Kurtwood Smith

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Kurtwood Smith
Birth name Kurtwood Larson Smith
Born July 3, 1943 (age 63)
New Lisbon, Wisconsin
Notable roles Red Forman in That 70's Show
Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop

Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film character actor. He was born in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, but was raised in Los Angeles, California.

"Kurtwood" is his actual birth name; according to an interview with Smith on Caroline Rhea's syndicated television show, his 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). He noted that he's likely the only Kurtwood.

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[edit] Education & marriage

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 to 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] Acting career

He is probably best known as Red Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, a role he played from 1998-2006.

Significantly, Kurtwood 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 notable roles included playing Clarence Boddicker, the villain in Paul Verhoeven's influential science fiction action movie RoboCop. He also made a number of notable 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 resumé, 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 in the Savage Steve Holland produced Fox animated series Terrible Thunder Lizards.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

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