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Harold John "Hal" Smith (August 24, 1916 – January 28, 1994) was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts. He is also known to radio listeners as John Avery Whittaker on Adventures in Odyssey. Smith is often wrongly given credit for the writing of the movie It Came from Beneath the Sea, as well as ten other produced feature films. The true co-writer of those movies is Harold Jacob Smith, who wrote as "Hal Smith" until 1958. Smith was... MORE

Harold John "Hal" Smith (August 24, 1916 – January 28, 1994) was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts. He is also known to radio listeners as John Avery Whittaker on Adventures in Odyssey. Smith is often wrongly given credit for the writing of the movie It Came from Beneath the Sea, as well as ten other produced feature films. The true co-writer of those movies is Harold Jacob Smith, who wrote as "Hal Smith" until 1958. Smith was born in Petoskey, Michigan, but spent a significant part of his early years living in Massena, New York, graduating from the Massena High School class of 1936. His mother was a seamstress, and his father worked at the local Aluminum Company Of America factory. After graduation, Smith worked as a disc jockey and voice talent for WIBX Radio in Utica, New York from 1936-1943. After serving in the Special Services during World War II, he traveled to Hollywood and appeared in many television shows such as I Married Joan, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Red Skelton Show. Smith's most famous on LESS