HE’S LEADING THE GOOD LIFE . . . S I N G I N : Between Modeling, Acting and Beach Volleyball, Smith Couldn’t Have It Much Better Than This

What’s that, Mr. Casting Director? You say you want mid-20s Californian? Blue eyes and a smile that will make the girls sigh?

Have we got a guy for you. Let’s talk St. John Smith. Let’s talk classic California good looks . . . kind of a young Redford with a perpetual tan and a little more ripple in his biceps. Experience? Well, he’s big in print. They just can’t get enough of him. He’s done magazine layouts and has worked both coasts on the department store circuit. TV’s on to him, too. Maybe you caught him on “Magnum P.I.”

Anyway, he’s the fresh, young face you’re looking for. Let’s get your people together with St. John’s people. Let’s talk deal.

Modeling, acting, jetting from one shoot to the next--it’s all part of the Good Life, which Christopher St. John Smith (his given name) awakens to every day. It includes money, travel, glamour and plenty of attention from the opposite sex, and Smith is enjoying it to the hilt. “It’s better than it’s ever been right now,” he said. “And I’m loving it in a big way.”

About the only thing preventing Smith from becoming a sort of male answer to Christie Brinkley is this little job he has going on weekends. He plays volleyball at the beach. Quite well, in fact. Too well, if you ask his agent.

Said Patsy Beattie of the Nina Blanchard Agency in Los Angeles, which represents Smith: “If he wasn’t in the bloody volleyball, God knows we’d use him a lot more. But he’s gone every flippin’ weekend.”

Those weekends have proven profitable. Smith--who goes by Singin, the old English pronunciation of St. John--is the winningest active player and all-time leading money winner on the Pro Beach Volleyball tour. He and partner Randy Stoklos have won four of five tournaments on the tour this season and are--along with Tim Hovland and Mike Dodd--the favorites in the Laguna Beach Open, which begins today at Main Beach.

Smith admits there is plenty of money to be made in modeling and acting but says he’s not ready to give up his summer job.

“I wouldn’t trade what I’m doing for anything,” Smith said during a recent interview at Santa Monica Beach. “I mean, look at this. It’s too good. My work is coming down to the beach and exercising in the sun, jumping into the ocean between games and talking to beautiful people.”

The money’s not bad, either. Smith won more than $22,000 in prize money last summer. He estimates that he can earn as much as $50,000 this season, on top of $20,000 in sponsorship money.

Nice work, if you can get it. Nice enough, Smith figures, to keep at it for a while, even if it means conducting a career juggling act. In the summer months, Smith goes out on auditions and modeling assignments during the week, then heads for the sun and sand of another beach tournament over the weekend.

The modeling career, Smith said, began “by accident.” His brother, Andrew, was discovered on the beach by a photographer for Gentleman’s Quarterly. The photographer asked Andrew if he knew of anyone who had a similar look to his, and he recommended Singin. A would-be star was born.

It started with a few magazine appearances and department store spreads. Now, Smith is represented by Nina Blanchard in Los Angeles and the Ford Agency in New York, and has worked his way into television appearances. Smith has the look that both Madison Avenue and Hollywood are looking for.

“He’s one of the absolutely perfect model types,” Beattie said. “Blond, blue-eyed and non-threatening.”

Smith has had small parts on “Magnum P.I.” and the soap opera “Capitol,” and has done commercials for products ranging from facial cleanser to athletic footwear. And, to borrow a phrase from The Industry, there may be film projects forthcoming.

But Smith has found the competition in acting more intense than that on the volleyball court, and he doesn’t seem eager to become a full-time actor. “I don’t want to spend my life at it, training and training, because so many people do that and go absolutely nowhere,” he said. “It’s extremely competitive. And along with that, it’s almost total rejection. I probably got one commercial for every 10 interviews I went on, and that’s a good record. Some people will interview all year long and not get one commercial.”

Smith has rarely been rejected on the volleyball court. One of seven children, he grew up playing on a backyard court at his family’s Santa Monica home, then began tagging along to play with his brothers at the beach. He was an All-American at UCLA in 1978 and 1979, and was a member of the U.S. national team until 1982, when a series of disagreements with then-coach Doug Beal ended in Smith’s dismissal from the team.

Smith began playing on the beach circuit in 1979, partnered with former UCLA teammate and 1984 Olympian Karch Kiraly. He was successful from the start. Smith is the only three-time world champion on the beach tour, and he has become one of the sport’s most recognizable figures.

And, make no mistake about it, this sport’s players are recognized . Professional athletes become accustomed to a certain amount of adoration. Female autograph seekers at a beach volleyball tournament are generally attired in bathing suits that take less material to make than the average pair of socks.

At 29--and looking more like 22--Smith is decidedly single. The life style on the tour, he said, practically demands it.

“It’s like a party all weekend long, and we’re the stars, so to speak, for the weekend,” he said. “We get quite a bit of attention. Even if you don’t indulge in the party atmosphere, you’re still surrounded by it. And if you’re attached, the people that you’re attached to can get upset with that, even without anything happening.”

And just what does happen? “I don’t think I can get away with saying anything,” Smith said. “You can use your imagination . . . and get close.”

The Good Life is hard to beat, and it seems as if it will only get better. Smith recently obtained his real estate license. The sportswear company that sponsors him on the volleyball tour is considering putting him on its board of directors. With the airing of each commercial come more acting opportunities.

Smith is making certain that he enjoys all of it for as long as it lasts.

“Yeah, I feel that I have to take advantage of everything that I can right now, because in a few years I’ll lose my physical edge,” he said. “In that respect, I think I have to go for it and milk the whole situation.”