as The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Song of Bernadette and Meet Me in St.

Physique william smith actor