In addition, I have gained a life, which, as I learned, I didn't have much of while I was busy being a fan. This is good, because it gives me a much wider perspective on the world and the world of theatre. But it is sad in a way, because I know I will never get back that genuine awe I felt while sitting in the front row. When you see it from the inside, you begin to appreciate the work, but the magic takes a different form.
I no longer have the time to update the page, and I'm surprised it's still up here. However, I still believe Ms. Smith-Cameron-Lonergan deserves exposure and this will be here to provide a bit of it.
The fact remains, that while I was involved in researching her career, I've learned a lot about other professionals in the field as well as the field itself. In addition, I have gathered a lot of valuable information from all sorts of indirect sources. So this is a place to learn about the subject for all those interested for whatever reason. Anyway, if you do, thanks for loving the theatre...
The rest of this page was written prior to 2001, I believe, during my enthusiastic years.
"...Smith-Cameron has been a staple of Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre for over a decade, but reached a career landmark last year with her mercurial portrayal of the conniving Alexa Vere de Vere." (for the full article click here)
There have been numerous praises addressed to J., calling her performance, "a treat", "a real tour de force"... Although J. has had a few nice roles in the past (as I have later learned from extensive research on her career), this was obviously the biggest and best, and who knows if the play would have been such a hit and stayed Off-Broadway for nearly a year if it were not for her.
Here are a few exerpts from this films reviews:
" The third important cast member is a young actress named J. Smith, who plays the waif Trax takes up with for a while and then, when he tires of her, more or less abandons her with Mattie. This girl, Elly, never says very much but she doesn't have to. She possesses the biggest, most expressive eyes you may have seen all year." -- NY TIMES, April 16, 1981.
"A young actress billed only as J. Smith projects considerable deadpan charm as the wayward helpless Elly, whose fate gives the story an extra humorous kick." -- Gary Arnold, The Washington Post, April 22, 1981.
A pretty good start, don't you think?
"Gal Young Un" is my favorite film, but other highlights of J.'s film career (in my opinion) include "84 Charing Cross Road" where she plays a young mother; "The Proprietor", where she plays the loud Texan buyer alongside the almost mute James Naughton; "Jeffrey" as Sharon, the sexual compulsive; and the latest, "The Rage: Carrie 2" where J. plays... a psychopath, to put it mildly.
I have heard rumors of putting "As Bees In Honey Drown" on the screen with J. as Alexa Vere de Vere, but it sounds almost too good to be true...
Kat