Photographs and a scrapbook documenting the personal life and career of Justin Smith, 1932-1985. Smith was an actor, acting coach, and prominent figure in the gay rights movement in Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

Justin Smith was born on June 15, 1921, in Syracuse, New York. Affected by anti-Semitism growing up, Smith worked to bring Jewish and Christian groups together at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a bachelor of science in economics. In 1943, he joined the Navy's officer training program and the following year became the youngest commanding officer in the Pacific Fleet. In 1948, he got a part in a theater production in New York and gave up a career in economics for one in acting. In Los Angeles, Smith appeared in television and movies, then opened his own acting studio, Justin Smith Studio, in West Hollywood in 1967.

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