Lloyd Strauss-Smith was born in Lichtenburg on 31 January 1921 into a musically-talented extended family, and was educated at Parktown Boys High in Johannesburg. He began his singing training at the age of fifteen with the British contralto Aimée Parkerson and made his professional debut as a tenor two years later. He served in the South African Medical Corps and saw service in North Africa, mainly in Egypt, during the Second World War. He gained his early experience during the war participating in the regular series Music for All. He sang both popular and serious music, ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan to the first performance of Handel’s Messiah in Cairo.

After demobilization in 1945 he became principal tenor in John Connell’s National Opera Company of South Africa, gaining wide-ranging experience. In 1947 he went to London to gain international experience, one of the first South African performers to do so, and soon made his name when he performed in Sir Thomas Beecham’s recording of Delius’ A Village Romeo and Juliet. He was based mainly in London for twenty years and took part in more than 80 operas, mostly produced for radio, and some 200 broadcasts of songs and oratorios.

During his career as a professional opera singer, Lloyd Strauss-Smith performed under conductors such as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Richard Pritchard, Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir David Wilcox, and composers such as Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gina-Carlo Menote and Nono Rota. He appeared with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as well as in the 1965 Glyndebourne Opera Festival.

During his time abroad, Lloyd Strauss-Smith returned to South Africa on several occasions to sing in operas for the performing arts councils. In 1967 he returned permanently to South Africa to take up a post of lecturer in singing at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music, where he taught until 1978. He also examined for Unisa. After his retirement from UCT, he continued to teach privately until his late eighties. He continued to give frequent public performances in oratorios, passions, and masses as well as Lieder recitals and broadcasts until he was almost eighty.

Lloyd Strauss-Smith passed away on 17 October 2011. In a tribute after his death a close friend, Dr Deon Knobel, said of him: “He was a wonderful teacher, friend and role-model to all of us and especially to his many singing students, who remember him as a kind and dedicated friend and teacher”.