specialist Peter H. Smith. Smith has labeled her family "upper crust and reserved". As a child, Smith was often teased because of her unusual voice. Smith has stated: "I've sounded pretty much the same way since I was six. Maybe [my voice is] a little deeper now." She made her acting debut in a sixth-grade play. Career Early career Smith became a professional actress in 1982 after graduating from drama school. After appearances in a number of school plays, she joined the local Arena Stage theater group on an apprenticeship, featuring in their production of Peter Pan. She went on to star in several other plays in Washington. She moved to New York City in 1984 and appeared in the Broadway production of Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing alongside Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close. Smith's first film role came in Heaven Help Us (1985). She then played Putter in The Legend of Billie Jean (also 1985). The film was a box office bomb and critically panned, although Smith "thought it would be the movie that launched my career. And then it was out at the box office about 10 days before it died." When filming was over, she rejoined The Real Thing before being out of work for six months. Smith worried her career was over. However, the following year, she played Connie in Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive (1986), noting it was "truly a dreadful film, but I had a great part in it." Smith moved to Los Angeles in 1986 on the "semi-promise" of a part in a TV film. After the audition, the role was given to another actress. Smith realized "that people don't mean what they say. It's not malicious. They just don't realize how much impact they have on an impressionable actor – and all actors are impressionable." From then on, she decided to "just sort of build a wall around myself", to cope with the disappointment of not getting a part. In Los Angeles, Smith appeared in theatrical productions of Living on Salvation Street, for which she was paid $14 for each performance, Boys and Girls/Men and Women, and How the Other Half Loves, and played the recurring role of Louella Waters on the Showtime series Brothers. She appeared in the films The Legend of Billie Jean and Ginger Ale Afternoon (1989) as "trailer-park girls". She later spoke of her regrets of appearing in