Howard Smith (1936–2014) was an American journalist, film director, and radio host, known for documenting the American counterculture. His career is primarily linked to the celebrated "Scenes" column he wrote for decades in the weekly *The Village Voice*, becoming a key reference for chronicling the artistic and social life of New York. Concurrently, he hosted a popular radio show on the WPLJ station. In the field of cinema, his fame is mainly tied to directing the documentary *Marjoe* (1972), an investigation into the world of Pentecostal evangelists that earned him the highest recognition. For this work, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1973, an honor he shared with co-director Sarah Kernochan. Another of his notable works is the compilation film *Gizmo!* (1977), a collection of footage about eccentric inventors. His multifaceted career made him an important chronicler of 20th-century American culture.