Bruce Edwards

Working under the stage name Bruce Edwards, Edward Lester Smith was a supporting player in Hollywood films and serials, and later a photographer. He was born in Los Angeles in 1911, and his education took him through Los Angeles High School and Menlo College. His first screen appearance, uncredited, came in Flight Command (1940). After further uncredited work he played the male lead in Small Town Deb (1942), opposite Jane Withers. Supporting parts followed, with a notable exception: he starred as Stephen Colt in the Republic Pictures serial The Black Widow (1947). He played Professor Paul Williams, the villain, in Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc (1948), appearing in its first six chapters. Late in his career came low-budget westerns, and he retired from Hollywood in 1953, though he returned for occasional guest spots in film and television. He then worked as a photographer in Newport Beach, contributing covers and articles to the Los Angeles Times Home magazine.