Robert Smith, Longtime Executive at New York’s DuArt Film Labs, Dies at 88

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Robert Smith, a longtime executive with New York’s DuArt Film Labs, died Jan. 11 in Montvale, N.J. He was 88.

Smith spent some 62 years with DuArt, the film processing and post-production facility founded in 1922 in the penthouse of an automobile garage in Midtown. Smith rose to president of DuArt before retiring in 2015.

Smith was named head of operations at DuArt in the mid-1950s, a time when the company was developing innovative approaches to processing color film and for handling quick-turnaround jobs to meet the growing demands of television news.

Born in Albany, N.Y., Smith served in the Air Force after high school. In addition to his work at DuArt, Smith was a longtime member of the town council of Montvale and also served as its fire commissioner.

Smith is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Edna, as well as a brother, a daughter and a grandson.

A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. on Jan. 17 at Pascack Reformed Church in Park Ridge, N.J. The family requests that donations be made in Smith’s name to the Long Island-based EJ Autism Foundation.