Kurtwood Smith

Template:Realworld Kurtwood Smith (born 3 July 1943; age 80) is an actor who has played several different roles on Star Trek, spanning a movie and two series. He first appeared as the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and later played Thrax in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Things Past". He shared scenes with Rene Auberjonois in both of these productions. Most recently, he played the role of Annorax in the Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Year of Hell" and "Year of Hell, Part II".

Smith is perhaps best known for his role as Red Forman in the situation comedy television series That '70s Show. He is also known for his role as gang leader Clarence Boddicker in the hit 1987 science fiction/action film RoboCop. Acting professionally since the late 1970s, Smith has appeared in over 100 films and television shows and at least fourteen stage productions.

Federation President
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Thrax
DS9: "Things Past"

Annorax
VOY: "Year of Hell", "Year of Hell, Part II"

Personal life

Kurtwood Larson Smith was born in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, but he and his family had moved to California by the late 1950s. Smith attended California's Canoga Park High School, where he was senior class president, and studied theater at the College of San Mateo and San Jose State University. He ultimately earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Drama from Stanford University.

Smith married Cecilia Souza in 1964. They had two children together, a son and a daughter, before divorcing in 1974. In 1988, he married actress Joan Pirkle, whom he met on the set of RoboCop.

Career

Notable film work

Smith's earliest confirmed feature film work was a small role in the 1980 musical comedy Roadie, which also featured Hamilton Camp. The following year, he appeared in the musical Zoot Suit, along with John Anderson, Mike Gomez, Ed Peck, Tony Plana, and Smith's Star Trek: Voyager co-star, Robert Beltran (in his film debut). Smith's first significant film role came in the 1984 action thriller Flashpoint, in which he worked with Kevin Conway and Miguel Ferrer.

Smith and Ferrer again worked together a few years later when both were cast in the 1987 blockbuster RoboCop. In this film, Smith played Clarence Boddicker, the gang leader who kills the central character, police officer Alex Murphy, played by Peter Weller. Ferrer's character then reconstructs Murphy into the cyborg "RoboCop." Ray Wise played the right-hand man to Smith's character, while Ronny Cox and Robert DoQui were also among the film's cast.

Following the success of RoboCop, Smith landed a supporting role in another action film, Rambo III. This was followed by major supporting roles in the 1989 films True Believer (with Joel Polis and Richard Fancy) and Dead Poets Society. In the latter film, Smith played a father who disapproves of his son's wish to become an actor, leading his son to commit suicide. Norman Lloyd also appeared in the film, playing the headmaster of the school Smith's son was attending.

Smith was the third male lead in the 1991 comic thriller Company Business, which was written and directed by Nicholas Meyer. This film led to Meyer casting Smith as the Federation President in Star Trek VI. Company Business also starred Terry O'Quinn and, like Star Trek VI, it was produced by Steven-Charles Jaffe and edited by Ronald Roose.

Smith was one of the many Star Trek alumni to appear in Woody Allen's Shadow and Fog; his co-stars in this film included Robert Joy, kenneth Mars,Richard Riehle, [[Camille Saviola], Wallace Shawn, and David Ogden Stiers. Smith then starred in the 1993 science fiction/action film Fortress, playing the lead villain, Prison Director Poe. Clifton Collins, Jr., Jeffrey Combs, and Tom Towles had roles in this film, as well.

In the 1993 thriller The Crush, Smith and Gwynyth Walsh played the parents of the central character, a 14-year-old sociopath played by Alicia Silverstone. Smith's subsequent film credits included To Die For (1995), Citizen Ruth (1996; with David Graf and Kenneth Mars), Broken Arrow (1996, with Casey Biggs, Bob Gunton, James MacDonald, Vyto Ruginis and Christian Slater), A Time to Kill (1996; with Ashley Judd), Deep Impact (1998; with Ellen Bry, James Cromwell, Denise Crosby, Mark Moses, Tucker Smallwood, and Concetta Tomei), and Girl, Interrupted (starring Whoopi Goldberg and Winona Ryder).

In recent years, Smith's film credits have been shorts and independent productions. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Independent Spirit Award at the 2006 Garden State Film Festival for his lead performance in the drama Hard Scrambled. Thomas Kopache had a supporting role in this film.

Notable television work

Guest appearances

Smith made his television debut in an episode of the soap opera parody series Soap in 1980. He has since appeared on such television programs as The A-Team (starring Dwight Schultz, with Lance LeGault), Picket Fences (with Sam Anderson and William Newman), 3rd Rock from the Sun (with Courtney Peldon), and Malcolm in the Middle (with Hallie Todd and the aforementioned Kenneth Mars).

Kim Manners has directed Smith on at least three occasions. The first was a 1986 episode of Stingray which also featured Ian Abercrombie. The following year, they collaborated on an episode of 21 Jump Street in which Robert Hooks and Ray Walston appeared. Smith and Manners reunited in 1996 for the "Grotesque" episode of the hit science fiction series The X-Files, in which Smith played Agent Bill Patterson.

In 2007, Smith appeared in two hit television series starring Star Trek alumni: Psych, which features Corbin Bernsen, and House, which has Jennifer Morrison. On Psych, Smith also worked with Lisa Banes. Smith also played an FBI agent in two episodes of Medium, one in 2006 and another in 2008.

In addition to his live-action work, Smith has lent his voice to numerous animated programs. He voiced recurring characters on such shows as Eek! The Cat (as the Dinosaur Military Commander), The Zeta Project (as Agent James Bennett), and Squirrel Boy (as Mr. Johnson). He has also done voice work for episodes of Batman Beyond, Grim & Evil, and Robot Chicken.

Smith currently appears in the seventh season of the FOX drama series 24. He plays Senator Blaine Mayer, who is responsible for the disbanding of the Counter Terrorist Unit, or CTU; and is attempting to bring Jack Bauer to justice for committing what he sees as human rights violations. His character would be killed by a rogue operative. Others who have appeared on 24 this season include John Billingsley, Bob Gunton, Glenn Morshower, Jeffrey Nordling, Tony Todd, and Annie Wersching.

Mini-series and TV movies

In 1981, Smith appeared in the two-part NBC mini-series Murder in Texas, along with Warren Munson. In 1985, Smith had a supporting role in the TV movie The Midnight Hour, which starred Star Trek: The Next Generation regular LeVar Burton.

The following year, Smith worked with another TNG regular, Jonathan Frakes, in the mini-series North and South, Book II, in which Smith played Colonel Hram Berdan. Other performers he worked with on this production included Kirstie Alley, Mary Crosby, Jim Metzler, James Read, Leon Rippy, Bumper Robinson, William Schallert, Jean Simmons, David Ogden Stiers, and Anthony Zerbe.

In the 1998 TV movie A Bright Shining Lie, Smith and fellow Trek guest actors Ed Lauter and Harve Presnell all played generals.

Regular roles

Smith has been a regular cast member on several television series. His first was Renegades, a police drama which ran for on ABC in the spring 1983. Smith played Police Captain Frank Scanlon on this series, which involved members of a street gang being recruited by the police to fight crime. Tracy Scoggins and Brian Tochi were also regulars on this series.

For the 1987-1988 television season, Smith played the lead villain in the espionage adventure series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter. Smith's character, Mr. Sue, was the leader of the Underground Government Liberation Intergroup (U.G.L.I.), who spent the series trying to capture the title character, high school student and secret spy "Beans" Baxter. Baxter's mother was played by Elinor Donahue.

Smith's next series was the situation comedy Big Wave Dave's, which ran on NBC for six episodes in 1993. On this series, Smith played beach bum who claimed to be Jack Lord, the actor who starred in Hawaii Five-O and who was Gene Roddenberry's first choice for the role of James T. Kirk in the 1960s.

Smith had his greatest success playing Reginald "Red" Forman in the WB Network comedy series That '70s Show. He played the role through all eight seasons of the show – from 1998 through 2006 – and appeared in all 201 episodes. Don Stark was also a regular on the series, playing Red Forman's neighbor and occasional boss, Bob Pinciotti.

Most recently, Smith starred in the CBS series Worst Week as Dick Clayton. The series aired for fifteen episodes from September 2008 through February 2009. As of March 2009, there has been no word on whether or not the series will be renewed for a second season.

Other Trek connections

Films

• Going Berzerk (1983) with Rosalind Chao, Elinor Donahue, and Richard Libertini
• Two Idiots in Hollywood (1988) with Jim Beaver and William Utay
• Homesick (1988 short) with Miriam Flynn
• Heart of Dixie (1989) with Barbara Babcock, Virginia Madsen, and Tom Wright\
• Quick Change (1990) with Reg E. Cathey and Tim Halligan
• Oscar (1991) with Mark Metcalf
• Heart and Souls (1993; uncredited) with Alfre Woodard
• Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) with Brenda Bakke, Jonathan Banks, Christopher Darga, and Patrick Kilpatrick
• Shelter (1998) with Brenda Bakke
• Teddy Bears' Picnic (2002) with Henry Gibson, Kenneth Mars, Michael McKean, and Brenda Strong

Television

Episodic

• Blue Thunder episode "Revenge in the Sky" (1984) with David Spielberg
• Riptide episode "The Orange Grove" (1984) with Stanley Kamel and Ken Olandt
• It's a Living episode "Hail to the Chef" (1985) with John Putch
• The Magnificent Seven episode "Ghosts of the Confederacy" (1998) with Andrew Kavovit, Ron Perlman, Ned Romero, and Rick Worthy
• UC: Undercover episode "Of Fathers and Sons" (2001) directed by Lou Antonio

TV movies

• Missing Pieces (1983) with Robin Gammell and Kenneth Tigar
• Deadly Messages (1985) with Raye Birk
• International Airport (1985) with Susan Oliver and Jason Wingreen
• The Christmas Gift (1986) with Anne Haney and Harvey Vernon
• Doorways (1992) with Gary Epper, Max Grodénchik, and Robert Knepper

External links

• Template:IMDb-link
• Kurtwood Smith at Wikipedia