Kurtwood Smith (born 3 July 1943; age 82) is a European American actor who played the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Thrax in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fifth season episode "Things Past", Annorax in the Star Trek: Voyager fourth season episodes "Year of Hell" and "Year of Hell, Part II", and voiced Imperium Magistrate Clar in the Star Trek: Lower Decks first season episode "Veritas". He is 6’2 ½“. He wears size 14 shoes.
For "Year of Hell", Smith filmed his scenes on Friday 15 August 1997 on Paramount Stage 9 and for "Year of Hell, Part II" between Friday 22 August 1997 and Tuesday 26 August 1997 on Paramount Stage 9 and 16. His uniform from this episode was later sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1](X)
Smith is perhaps best known for his role as Red Forman in That '70s Show. He is also known for his role as gang leader Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop (1987, starring Peter Weller, with Ronny Cox and Miguel Ferrer). Acting professionally since the late 1970s, Smith has appeared in over a hundred films and television shows and at least fourteen stage productions.
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 has said in interviews that his mother named him Kurtwood because she felt Kurt Smith was too short a name. Smith has said he believes he is the only Kurtwood.
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 Roadie (1980, featuring Hamilton Camp. The following year, he appeared in Zoot Suit, along with John Anderson, Mike Gomez, Ed Peck, Tony Plana and Smith's Voyager co-star, Robert Beltran. Smith's first significant film role came in Flashpoint (1984, with Kevin Conway and Miguel Ferrer).
Smith and Ferrer again worked together a few years later when both were cast in RoboCop (1987). 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 one of Boddicker's gang members, while Ronny Cox played the executive who turned out to be employing and protecting Smith's character. Robert DoQui also appears in the film as Murphy's boss and shares a scene with Smith.
Following the success of RoboCop, Smith landed a supporting role in Rambo III (1988). This was followed by major supporting roles in True Believer (1989, with Joel Polis and Richard Fancy) and Dead Poets Society (1989, starring Robin Williams, with Norman Lloyd).
Smith was the third male lead in Company Business (1991), 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 went on to appear in Shadow and Fog (1991, co-starring Kathy Bates, Robert Joy, Kenneth Mars, Richard Riehle, Camille Saviola, Wallace Shawn and David Ogden Stiers). Smith then starred in Fortress (1993), 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. 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 (1999, starring Winona Ryder and Whoopi Goldberg).
Since 2000, Smith's film credits have consisted of 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.
Smith was the voice of Kanjar Ro in Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), featuring the voices of Olivia d'Abo, Larry Drake, Victor Garber, David L. Lander, John Larroquette, Richard McGonagle, William Schallert and Malachi Throne.
In 2010, Smith acted in Cedar Rapids, with Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star Stephen Root and Seth Morris.
Notable television work[]
Guest appearances[]
Smith made his television debut in an episode of 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 Kenneth Mars).
Kim Manners 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 an episode of The X-Files, executive-produced by John Shiban, starring Gillian Anderson.
In 2007, Smith appeared in Psych (featuring Corbin Bernsen, with Lisa Banes) and House, starring Jennifer Morrison. In addition, Smith played FBI Agent Edward Cooper in three episodes of Medium in 2006, 2008 and 2009, starring Jake Weber.
Smith appeared in the seventh season of 24 executive-produced by Manny Coto and Brannon Braga. He played Senator Blaine Mayer, who was responsible for the disbanding of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) and was attempting to bring Jack Bauer to justice for committing what he saw as Human rights violations. His character was killed by a rogue operative. Others who appeared on 24 that season include John Billingsley, Connor Trinneer, Bob Gunton, Glenn Morshower, Jeffrey Nordling, Tony Todd and Annie Wersching.
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, The Zeta Project, and Squirrel Boy (as Mr. Johnson). He has also done voice work for episodes of Batman Beyond, Grim & Evil, and Robot Chicken.
Mini-series and TV movies[]
In 1981, Smith appeared in NBC's Murder in Texas, with Gregory Itzin, Parley Baer, Warren Munson. In 1985, Smith had a supporting role in The Midnight Hour, which starred Star Trek: The Next Generation regular LeVar Burton.
The 1986, 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 television 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 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 Big Wave Dave's, which ran on NBC for six episodes in 1993. On this series, Smith played a 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 FOX 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. Alongside Debra Jo Rupp, Smith reprised his role as Red Forman for the spin-off series That '90s Show, placed twenty years after That '70s Show, which was picked up by Netflix. He also worked as executive producer on the ten episode first season which is as of 2022 in production. [2]
Next, Smith starred in CBS' Worst Week as Dick Clayton. The series aired for fifteen episodes from September 2008 through February 2009. The series was officially canceled in May 2009; a previously unaired episode, which aired in June 2009, was its last. Smith also worked with on a pilot for CBS called Hitched (co-starring with Sharon Lawrence), though it has yet to be picked up as a series. Smith was later the voice of Don Killbride in Neighbors from Hell, which premiered in June 2010.
Star Trek appearances[]
Other Star Trek connections[]
Films[]
- The Deer Hunter (1978, uncredited) with John Savage
- 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, with Alfre Woodard, David Paymer, Wren T. Brown and John Durbin).
- 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