Phyllis Smith is an actress who began her career as a dancer then broke into Hollywood at an age in which many had already attained veteran status in the industry. How did she make it into the large screen that late? And what else has she been up to in her personal life and elsewhere? We did some research and here is what we have.
How old is Phyllis Smith?
Phyllis Smith was born Phyllis Smith in August 1949 in Lemay, a neighborhood in St. Louis County, Missouri. We have no information as regards her parents but we know that she is from a big family. Her parents birthed nine children and she is number two.
Phyllis Smith is 72 years old. We gave this age with a small doubt as Phyllis herself has commented about our source IMDb “not the most accurate” because her age and place of birth given by them are incorrect. She might be serious, she might be saying this tongue-in-cheek, but she didn’t give her alternative fact so it is safe to continue to believe the version of the facts most accepted.
Career
Phyllis Smith grew up wanting to become a professional dancer and dancing. According to her, “In my heart, my first desire was to be a dancer. I always wanted to dance and I danced from the time I was 7 till I was well into my 30s.” And she did work as a dancer after her university education at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
She was also a cheerleader for the St. Louis Cardinals and did her burlesque performance which means that she was involved in plays that caricatures more serious plays.
Matt Frewer facts
Phyllis Smith might have danced for the rest of her life if not for the knee injury she suffered which put a giant period on the career path. She tried her hands as a telemarketer but didn’t last a full day. Then she moved to Hollywood where she began working as an extra in films including in the comedy sports drama “Caddyshack” directed by a certain Harold Ramis in 1980.
Ms. Smith would not make her acting debut until 1993 when she was approaching her mid-forties. She made appearances in the film “Once Upon a Forest” but her scenes were uncredited and deleted. In fact, she didn’t have a credited role until 2005, well into her fifties.
Phyllis played the role of Phyllis Vance in the NBC sitcom “The Office” which was adapted from the British show of the same title – her character has no equivalence in the British version as the role was specifically created for her by the producers and is the fusion of many office workers from the British version.
The office was on the air from 2005 to 2013 for nine seasons of 201 episodes. Smith was in a part of 188 episodes of the show. Between 2016 and 2019, she was in the mystery drama on Netflix “The AO” in seasons one and two. Add those three episodes she featured in in “Trophy Wife” the ABC show from 2013.
She has a smaller influence on films. Some of her movies include “Bad Teacher” in which she played a supporting role. Her most recognizable role in films is as the voice of Sadness in the 3D comedy film by Disney Pictures. Her vocal performance was so well-received that she won a voice acting award.
in 2021, Lionsgate released “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” a comedic film directed by Josh Greenbaum and starring Jamie Dorna and Damon Wayans Jr.
Is Phyllis Smith married?
Phyllis Smith is not married. And we do not know of any boyfriend, not today, not at any time in the past. She is that kind of a celebrity who has always been seen as a single person so much that it is almost odd to envision her as a married person. But we saw her in a wedding gown once and it suited her.
In the third season of “The Office”, the character she played Phillis got married to Bob Vance played Bobby Ray Shafer. The wedding picture between the two is so cute it almost felt real, so much that whenever you asked Google about her marriage, this fictional marriage pops up.
See also Yvette Nicole Brown
In reality, however, Smith has never married. And no, she is not homosexual. And no, we are not going to give this lazy fan theory more than is necessary. One sentence is enough.
Net worth
Phillis Smith began acting when she was past her middle age. To say she began acting late is a gross understatement because, at that age, there are countless actors who have reached their peak, past it, and retired. But it is better late than never – and we don’t mean this in the aspect of her acting credits, we say this in the aspect of money, she made quite a little loot.
She is worth seven million dollars. With just fewer than 20 credits, nearly a dozen of them uncredited, Phillis Smith is the archetypical example of where acting credits don’t translate to a fat bank balance.
Image source: IMDb
