Smith began acting on the London stage in 1895. His first major role was in The Prisoner of Zenda the following year, playing the dual lead roles of king and look-alike. Forty-one years later, he appeared in the most acclaimed film version of the novel, this time as the wise old adviser. When Raymond Massey asked him to help him understand the role of Black Michael, he answered “My dear Ray, in my time I have played every part in The Prisoner of Zenda except Princess Flavia. And I always had trouble with Black Michael!” He made his Broadway debut as early as 1895 in The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith. In 1907 he appeared with Marie Doro in The Morals of Marcus, a play Doro later made into a silent film. Smith later appeared in a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion in the starring role of Henry Higgins.

Smith was educated at Charterhouse School and St John’s College, Cambridge. He settled in South Africa to prospect for gold in 1888–89. While there he developed pneumonia and was wrongly pronounced dead by doctors. He married Isabella Wood in 1896.

Smith appeared in early films for the nascent British film industry, starring in The Bump in 1920 (written by A. A. Milne for the company Minerva Films, which was founded in 1920 by the actor Leslie Howard and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel). Smith later went to Hollywood where he had a successful career as a character actor playing either officer or gentleman roles. One such role in 1937 was as Colonel Williams in Wee Willie Winkie starring Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, Cesar Romero and June Lang. He was also regarded as being the unofficial leader of the British film industry colony in Hollywood, which Sheridan Morley characterised as the Hollywood Raj, a select group of British actors who were seen to be colonising the capital of the film business in the 1930s. Other film stars considered to be “members” of this select group were David Niven (whom Smith treated like a son), Ronald Colman, Rex Harrison, Robert Coote, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce (whose daughter’s wedding he had attended as best man), Leslie Howard (whom Smith had known since working with him on early films in London), and Patric Knowles.

In 1932, he founded the Hollywood Cricket Club and created a pitch with imported English grass. He attracted fellow expatriates such as David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Bruce (who served as captain), Leslie Howard and Boris Karloff to the club as well as local American players. Smith’s stereotypical Englishness spawned several amusing anecdotes: while fielding at slip for the Hollywood Club, he dropped a difficult catch and ordered his English butler to fetch his spectacles; they were brought on to the field on a silver platter. The next ball looped gently to slip, to present the kind of catch that “a child would take at midnight with no moon.” Smith dropped it and, snatching off his lenses, commented, “Damned fool brought my reading glasses.” Decades after his cricket career had ended, when he had long been a famous face in films, Smith was spotted in the pavilion on a visit to Lord’s. “That man over there seems familiar”, remarked one member to another. “Yes”, said the second, seemingly oblivious to his Hollywood fame, “Chap called Smith. Used to play for Sussex.”

In 1933, he was on the first board of the Screen Actors Guild.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1938 and was knighted by King George VI in 1944 for services to Anglo-American amity.

Smith expected his fellow countrymen to report for regular duty at his Hollywood Cricket Club. Anyone who refused was known to “incur his displeasure”. Fiercely patriotic, Smith became openly critical of the British actors of enlistment age who did not return to fight after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Smith loved playing on his status as Hollywood’s “Englishman in Residence”. His bushy eyebrows, beady eyes, handlebar moustache, and height of 6’2″ made him one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood.

Smith died from pneumonia at home in Beverly Hills on 20 December 1948, aged 85. He was survived by his wife and their daughter, Honor. His body was cremated and nine months later, in accordance with his instructions, the ashes were returned to England and interred in his mother’s grave at St Leonard’s churchyard in Hove, Sussex.