As a result of trying to reduce weight, she died of eating disorders when she was only 30, a month after she had performed to full houses at Folketeatret in William Saroyan's Livet er jo dejligt.
[4] When she was 17 she moved to Copenhagen where she received basic training in ballet and in acting under Viggo Friederichsen (1875–1940) but she was above all naturally talented as an actress.
[2] When she was 19 she made a sensational debut in August 1934 at Copenhagen's Det Ny Teater in the Viennese comedy Den lille Butik together with Erling Schroeder and Ib Schønberg.
[6][5] In 1943–44, she appeared for a year and a half at the Riddersalen Theatre as Kitty in Soroyan's Livet er jo dejligt but as her health deteriorated many performances had to be cancelled.
[1] Aged 29, Lis Smed died in the early hours of 24 November 1944 in Frederiksberg Hospital, only a month after she had last appeared on stage.