John Horace Smith, known as Jack, was born on 19 August 1906 in Walton-on-Thames and christened there on 14 October 1906. His parents were Ernest George Smith (1875-1942) and Emily Wilson (1872-1943).
Jack often argued with his strict mother and after a heated argument she threw him out when he was sixteen. He then joined the circus, and later became a distinguished lion tamer in Scotland. He had a son who became a lion tamer in France. Jack was also a dancer, and travelled to England to visit family. He died sometime after the 1960s, probably in Scotland.