Kurtwood Smith
{{Short description|American actor (born 1943)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kurtwood Smith
| image = Kurtwood Smith by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| caption = Smith at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego
| birth_name = Kurtwood Larson Smith
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|07|03}}
| birth_place = New Lisbon, Wisconsin, U.S.
| other_names =
| education ={{ubl|San José State University (BA)|Stanford University (MFA)}}
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1970–present
| spouse ={{ubl|{{marriage|Cecilia Souza|1964|1974|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|Joan Pirkle|1988}}}}
| children = 2
|signature=Kurtwood Smith Actor Signature.svg
}}
Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943)[https://books.google.com/books?id=kKPcSwYtbQUC&dq=Kurtwood+Larson+Smith+July+3%2C+1943&pg=PA317 Profile of Kurtwood Larson Smith] is an American actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop (1987), Robert Griggs in Rambo III (1988), and Red Forman in That '70s Show (1998–2006) and That '90s Show (2023–2024), as well as for his many appearances in science fiction films and television programs (Lou Grant, Star Trek, The X-Files). He also starred in the seventh season of 24. He voiced Gene on Regular Show (2012–2017), portrayed Leslie Claret on Patriot (2015–2018), and Old Man Peterson on The Ranch (2017–2020).
Early life
Smith's father, Major George Smith, was killed-in-action on March 25, 1945, while returning from leading the 49th Troop Carrier Squadron, 313th Troop Carrier Group during Operation Varsity in World War II.{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Bernard |date=March 25, 1945 |title=COPY |location=New York, New York |publisher=United States War Department|page=|url=https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/GFQP-T7K|access-date=February 8, 2025}} Smith would later say of his father "Though I never knew him, I always remember him!"{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/tahitismith/status/929505635519090688|title=Veterans Day at my father's grave in the Netherlands American Cemetery near Margraten. Though I never knew him I always remember him! |first=Kurtwood|last=Smith|website=Twitter.com|date=November 11, 2017}}
Smith grew up in the San Fernando Valley and graduated from Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, California in 1961; Smith graduated from San Jose State College (now San José State University) in 1965 with a B.A. and Stanford University in 1969 with an M.F.A.{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kurtwood-smith/bio/161058|title=Kurtwood Smith|website=TVGuide.com|access-date=June 18, 2013}} He was an instructor of theater arts at Cañada College from 1969 to 1975.
Career
On stage, Smith won three Drama-Logue Awards for his performances in Billy Budd, Idiot's Delight, and Green Grow the Lilacs. In his film career, he portrayed Clarence Boddicker in Paul Verhoeven's science fiction film RoboCop and the father role as Red Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, which ran from 1998 to 2006. After That '70s Show ended, Smith played Senator Blaine Mayer in the seventh season of the action thriller 24, and portrayed Dick Clayton in the CBS series Worst Week. He enjoyed a recurring role as a rogue FBI agent in Seasons 3–5 of the NBC (later CBS) series Medium, appearing in later episodes as a ghost after his character's death. He played the main character Henry Langston in the ABC sci-fi/drama Resurrection which ran for two seasons (2014–15). He was a regular on the Amazon original dramedy series Patriot (2015-2018). In 2023, he reprised the role of Red Forman in That '90s Show, a sequel series of That '70s Show.
His other roles included playing the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Stump Sisson, in A Time to Kill. He also played the role of Mr. Sue on Fox's "espionage comedy" The New Adventures of Beans Baxter in 1987. He also starred as Neil's father in 1989's Dead Poets Society. He 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 dinosaurian military commander character General Galapagos in the Fox animated series Terrible Thunderlizards. He played the voice of Bob Johnson on Squirrel Boy and Kanjar Ro in Green Lantern: First Flight and starred as the sheriff in Last of the Dogmen. Smith appeared on the Netflix series The Ranch as Mr. Peterson, a terminally ill farmer. Smith worked in the stop-motion AMC+ series Ultra City Smiths, where he voiced Carpenter K. Smith.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1980
| Roadie | Security Guard | |
| 1981
| Sergeant Smith | |
| rowspan=2| 1983
| Choreographer | |
| Going Berserk
| Clarence | |
| 1984
| Carson | |
| rowspan=2| 1987
| RoboCop | Clarence Boddicker | |
| The Delos Adventure
| Arthur McNeil | |
| rowspan=2| 1988
| Robert Griggs | |
| Two Idiots in Hollywood
| District Attorney | |
| rowspan=3| 1989
| Robert Reynard | |
| Dead Poets Society
| Mr. Perry | |
| Heart of Dixie
| Professor Flournoy | |
| 1990
| Russ Crane/Vince Lombino | |
| rowspan=4| 1991
| Oscar | Lt. Toomey, Chicago PD | |
| Company Business
| Elliot Jaffe, CIA | |
| Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
| |
| Shadows and Fog
| Vogel's Follower | |
| 1992
| Fortress | Prison Director Poe | |
| rowspan=5| 1993
| Dr. Alan Harrison | |
| The Crush
| Cliff Forrester | |
| Heart and Souls
| Patterson | Uncredited |
| Big Wave Daves
| Jack Lord | |
| RoboCop 3
| Clarence Boddicker | Archive footage from 1987 film |
| 1994
| Julian Thompson | |
| rowspan=3| 1995
| Earl Stone | |
| Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
| General Stanley Cooper | |
| Last of the Dogmen
| Sheriff Deegan | |
| rowspan=3| 1996
| Norm Stoney | |
| Broken Arrow
| Secretary of Defense, Baird | |
| A Time to Kill
| Stump Sisson | |
| 1997
| Curtis Cunningham | |
| rowspan=2| 1998
| Shelter | Tom Cantrell | |
| Deep Impact
| Otis Hefter | |
| 1999
| Dr. Crumble | |
| 2002
| Secretary of Transportation, William Easter | |
| 2004
| Evil Remains | Dr. Theodore Rosen | |
| 2005
| The Trouble with Dee Dee | William Rutherford | |
| 2006
| Hard Scrambled | Benno | |
| 2007
| Entry Level | Nick | |
| rowspan=2| 2009
| Kanjar Ro (voice) |
| All in the Bunker
| Short subject |
| 2011
| Orin Helgesson | |
| rowspan=2| 2012
| Men in a Box | Dr. Skinner | Short subject |
| Hitchcock
| Geoffrey Shurlock | |
| 2013
| Turbo | Indy CEO (voice) |
| rowspan=2| 2015
| Raise the ToyGantic | Ted Greenley | Short subject |
| Regular Show: The Movie
| Gene (voice) |
| rowspan=2| 2017
| Dr. Milton | |
| El Camino Christmas
| Sheriff Bob Fuller | |
| 2022
| Dr. Joseph Wanless | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2| 1980
| Soap | Man in laundromat | 1 episode |
| Me and Maxx
| Dwayne | Episode: "Some Are Savers" |
| 1980–1981
| DeGaetano / DeRopp / Fire Captain | 3 episodes |
| 1983
| Captain Scanlon | 6 episodes |
| rowspan=3| 1984
| Mr. Carson | Episode: "The Battle of Bel Air" |
| Blue Thunder
| Bill Spradley | Episode: "Revenge in the Sky" |
| Riptide
| Merle Wilson | Episode: "The Orange Grove" |
| rowspan=6| 1985
| Bo Carter | Episode: "The Ping Pong Caper" |
| The Midnight Hour
| Captain Warren Jensen | Television film |
| The Best Times
| Sam Ballard | Episode: "Volleyball" |
| The Paper Chase
| | Episode: "Security" |
| It's a Living
| Senior Agent | Episode: "Hail to the Chef" |
| Deadly Messages
| Lieutenant Burton | Television film |
| rowspan=4| 1986
| Stingray | Sgt. Edward Fiddler | Episode: "Sometimes You Gotta Sing the Blues" |
| North and South
| Miniseries |
| Newhart
| Chet | Episode: "Dick the Kid" |
| The Christmas Gift
| Jake Richards | Television film |
| rowspan=2| 1987
| Spencer Phillips | 2 episodes |
| The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
| Mr. Sue | 5 episodes |
| 1988
| Paul Bosgang | Episode: "Save the Planet" |
| 1989
| Dr. Joseph Goebbels | Miniseries |
| rowspan=2| 1990
| 12:01 PM | Myron Castleman | Television short film |
| The Famous Teddy Z
| | Episode: "Loyalty" |
| rowspan=2| 1993
| Barry Jenkins | Episode: "Be My Valentine" |
| Big Wave Dave's
| Jack Lord | 6 episodes |
| 1993–1996
| General Galapagos (voice) | 11 episodes |
| 1993–1997
| General Galapagos (voice) | Main role |
| 1994
| While Justice Sleeps | Leonard Rosenglass | Television film |
| rowspan=2| 1996
| Agent Bill Patterson | Episode: "Grotesque" |
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
| Thrax | Episode: "Things Past" |
| rowspan=2| 1997
| Agent H, Forbis (voice) | 2 episodes |
| Star Trek: Voyager
| Annorax | Episode: "Year of Hell" |
| rowspan=3| 1998
| Col. Emmett Anderson | Episode: "Ghosts of the Confederacy" |
| A Bright Shining Lie
| General Westmoreland | Television film |
| Safety Patrol
| Principal Tromp | Television film |
| 1998–2006
| Main cast |
| rowspan=2| 1999
| Jacob Solomon | Episode: "Dick Solomon of the Indiana Solomons" |
| Todd McFarlane's Spawn
| Robert Sullivan (voice) |
| rowspan=4| 2001
| Officer Dick | |
| Batman Beyond
| Agent James Bennet (voice) |
| UC: Undercover
| William Murphy | Episode: "Of Fathers and Sons" |
| Justice League
| Prosecutor (voice) |
| 2001–2002
| Agent James Bennet (voice) |
| rowspan=2| 2002
| Mr. Galser (voice) |
| Everybody Loves Raymond
| Famous Baseball Player | |
| 2004
| Principal Block | Episode: "Dirty Magazine" |
| 2004–2006
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | Grim's Dad (voice) | 2 episodes |
| rowspan=2| 2005
| Various voices | 2 episodes |
| Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
| Ciracus (voice) |
| 2006
| Mr. Noodlander (voice) | Episode: "A Sticky Fix" |
| 2006–2007
| Robert "Bob" Johnson (voice) | Main role |
| 2006–2009
| Medium | Agent Edward Cooper | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=3| 2007
| Psych | Captain Conners | Episode: "Forget Me Not" |
| House MD
| Dr. Obyedkov | Episode: "Half-Wit" |
| Shorty McShorts' Shorts
| Truant Officer Fabian (voice) | Episode: "Troy Ride" |
| 2008–2009
| Dick Clayton | 16 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 2009
| 24 | Senator Blaine Mayer | 7 episodes |
| Titan Maximum
| Mercury General (voice) | 2 episodes |
| rowspan=2| 2010
| Don Killbride (voice) | Main role |
| Childrens Hospital
| Ben Hayflick | 2 episodes |
| rowspan=3| 2011
| Ed Strathmore | Episode: "How To..." |
| CHAOS
| H.J. Higgins | 13 episodes |
| Green Lantern: The Animated Series
| Shyir Rev (voice) |
| 2012–2017
| Gene (voice) |
| rowspan=3| 2012
| Dan Vs. | Mechanic Mike (voice) | Episode: "Dan Vs. The Mechanic" |
| Wedding Band
| Hank Henderson | Episode: "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" |
| Robot and Monster
| Mr. Wheelie (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2013
| Earl Brown | Episode: "Daddy Issues" |
| 2013–2014
| Lt. James Gordon (voice) |
| 2014–2015
| Henry Langston | Main role |
| rowspan=3| 2015
| Maron | Tier 4 | Episode: "The Node" |
| Rick and Morty
| General Nathan (voice) | Episode: "Get Schwifty" |
| Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories
| Father Krang | Episode: "Tornado" |
| 2015–2016
| Recurring role |
| 2015–2018
| Patriot | Leslie Claret | 10 episodes |
| 2016
| TripTank | Coach (voice) |
| 2016–2017
| Angry Old Raisin (voice) |
| 2017–2020
| Old Man Peterson | Recurring role (seasons 2-4) |
| rowspan=2| 2018
| Stan Chilson (voice) | Episode: "Summer Vacation" |
| Future Man
| Vise |
| rowspan=3| 2019
| Uncle Dave | Recurring role (season 1) |
| Suits
| Ted Tucker | Episode: "Scenic Route" |
| Perfect Harmony
| Tinsley | Episode: "It's Electric" |
| 2020
| Klaar (voice) | Episode: "Veritas" |
| rowspan=2| 2021
| Old Man Miller | Episode: "All the Devils Are Here" |
| Ultra City Smiths
| Carpenter K. Smith (voice) | Recurring role |
| 2022
| Recurring role |
| 2023–2024
| Main cast, spin-off of That '70s Show{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Nick |date=October 8, 2021 |title='That '70s Show' spin-off set in the '90s coming to Netflix |url=https://ew.com/tv/that-70s-show-spin-off-90s-netflix/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=EW.com |language=en}} |
| 2024
|Alistair Clawbottom (voice) |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2001
| Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel | General Dekker | |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|1748}}
- {{Tcmdb name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kurtwood}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:Actors from Glendale, California
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:College of San Mateo alumni
Category:Male actors from California
Category:Male actors from Wisconsin
Category:People from New Lisbon, Wisconsin