Overview (4)

Born July 3, 1943 in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, USA Birth Name Kurtwood Larson Smith Nicknames Woody

Kurt

Wood Height 6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Kurtwood Smith was born on July 3, 1943 in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, USA as Kurtwood Larson Smith. He is an actor, known for Operation - Broken Arrow (1996), RoboCop (1987) and Star Trek VI: Das unentdeckte Land (1991). He has been married to Joan Pirkle since November 5, 1988. He was previously married to Cecilia Souza.



Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (4)

Strong authoritative voice



Bald head and bold blue eyes



Often plays leaders and authority figures



Often plays menacing, sinister villains



Trivia (14)

The son of George and Mabel Annette (nee Lund) Smith, the actor grew up in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles and graduated from Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, California (1961).





"Kurtwood" is his real first name. According to an interview with him on Caroline Rhea 's syndicated television show (April 8, 2003), his mother was a huge 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", said Smith. His mother because she felt there already too many people named Kurt.



His second wife, Joan Pirkle , appeared opposite him in RoboCop (1987) as the secretary he flirts with at the precinct before his meeting with Ronny Cox 's character, Dick Jones. He is the father of Laurel Garner and Shannon Smith. The latter goes by the stage name Dr. Sauce, hosted a radio show at Stanford University in the mid-to-late 1990s and played guitar in a band called The Vulcaneers.



Presented Barbara Bain with the California Lottery's "Hero in Education" Award on "The Big Spin" show on December 18, 2004.

Currently doing voice-over work for the Chicago White Sox in a series of radio commercials.





Won the role of Red Foreman on Die wilden 70er (1998) when the original choice, Chuck Norris , was unavailable because of his commitment to filming Walker, Texas Ranger (1993). The show is set near Milwaukee, WI, and he was the only cast member who actually was from Wisconsin (which is a Native American term for "land of red stone").



Has played the father of Eric Forman on Die wilden 70er (1998) and played the father of a patient treated by Dr. Eric Foreman on Dr. House (2004).

Received his Bachelor's degree in Theatre from San Jose State College in San Jose, California (1965).



Received his Master's degree in Fine Arts from Stanford University in Stanford, California (1969).





Originally auditioned for the role of Dick Jones in RoboCop (1987), and when he found out he had been cast, he thought that was the role he had gotten. He later found out that he would be playing Clarence Boddicker.



In the 20th-anniversary DVD release of RoboCop (1987), he claimed that the scene where he was taken into the precinct was the first scene he had done, and proposed the spitting of blood and swearing to give the scene more punch.

Personal Quotes (1)

I love playing villains. When you're a bad guy, you get to do many real nasty things. It's a lot of fun.

