Christopher Smith (English actor)

Christopher Smith (15 October 1984 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) is an English actor well known for playing the part of Robert Sugden in ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 1989 until May 2001, when he was axed and replaced by Karl Davies.

Smith attended Stage 84 drama school in Bradford, where his mother was choreographer, and at the age of 4 was picked from 50 auditionees when Yorkshire Television visited the school searching for a new boy to play the character of Robert in Emmerdale. His father, Richard Smith, also acts and appeared in a minor role in Emmerdale before Smith joined the cast.

The axing was due to the producers' intentions to feature Robert in more adult plotlines, therefore requiring an older looking actor for the part. The recasting took place while Robert was off-screen visiting his grandmother, Annie Sugden in Spain after learning his adoptive brother Andy was responsible for starting the barn fire that killed his stepmother.

In September 2001, Smith sued Yorkshire Television for unfair dismissal from his part as Robert Sugden.

Smith supports Bradford City football club. His parents own Love Bites Foods, a sandwich wholesaler based in Bradford.

Smith lives in Los Angeles,CA working as a TV producer on the show, "Talking Dead".

External links

• Christopher Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Christopher Smith from Inside Soap magazine 2003 (Andy Baker)