Born in Japan, Cliff Smith's father was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and his mother came to be one of the top breeders of Shetland Sheep dogs in the USA. He grew up in the rural southern states of Georgia and Virginia. While graduating college from Georgia State University in 1985 in Atlanta, Cliff had already embarked on a successful career as a radio personality at the legendary radio station, WQXI. While advancing quickly at Quixie in Dixie, Cliff became a top voiceover talent, too. He voiced and produced hundreds of commercials, and spent a season as the PA announcer for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. From there, Cliff moved on to work in Boston, Philadelphia, and Phoenix as one of the pioneers of the Smooth Jazz radio format. He hosted morning and afternoon radio shows in all those places and became one of the top rated radio hosts in Phoenix before leaving the radio business in 2006. Cliff propelled his acting career forward with huge, leading roles in plays written by Mel Weiser. Mel was the dialogue coach for Nick Nolte while Nick was filming Jefferson in Paris. Mel even wrote a book about the experience that won him a Drama Desk Award. Mel has worked as Cliff's mentor and acting coach since 2009 when Cliff starred as Harvey Pearlman in Cry, Tiger! on stage at Phoenix Little Theatre. Later, Cliff starred in Mel's brilliant story about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, A Tiny Piece of Land. This show played to rave reviews at Pico Playhouse in Los Angeles and at Phoenix Little Theatre. It was set for Off Broadway, but the economy fell out. Cliff moved to Hollywood in 2013 where he quickly gained representation as an actor and voiceover artist. In a short time he has booked several films, tv shows, commercials and voiceovers. When not performing, Cliff runs his online health food store and is often found on the trails around Los Angeles riding his mountain bike.