About Mel Smith
Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He worked on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. Smith and Jones founded Talkback, which grew to be one of the United Kingdom's largest producers of television comedy and light entertainment programming. == Early life == Smith's father, Kenneth, was born in Tow Law, County Durham, and worked at a coal mine during the Second World War looking after the pit ponies. After the war ended, he moved to London and married Smith's mother, whose parents owned a greengrocers in Chiswick. When the government legalised high street betting with the Betting and Gaming Act 1960, he turned the shop into the first betting shop in Chiswick. Smith was born and brought up in Chiswick. He was educated at Hogarth Primary School, Chiswick and passed his 11-Plus examinations. He was also a keen sportsman and played for two seasons in the Hogarth School football team. The first season he played under the captaincy of Gerry Francis, the future English international and England captain.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.