Kurtwood Smith

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Kurtwood Smith (2010)

Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943 in New Lisbon , Juneau County , Wisconsin ) is an American actor and voice actor .

Life

Kurtwood Smith was born to Mabel Annette Lund (nee Larson) and George Smith in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, but grew up in Los Angeles . He got his unusual name according to an interview, because his mother adored a country singer by the first name Kurt, whom she - since the name Kurt Smith seemed too short to her - added the syllable "-wood" .

Smith studied drama at the colleges of San Mateo and San José . He later received a drama scholarship for Stanford's MFA program . During the 1970s he was a permanent member of the Los Gatos theater . In 1979 he moved to Los Angeles. In the 1980s, Smith managed to establish himself as a film and series actor. His most famous roles were in 1987 that of the sadistic bank robber and crack dealer Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction film RoboCop and in 1989 in The Dead Poets Club, the role of the father of boarding school student Neil Perry ( Robert Sean Leonard ), who with his well-meaning but authoritarian Stubbornness triggers a family tragedy. There were also numerous appearances - mostly in rogue roles - in various series and film productions.

Characteristic of the actor Smith is that he was often cast "against the type" in many of his roles: In the past film critics have often pointed out that Smith, who appears to be "bourgeois-intellectual", is not the usual image of a film villain fulfilled, but his reserved, profound style of playing in connection with his rather staid demeanor suggests a latent threat. The director Paul Verhoeven justified the efficiency of the “rogue Smith” in the audio commentary on RoboCop with the fact that physiognomically - especially when he wears glasses - he arouses subliminal associations with the Nazi politician Heinrich Himmler , whose bestiality is also hidden behind a bourgeois appearance have.

In 1998 Smith got the role of family man Red Forman in the successful comedy series The Wild Seventies , which was produced until 2006 .

Smith has been married a second time since 1988. A previous marriage that resulted in two children ended in divorce in 1974. The daughter Laurel Garner also became an actress.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

  • 2006: Garden State Film Festival- Independent Spirit Award
  • 1999: Nominated by the Online Film & Television Association for OFTA Television Award Best Actor in a New Comedy Series for That '70s Show

Web links

Commons : Kurtwood Smith  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b biography on filmreference.com
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Kurtwood
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Kurtwood Larson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and voice actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH New Lisbon , Wisconsin