Riley Smith

Smith's parents are Russ and Roxanne Smith. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and raised in Marion, Iowa on his parents’ horse ranch. He became an accomplished rider, competing in a horse show for the first time when he was 9 years old. When he was 15, he placed 4th in 3-Year-Old Mares division at the American Quarter Horse Youth World Championship, and at 16 won the American Quarter Horse Youth World Championship. When he was 17, he became president of the 50,000-member youth association, becoming the youngest person to serve as president of American Quarter Horse Youth Association.

In 2014 Smith played the role of Keith in the HBO series True Blood. In 2015, he played Markus Keen in the ABC musical drama series Nashville. In 2016, he stars as Frank Sullivan in the new CW drama series Frequency.

In 2008 Smith joined in collaboration with The Academy of Cinema and Television to create an online educational series for children and teens interested in the entertainment industry, and in 2009 he appeared in an episode of Ghost Whisperer, a paranormal television series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. He appeared in seven episodes of the fifth season of 90210 as Riley Wallace, in 2012–2013.

Smith took up the guitar to fill downtime while on film sets, and in 2006, he and Henri O'Connor formed the band "The Life of Riley", of which he is guitarist and lead singer. His original idea was to write music that could be used in his films, but when he and his bandmates had written 16 songs, they picked 11 and cut an album. As of August 2010, the Los Angeles-based group has released three CDs: The Life of Riley (2007), Long Way Home EP (2009) and Live in Hollywood at the Hotel Cafe (2010). They have also performed at such music festivals as the New Bohemia Music Festival.

In Radio, Smith had the role of Johnny Clay, team star and ringleader of the group pulling nasty pranks on Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character of Radio. For their work in the film, key production members were awarded a 2005 CAMIE Award; These included executive producer Todd Garner, director Michael Tollin, screenwriter Mike Rich, and actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Riley Smith, Alfre Woodard, Brent Sexton, S. Epatha Merkerson and Sarah Drew.

Three months after the Hilfiger campaign, Smith flew to Los Angeles to do a screen test for The WB's 1998 pilot Minor Threat, but the pilot was not picked up. Subsequently, he went on to do eight prime time network pilots, and more than a dozen guest-starring roles, and played recurring character roles in three television series.

He graduated from Alburnett Junior-Senior High School in 1997, and his original intention was to earn a college degree to complement his Equine interests, but he was "discovered" at the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids by a local talent scout and flew to New York City to compete at the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. He was signed to a Tommy Hilfiger modeling campaign. He used the money he earned to pay for acting classes.

Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series 24, Joan of Arcadia, 90210, True Blood and The Messengers, and starring roles on the television series Drive and Frequency.