High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American schoolgirl and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous in the Cold War-era United States and Soviet Union. In 1982, Smith wrote a letter to the newly appointed CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov, and received a personal reply which included a personal invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which she accepted.