1/13: Ex-teen idol Rex Smith offers 'Confessions'

• Smith starred in the 1979 TV movie %22Sooner or Later%2C%22 which produced the million-selling single %22You Take My Breath Away.%22

No one can accuse Rex Smith of not being versatile.

In a colorfully diverse career, the entertainer has been a Broadway leading man, starring in "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Grand Hotel" and an acclaimed production of "The Pirates of Penzance." He reprised his role in the latter for the 1983 film. He was a soap star, with a successful stint on "As the World Turns" in the '90s. There was a hip-swiveling gig hosting the '80s music show "Solid Gold," in which he wore leather pants and sang with everyone from Mickey Gilley to Laura Branigan.

For a lot of people — specifically women who were adolescent girls in the late '70s — Smith forever will be a feathered-haired heartthrob who graced the covers of Tiger Beat and 16 magazines. He could sing, as evidenced by hits like "Everlasting Love" and the swooning "You Take My Breath Away," a million seller in 1979. But something even his music fans may not realize is that he started out fronting a hard-rock band called Rex that cut two albums and opened for the likes of Boston and Rush.

It has been a wild ride with lots of highs and lows, the kind of stuff that would make a juicy book. Smith started to write one, then his plans changed.

"I've been fortunate to wear so many different hats in my career," he says from his home in the Los Angeles area. "I was about two-thirds of the way through the book when this idea hit, and I came up with this musical autobiography instead. It's like 'Mark Twain Tonight' meets Tom Jones."

"Confessions of a Teen Idol" debuted last year, playing in New York and San Diego; it will return to Manhattan next month. It's a multimedia look at his career. A video screen displays the star in all his glory while Smith sings and shares gossipy stories about his life in the spotlight.

"It's taken me 40 years to live it, and then seven months to build the show," says Smith, 59. "This is from 30 years of Broadway and playing Madison Square Garden as a rock and roller. There are stories of all the wonderful people that I've worked with and known on this journey, from Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt. Essentially, you travel in 80 minutes from 1976 to the proud father and grandfather that I am today."

A complete entertainer

The show reminds audiences that Smith was more than someone who simply looked good grinning from a poster on a bedroom wall. "Smith is, and was, a wonderful singer with a boyishly sexy personality and a rich voice," opined writer Joel Benjamin of TheaterPizzazz.com.

Despite Smith's considerable success, there is a sense that he never quite earned the respect he deserved. His 1983 album "Camouflage" should have set FM radio on fire, but it was weighed down by his teen-dream image. His "Solid Gold" performances, easily available on YouTube, confirm the energy and excitement he brought to even the most mundane material. Smith says no less than Michael Jackson complimented him in a men's room about his cover of "Beat It."

"He is one of the most talented people around, and it's somewhat frustrating that not everyone recognizes that," says Brandon Smith, his oldest son. "There are so many aspects to his career. It's like his thirst and curiosity caused him to challenge himself and go into all these different areas. Maybe if he stayed in one, he might have had superstardom. Knowing him, though, that would have been the kiss of death, because he loves challenges."

The teen-idol specter, of course, looms largest over his career. Smith left his gig as a rock and roll frontman after NBC approached him to star in a 1979 movie of the week called "Sooner or Later." He played a 17-year-old budding singer who has a romance with a 13-year-old (Denise Miller) who passes herself off as 16. The movie introduced "You Take My Breath Away" to the world.

"I was being groomed to be a Van Halen, if you will, then 'Sooner or Later' happened," he says in a voice that retains a hint of a Georgia twang. "It played on a Sunday and the next day I was at Bloomingdale's to buy a shirt, and 20 minutes later I was locked in a dressing room with fans outside. In today's world of a thousand channels, that kind of overnight stardom doesn't happen anymore."

Up close and personal

"Confessions" also deals with Smith's private life. He has been married four times and has five children. Brandon was the result of an on-the-road affair. Smith didn't know about his son's existence until the young man approached him after a 1997 production of "Sunset Boulevard." Since then, the two have become extremely close, speaking twice a day. Brandon helped create and produce "Confessions." He also gave Smith his first grandchild, Buchanan.

"The greatest gift that has ever been bestowed upon a parent and son is that we know what we didn't have," Smith says. "Poignant doesn't even begin to describe the journey we share."

It's the same for Brandon, who grew up with a single mom and no father figure. He knew who Smith was, having watched him star in the ABC action series "Street Hawk."

"It's curious sometimes not to know who you really are, but we were able to teach each other about our lives," Brandon says. "It's manifested itself in so many wonderful and amazing ways in our lives."

For example, when Brandon got married six years ago, Smith sang the title track from his 1980 album "Forever" as the couple walked down the aisle.

"That was just an incredible feeling," Brandon says.

The two share an uncanny physical resemblance. Smith says they will be at gatherings and he'll glance at his son and recognize gestures and vocal inflections as his own.

"It's so nature vs. nurture," he says. "We're cookie-cutter alike in so many ways. What a gas it is to have a 34-year-old son."

Smith and his son dug through his garage to prepare for the show, looking for memorabilia and souvenirs to help piece together his past.

"I did 'Sunset Boulevard,' and I know I'm not Norma Desmond," Smith says. "I don't live for the applause. I don't live for the past. I outlived that crazy fame and I couldn't be happier, because all flame is fleeting. I just really think of this as the third act of my life."

He's also quick to add: This isn't a vanity trip.

"We all have a life story, and this is just mine," he says with a laugh. "It's not like I'm bragging about what I've done. Plus, as my father always said, 'It ain't bragging if it's true.' "

Reach the reporter at randy.cordova@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8849. Twitter.com/randy_cordova.

Rex Smith: 'Confessions of a Teen Idol'

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Where: Towerpoint Resort, 4860 E. Main St., Mesa.

Admission: $35-$55.

Details: 480-854-8180, cal-am.com.