Robert O. Smith was born in 1942. He had a career in radio, where he was a DJ at such stations as KJR in Seattle, KMBY in Monterey, and KTAC in Tacoma. In the 1960s, Smith recorded and released a novelty record titled, "Walter Wart the Freaky Frog."

Smith went on to provide voices for the English dub versions of several anime properties. His roles include: Major Domo in Dragon Ball Movie 1: Curse of the Blood Rubies; Dragon Ball Z (as a Guru in the episode, "Dende's Inferno"); Kaijinbo in Inuyasha; Riden in Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf; Big Bear and Cheng Sinzan in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture; Ran's grandfather and the narrator in Green Legend Ran; Tsuchiya in Hikaru no Go; Editor in Human Crossing; Dr. Watson in The Humanoid; Sgt. Masao Goto in Kishin Corps; Mr. Ichinose, Kyoko's father, and Akemi's boss in Maison Ikkoku; Gravity Man in Megaman NT Warrior; D in Project A-ko; Genma in Ranma 1/2; Murata, Tokai's man, and Escort service rep in Sanctuary; Politician A in Tetsujin 28th; and Burei Karima in Ultimate Teacher.

Smith also had roles in some American animated productions. Those roles include: Sparkles in Pocket Dragon Adventures, Alfred Hamhock in Madeline, Bernie in The Adventures of T. Rex, Nelson Oilar in Robin and the Dreamweavers, Grunt in G.I. Joe, Big Horn in Cyboars, Buddy Diddley and The Wraith in Stone Protectors, and Manx and Sanctifur in Billy the Cat. He also provided voices for The Hulk and Monster Mash> video games.

Smith also did voice-over work for commercials during his career. His voice can be heard on commercials for the Miami Dade County School System, Pizza 73, Hyundai Gallery of Alberta, the Government of Alberta, Mysask.com, Gimbel Eye Centre, Evanston's Symons Corners Alberta, Money Mart, Westminster Credit Union, Dupont Steadfast, London Drugs, Toyota Dealers of B.C., Mac's Convenience Stores, Province Newspaper, Subway, B.C. Lotteries, Farm Credit Canada, Interior Savings, Richmond Auto Mall, Ricky's All Day Grill, Kootenay Savings, Burlington Athletic Club, IKEA, and Boston Pizza.

Smith was an animation enthusiast, who created and voiced his own comedic short animations under the name Thorndike Pickledish. In addition to animation, Smith also was a wrestling and power-lifting enthusiast.

Sadly, Robert O. Smith passed away on May 30, 2010 at the age of 67 from pancreatic and liver cancer. He is survived by his children, Justine Wintersmith and Zach Monroe.