Who is Treacherous Trudy Smith Based on? Is she Real?

The Harder They Fall: Is “Treacherous” Trudy Smith Real?

Is Trudy Smith a real person? Yes, Regina King’s character, Gertrude “Trudy” Smith in Netflix’s Western movie, The Harder They Fall was actually a pickpocket in real life. Even though Trudy is based on the Old West outlaw, the western mostly glorifies her presence in this setting as there is not a lot known about her life.

The Harder They Fall is a 2021 American Western film. It was directed by Jeymes Samuel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin. The Harder They Fall was stared by Jonathan Majors(Nat Love), Idris Elba(Rufus Buck), Zazie Beetz (Stagecoach Mary), Regina King(Trudy Smith), Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield (Cherokee Bill), RJ Cyler, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and Deon Cole.

It is one of few Westerns whose principal cast members are all Black. Its characters are loosely based on real cowboys, lawmen, and outlaws of the 19th-century American West.

Up for discussion today is Regina King’s character, Trudy Smith. The interesting character has gotten lots of people wondering if Trudy Smith is based on a real character or not.

After being abused as a child and killing a bully who made fun of her polio-ridden sister, Regina King’s character is a standout and one of the most memorable characters in the film. No wonder lots of people are looking to known more about her.

Rather than being the damsel-in-distress trope that many women in western films are, director Jeymes Samuel created Treacherous Trudy as someone who should not be trifled with. The Harder They Fall begins with the following message: “While the events of this story are fictional… These. People. Existed.” So, who exactly was Treacherous Trudy?

Is The Harder They Fall Based on a True Story?

The Harder They Fall is primarily about fictional events, but the majority, if not all, of the characters are based on real-life nineteenth-century cowboys. The director of the film, Samuel’s story is inspired by, but not based on, true events that occurred to these Black cowboys and outlaws.

Was Trudy Smith a real person?

Yes, Trudy Smith was actually a pickpocket in real life. There is little to no information available about the real woman behind Treacherous Trudy, whose real name was Gertrude Smith.

In an interview with Variety, Regina King Revealed- “There may be only one image, and there’s not a lot of history written on her.” In a separate interview with BBC, King added, “When I did my Google dive on Gertrude Smith, I tried spelling it lots of different ways, and there isn’t really anything that comes up.” I also tried to Google her and all that came up was The Harder They Fall, so, there’s that.

The director of the film, Samuel also told IndieWire in an interview, “With Treacherous Trudy Smith, little was known about her. But we know she came from Barbary Coast in San Francisco. Then she left, which meant she was well traveled.”

Who is treacherous Trudy Smith? Where is Trudy Smith from? According to IndieWire, Trudy was a pickpocket who carried out her crimes with a girl named Dolly Mickey until she was arrested. As Jeymes Samuel also explained, Trudy came from Barbary Coast in San Francisco. In fact, most of Treacherous Trudy, aside from her name, was fictionalized.

Because little is known about the real-life Trudy, Samuel and King bent her storyline much more in comparison to the other characters to spice things up a bit for the movie.

In an interview with Variety, King revealed, “So, here I have a space to really just play. I don’t have to be beholden to any certain image or story when it comes to her, and [Samuel] just encouraged me to do that,”.

One of the ways King played around with the Trudy Smith character was with her melded accent, which King “mixed up with a lot of different things, because she’s traveled [to] so many different places and she’s had to spend time with so many different types of people.” 

What Characters from The Harder They Fall are based on Real life people?

Aside Trudy Smith, other characters from the Film, The Harder They Fall. Major’s character, Nat Love, existed as a real cowboy in the Old West, however, he was never an outlaw nor part of a gang. Instead, he took part in cattle drives between the 1870s-80s, and his conflicts were primarily based on the cowboy’s confrontations with Indigenous tribes.

In real life Rufus Buck, played by Elba, had no real-life connection to Love, but he did lead the Rufus Buck gang between 1895 and 1896. Buck was only a teenager when he became leader, and he met his end in 1896, when a judge sentenced him and the rest of his gang members to death for robbing and killing several people.

Stagecoach Mary, played by Zazie Beetz, was the second woman to take on the role of star route carrier for USPS, earning her nickname from her frequent use of the stagecoach. Cherokee Bill, played by LaKeith Stanfield, was a real-life outlaw who belonged to the Cook gang rather than Rufus’ gang.