B. Smith

B. Smith
Born Barbara Elaine Smith
(1949-08-24) August 24, 1949
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Education John Robert Powers Modeling School
Spouse(s) Donald Anderson (1986-1992)
Dan Gasby (1992-present)
Website www.bsmith.com

Culinary career

Cooking style Global eclectic with Southern influences

Barbara Elaine Smith[1] (born August 24, 1949), known as B. Smith, is an American restaurateur, model, author, and television host.[2][3]

Early life and education

Smith was raised in Scottdale, Pennsylvania and attended Southmoreland High School.[4] Her mother Florence was a maid and her father William a steelworker.[5][6]

Career

Model

Smith was the first black model to be on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine in the 1970s.[7]

Restaurateur

Smith owns multiple restaurants, called B. Smith; the first opened in 1986, on Restaurant Row (Manhattan) and in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York. She also owned a restaurant in the historic Beaux-Arts Union Station in Washington, D.C.; in September 2013, it was reported that restaurant would close.[8]

Retailer

Smith’s interest in décor and restaurant design led to the development of her first home collection, which debuted at Bed Bath & Beyond in Spring 2001.[9] She also launched a line of serveware in 2004. In Spring 2007, Smith debuted her first furniture collection with the La-Z-Boy company Clayton Marcus.

Stage acting

Smith accepted a role in the Off Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore for an April 27 through May 29, 2011 run with Conchata Ferrell, AnnaLynne McCord, Anne Meara, and Minka Kelly.[10]

Television

Smith made two appearances on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - once as a model for Queen Sara's wedding dress and once giving a tour of her restaurant, B. Smith, and making raspberry custard with Fred Rogers and her head chef Henry. During the episode, she handed out a lot of anniversary napkins - in signature orange - and taught kids about the importance of washing hands and excitement of using huge bowls and mixers. She has said her dream was to feed people, which began at an early age when she fed her dolls. Her half-hour television show, B. Smith With Style, aired on weekdays on BTN and Bounce TV, featuring home decor and cooking segments.

Author

B. Smith has authored three books concentrating on recipes and presentation: B. Smith's Entertaining and Cooking for Friends (1995), followed by B. Smith's Rituals and Celebrations, and then B. Smith Cooks Southern Style.

Personal life

Smith has been married twice. Her first marriage was to former HBO executive Donald Anderson.[11]

Smith married her current husband, her business partner Clarence "Dan" Gasby, in 1992 at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Manhattan. He was the executive producer of the Essence Awards and the senior vice president of marketing at Camelot Entertainment Sales Inc.[12][13][14] Smith has no children but is stepmother to Gasby's daughter Dana.[15]

Smith lives in Sag Harbor, New York.[16] She previously lived on Central Park South and had a second apartment she used as an office.[17][18]

In June 2014, Smith revealed that she had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, stating that she came out with the information to counter the stigma associated with the disease.[19]

In November 2014, Smith's husband Dan Gasby reported her missing from Southampton, New York.[20] She was reportedly found the next day in New York City near one of her former residences.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Barbara Smith and Dan Gasby". The New York Times. December 27, 1992. Retrieved November 26, 2014. Barbara Elaine Smith, the owner of B. Smith's Restaurant in New York, was married on Wednesday to Clarence Alvin Daniel Gasby, the senior vice president of marketing at Camelot Entertainment Sales, Inc., a syndicator of television programs in New York.
  2. ↑ Reed, Julia (22 August 1999). "Can B. Smith Be Martha?". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  3. ↑ Penrice, Ronda Racha (2007). African American History for Dummies. For Dummies. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7645-5469-8. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  4. ↑ Rebecca Sodergren (February 4, 2010). "B. Smith's career takes another turn -- cookbook author". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 26, 2014. Growing up in Scottdale, Westmoreland County, B. Smith was denied membership in the Future Homemakers of America.
  5. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Barbara Smith and Dan Gasby". The New York Times. December 27, 1992. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  6. ↑ Julia Reed (November 5, 1999). "All She Can B.". The New York Times via Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved November 26, 2014. Like Smith's, his mother was a maid, but his father was a bookie.
  7. ↑ Farai Chideya (January 2, 2007). "B. Smith Becomes Face of Betty Crocker Cornbread". NPR. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  8. ↑ Jonathan O'Connell (September 13, 2013). "B. Smith’s restaurant in Union Station to close after almost 20 years in business". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ Ogunnaike, Lola (June 15, 2011). "B. Smith, a Renaissance Woman, Returns to the Stage: Up Close". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Gans, Andrew (2011-04-14). "Minka Kelly, Susan Sullivan Set for Love, Loss... Off-Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  11. ↑ Jeannine Stein (February 3, 2000). "Poised for Everything". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  12. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Barbara Smith and Dan Gasby". The New York Times. December 27, 1992. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ "About Thank You Dan". BSmith.com. Retrieved November 26, 2014. In 1985, Gasby joined Camelot Advertising Sales, a division of King World Entertainment, as an Account Executive in the National Barter Syndication division, where he sold Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and the Oprah Winfrey Show, the three most successful shows in the history of TV syndication.
  14. ↑ Jeannine Stein (February 3, 2000). "Poised for Everything". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 26, 2014. His background in television production and ad sales and marketing for TV companies King World and Petry Inc. made it easy for him to segue to becoming publisher of B. Smith Style magazine (he sold 60 pages of ads in the premier issue); partner in her three B. Smith's restaurants in Manhattan, Washington, D.C., and Sag Harbor in New York's tony Hamptons; and creator of the show.
  15. ↑ William L. Hamilton (April 22, 2004). "AT HOME WITH: B. SMITH; A Move Up (Martha Who?)". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ Julia Reed (November 5, 1999). "All She Can B.". The New York Times via Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved November 26, 2014. Now at 50, she has a big Manhattan apartment near her Times Square restaurant and a house in an exclusive black section of Sag Harbor, where she lives with Gasby and his 13-year-old daughter, Dana. She and Gasby are cut from the same cloth.
  17. ↑ Harris, Elizabeth (April 11, 2010). "B. Smith Closes a Chapter". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ Chris Pomorski (April 8, 2014). "Bed, Bath and Way Beyond: Décor Maven Drops Central Park Co-op for $5.6 M.". The New York Observer. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  19. ↑ Ann Oldenburg (June 6, 2014). "B. Smith reveals she has Alzheimer's". USA Today. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Former model and restaurateur B. Smith missing". MyFoxNY. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  21. ↑ Maria Puente (November 26, 2014). "Missing restaurateur B. Smith reported found in NYC". USA Today. Retrieved November 26, 2014.

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See also

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