Kurtwood Smith
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Kurtwood Smith | |
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Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman on That 70's Show |
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Born | Kurtwood Larson Smith July 3, 1943 New Lisbon, Wisconsin, United States |
Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Smith was born in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, the son of Mabel Annette Lund (née Larson) and George Smith.[1] He was raised in Los Angeles, California. Smith's mother was a fan of a country singer named Kurt (or Curt) in the early 1940s. However, she thought "Kurt Smith" was too short a name, so she added "wood" ("she just tacked it on to the end," he said). Smith has said that he is likely the only Kurtwood.[2]
Smith attended Canoga Park High School, where he was senior class president. He went on to study theater at the College of San Mateo and San Jose State University and earned a drama fellowship from Stanford University's Master of Fine arts program. In the 1970s, he began working regularly with the California Actors Theater in Los Gatos, California. He also attended Santa Clara University. He moved back to Los Angeles to pursue a television and film career. In 1964, he married Cecilia Souza, with whom he had two children. He divorced in 1974. In 1988, he married Joan Pirkle.
[edit] Career
Smith portrayed Red Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, a role he played from 1998-2006. Smith's career to date has been mostly in the realms of science fiction, where his most significant screen and television credits are to be found. Before That '70s Show his other roles included playing Clarence Boddicker, the villain in Paul Verhoeven's influential science fiction action movie RoboCop. He also co-starred as the strict father of Robert Sean Leonard's Neil in 1989's Dead Poets Society. He also made a number of appearances in the Star Trek franchise, playing the President of the Federation in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, a Cardassian named Thrax in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Things Past", and a Krenim scientist named Annorax in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Year of Hell".
He also has an extensive voice acting résumé, appearing in computer games such as Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, and FreeSpace 2, and on a number of animated series. He played a recurring role on the claymation series Gary & Mike as the vengeful Officer Dick and voiced the Dinosaur military commander character General Galapagos in the Savage Steve Holland produced Fox animated series Terrible Thunder Lizards. He currently plays the voice of Bob Johnson on Squirrel Boy.
He is slated to appear in the upcoming seventh season of 24, joining Ray Wise, Paul McCrane and Peter Weller as former Robocop stars who have also appeared on the show.
[edit] Filmography
- 24 (2008)... Senator
- House MD (2007)... Dr. Obyedkov
- Psych (2007)... Captain Conners
- Squirrel Boy (2006)... Robert "Bob" Johnson
- Robot Chicken (TV) (2005)...Various Voices
- Malcolm in the Middle (2004)... Principal Block
- Chalkzone (TV) (2005)...Himself (paring-up w/ Stephen Colbert)
- Everybody Loves Raymond (2002)... Famous Baseball Player
- Teddy Bears' Picnic (2002) ... Secretary of Transportation, William Easter
- Girl, Interrupted (1999) ... Dr. Crumble
- 3rd Rock from the Sun (1999) ... Jacob Solomon (S4 E11)
- That '70s Show (TV) (1998-2006) ... Red Forman
- Deep Impact (1998) ... Otis Hefter
- A Bright Shining Lie (1998) ... General Westmoreland
- Prefontaine (1997) ... Curtis Cunningham
- Shelter (1997) ... Tom Cantrell
- The X-Files (TV 1996)... Agent Bill Patterson
- Citizen Ruth (1996) ... Norm Stoney
- Broken Arrow (1996) ... Secretary of Defense, Baird
- A Time to Kill (1996) ... Stump Sisson
- Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) ... General Stanley Cooper
- Last of the Dogmen (1995) ... Sheriff Deegan
- To Die For (1995) ... Earl Stone
- Dead on Sight (1994) ... Julian Thompson
- The Terrible Thunderlizards (1993-1997)... General Galapagos
- Boxing Helena (1993) ... Doctor Alan Palmer
- The Crush (1993) ... Cliff Forrester
- Fortress (1993) ... Prison Director, Poe
- Shadows And Fog (1992) ... Vogel's Follower
- Company Business (1991) ... Elliot Jaffe, CIA
- Oscar (1991) ... Lt. Toomey, Chicago PD
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) ... Federation President
- Quick Change (1990) ... Russ Crane/Lombino
- 12:01 PM (1990) ... Myron Castleman
- Dead Poets Society (1989) ... Mr. Perry
- Heart of Dixie (1989) ...
- The Nightmare Years (1989) ... Dr. Josef Goebbels
- True Believer (1989) ... Robert Reynard
- Rambo III (1988) ... Robert Griggs (embassy field officer)
- The New Adventures of Beans Baxter ... Mr. Sue(leader of the evil spy agency U.G.L.I.[the Underground Government Liberation Intergroup])
- RoboCop (1987) ... Clarence Boddicker
- The Delos Adventure (1986) ... Arthur McNeil
- North and South (TV miniseries) (1986) ... Col. Hram Berdan
- The A-Team (1984) ... Villain 1
- Staying Alive (1983) ... Choreographer
- Going Berserk (1983) ... Clarence
- Zoot Suit (1981) ... Sergeant Smith
- Soap (1980) ... Guy at laundromat
[edit] References
- ^ Kurtwood Smith Biography (1943?-)
- ^ According to an interview with Smith on Caroline Rhea's syndicated television show
[edit] External links
- Kurtwood Smith at the Internet Movie Database
- Kurtwood Smith article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Kurtwood Smith at TV.com
- Kurtwood Smith at the NNDB
Persondata | |
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NAME | Smith, Kurtwood |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Kurtwood Larson |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1943-7-3 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | New Lisbon, Wisconsin, United States |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |