John Smith (born Robert Errol Van Orden, March 6, 1931 – January 25, 1995) was an American actor primarily appearing in westerns and was considered the ideal cowboy.

A descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor of New Netherland in the 17th century, Smith was born in Los Angeles, California, to Errol and Margaret Van Orden.

That same year, he played the part of Willie McGill or the "Colfax Kid" in the episode "Paper Gunman" of NBC's anthology series Frontier, hosted and narrated by Walter Coy.

That same year, he was the lead guest in "The Story of Lucky Swanson" on CBS's fantasy drama, The Millionaire, and as a character called "Utah" on Father Knows Best, the Robert Young situation comedy.

He was further cast in 1956 as Steve Maguire in the episode "The Singing Preacher", with Dick Foran in the lead role, on the religion anthology series, Crossroads.

He was cast as The Comanche Kid in "Gallows at Granite Gap" (November 8, 1957), with Virginia Gregg as Martha Naylor and Stuart Randall, later a recurring character with Smith on Laramie, as Sheriff Mort Cory.

[7] In 1958, Smith appeared in the episode "The Irwin Brown Story" of the United States Navy television drama Men of Annapolis.

The episodes rotated among Smith and two other stars, George Montgomery as Mayor Matt Rockford and Audrey Totter as Beth Purcell, the owner of the Cimarron City boarding house.

In 1958, he played the part of Smitty in "Letter of the Weak" in the detective series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, starring Darren McGavin.

In 1967, Smith was cast as Ed Dow in three episodes of ABC's short-lived Hondo western series, starring Ralph Taeger.