OBITUARY: Former General Motors Chairman and CEO Roger Smith Dies at 82

Roger Smith, who led General Motors Corp. in the 1980s and was the subject of Michael Moore's searing documentary "Roger & Me," has died, the automaker said Friday. He was 82. Smith died Thursday in the Detroit area after an unspecified brief illness, GM said. He had become chairman and chief executive on Jan. 1, 1981, and led the world's largest automaker until his retirement on July 31, 1990. Earlier he was executive vice-president and a member of the board of directors beginning in 1974.

From Canadian Press

DETROIT – Roger Smith, who led General Motors Corp. in the 1980s and was the subject of Michael Moore’s searing documentary "Roger & Me," has died, the automaker said Friday. He was 82.

Smith died Thursday in the Detroit area after an unspecified brief illness, GM said.

He had become chairman and chief executive on Jan. 1, 1981, and led the world’s largest automaker until his retirement on July 31, 1990. Earlier he was executive vice-president and a member of the board of directors beginning in 1974.

During Smith’s tenure as chief executive, Detroit-based GM introduced its first front-wheel-drive midsize car, formed a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. to manufacture cars in California, created the Saturn brand and acquired Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Aircraft Corp.

"Roger Smith led GM during a period of tremendous innovation in the industry," current chairman-CEO Rick Wagoner said in a statement. "He was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change, and learn to make it work for us."

Moore, the Oscar-winning documentary maker, became famous with "Roger & Me," which explored how GM’s plant closings and layoffs affected his hometown of Flint, MI.

The 1989 film chronicles Moore’s fruitless attempts to interview Smith, although magazine articles and documentaries have since alleged that Smith granted interviews to Moore prior to the film’s release.

Moore has acknowledged a five-minute interview at a 1987 shareholders’ meeting, but said this was before he started working on the movie.

Smith often faced questions about the documentary, in which one woman said she had to start raising and killing rabbits after GM cuts resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs in the city of 150,000.

"I haven’t seen it," Smith said shortly after the film was released.

"I’m not much for sick humor, and I don’t like things that take advantage of poor people."

Smith was born in Columbus, OH, in 1925 and served in the navy from 1944 to 1946. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1947 from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in business from the school in 1953.

His career at GM began in 1949 as an accounting clerk. He became treasurer in 1970 and a vice-president in 1971.

He led the company as imports began to expand its North American market share and as GM grew its global business and dealt with tightening U.S. environmental and safety standards.