Kurtwood Smith

Kurtwood Smith
Smith at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego
Born	Kurtwood Larson Smith (1943-07-03) July 3, 1943 New Lisbon, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education	San José State University (BA) Stanford University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouses	Cecilia Souza ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1974)​ Joan Pirkle ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2
Signature

Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) 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 was a Major during World War II, and was killed in Europe.

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. 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 the controlling, self-absorbed, and emotionally abusive father of Robert Sean Leonard's Neil 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 two-part 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 Savage Steve Holland produced 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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Roadie	Security Guard
1981	Zoot Suit	Sergeant Smith
1983	Staying Alive	Choreographer
	Going Berserk	Clarence
1984	Flashpoint	Carson
1987	RoboCop	Clarence Boddicker
	The Delos Adventure	Arthur McNeil
1988	Rambo III	Robert Griggs
	Two Idiots in Hollywood	District Attorney
1989	True Believer	Robert Reynard
	Dead Poets Society	Mr. Perry
	Heart of Dixie	Professor Flournoy
1990	Quick Change	Russ Crane/Vince Lombino
1991	Oscar	Lt. Toomey, Chicago PD
	Company Business	Elliot Jaffe, CIA
	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country	Federation President
	Shadows and Fog	Vogel's Follower
1992	Fortress	Prison Director Poe
1993	Boxing Helena	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	Dead on Sight	Julian Thompson
1995	To Die For	Earl Stone
	Under Siege 2: Dark Territory	General Stanley Cooper
	Last of the Dogmen	Sheriff Deegan
1996	Citizen Ruth	Norm Stoney
	Broken Arrow	Secretary of Defense, Baird
	A Time to Kill	Stump Sisson
1997	Prefontaine	Curtis Cunningham
1998	Shelter	Tom Cantrell
	Deep Impact	Otis Hefter
1999	Girl, Interrupted	Dr. Crumble
2002	Teddy Bears' Picnic	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
2009	Green Lantern: First Flight	Kanjar Ro	Voice
	All in the Bunker	Adolf Hitler	Short subject
2011	Cedar Rapids	Orin Helgesson
2012	Men in a Box	Dr. Skinner	Short subject
	Hitchcock	Geoffrey Shurlock
2013	Turbo	Indy CEO	Voice
2015	Raise the ToyGantic	Ted Greenley	Short subject
	Regular Show: The Movie	Gene	Voice
2017	Amityville: The Awakening	Dr. Milton
	El Camino Christmas	Sheriff Bob Fuller
2022	Firestarter	Dr. Joseph Wanless

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Soap	Man in laundromat	1 episode
	Me and Maxx	Dwayne	Episode: "Some Are Savers"
1980–1981	Lou Grant	DeGaetano / DeRopp / Fire Captain	3 episodes
1983	The Renegades	Captain Scanlon	6 episodes
1984	The A-Team	Mr. Carson	Episode: "The Battle of Bel Air"
	Blue Thunder	Bill Spradley	Episode: "Revenge in the Sky"
	Riptide	Merle Wilson	Episode: "The Orange Grove"
1985	Stir Crazy	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
1986	Stingray	Sgt. Edward Fiddler	Episode: "Sometimes You Gotta Sing the Blues"
	North and South	Col. Hiram Berdan	Miniseries
	Newhart	Chet	Episode: "Dick the Kid"
	The Christmas Gift	Jake Richards	Television film
1987	21 Jump Street	Spencer Phillips	2 episodes
	The New Adventures of Beans Baxter	Mr. Sue	5 episodes
1988	It's Garry Shandling's Show	Paul Bosgang	Episode: "Save the Planet"
1989	The Nightmare Years	Dr. Joseph Goebbels	Miniseries
1990	12:01 PM	Myron Castleman	Television short film
	The Famous Teddy Z		Episode: "Loyalty"
1993	Picket Fences	Barry Jenkins	Episode: "Be My Valentine"
	Big Wave Dave's	Jack Lord	6 episodes
1993–1996	Eek! The Cat	General Galapagos	Voice, 11 episodes
1993–1997	The Terrible Thunderlizards	General Galapagos	Voice, main role
1994	While Justice Sleeps	Leonard Rosenglass	Television film
1995	500 Nations		Voice, 3 episodes
1996	The X-Files	Agent Bill Patterson	Episode: "Grotesque"
	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Thrax	Episode: "Things Past"
1997	Men in Black: The Series	Agent H / Forbis	Voice, 2 episodes
	Star Trek: Voyager	Annorax	Episode: "Year of Hell"
1998	The Magnificent Seven	Col. Emmett Anderson	Episode: "Ghosts of the Confederacy"
	A Bright Shining Lie	General Westmoreland	Television film
	Safety Patrol	Principal Tromp	Television film
1998–2006	That '70s Show	Red Forman	Main cast
1999	3rd Rock from the Sun	Jacob Solomon	Episode: "Dick Solomon of the Indiana Solomons"
	Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Robert Sullivan	Voice, episode: "Seed of the Hellspawn"
2001	Gary & Mike	Officer Dick
	Batman Beyond	Agent James Bennet	Voice, episode: "Countdown"
	UC: Undercover	William Murphy	Episode: "Of Fathers and Sons"
	Justice League	Prosecutor	Voice, episode: "In Blackest Night"
2001–2002	The Zeta Project	Agent James Bennet	Voice, 14 episodes
2002	Fillmore!	Mr. Galser	Voice, episode: "To Mar a Stal"
	Everybody Loves Raymond	Famous Baseball Player
2004	Malcolm in the Middle	Principal Block	Episode: "Dirty Magazine"
2004–2006	The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy	Grim's Dad	Voice, 2 episodes
2005	Robot Chicken	Various voices	2 episodes
	Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!	Ciracus	Voice, episode: "Girl Trouble"
2006	Handy Manny	Mr. Noodlander	Voice, episode: "A Sticky Fix"
2006–2007	Squirrel Boy	Robert "Bob" Johnson	Voice, main role
2006–2009	Medium	Agent Edward Cooper	3 episodes
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	Worst Week	Dick Clayton	16 episodes
2009	24	Senator Blaine Mayer	7 episodes
	Titan Maximum	Mercury General	Voice, 2 episodes
2010	Neighbors from Hell	Don Killbride	Voice, main role
	Childrens Hospital	Ben Hayflick	2 episodes
2011	Love Bites	Ed Strathmore	Episode: "How To..."
	CHAOS	H.J. Higgins	13 episodes
	Green Lantern: The Animated Series	Shyir Rev	Voice, episode: "Beware My Power"
2012–2017	Regular Show	Gene, Park Ranger #1	Voice, recurring role
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	Body of Proof	Earl Brown	Episode: "Daddy Issues"
2013–2014	Beware the Batman	Lt. James Gordon	Voice, 15 episodes
2014–2015	Resurrection	Henry Langston	Main role
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	Agent Carter	Vernon Masters	Recurring role
2015–2018	Patriot	Leslie Claret	10 episodes
2016	TripTank	Coach	Voice, episode: "The D.O.N.G."
2016–2017	Pig Goat Banana Cricket	Angry Old Raisin	Voice, recurring role
2017–2020	The Ranch	Old Man Peterson	Recurring role (seasons 2-4)
2018	F Is for Family	Stan Chilson	Voice, episode: "Summer Vacation"
	Future Man	Vise	Episode: "The Binx Ultimatum"
2019	Perpetual Grace, LTD	Uncle Dave	Recurring role (season 1)
	Suits	Ted Tucker	Episode: "Scenic Route"
	Perfect Harmony	Tinsley	Episode: "It's Electric"
2020	Star Trek: Lower Decks	Klaar	Voice, episode: "Veritas"
2021	Jupiter's Legacy	Old Man Miller	Episode: "All the Devils Are Here"
	Ultra City Smiths	Carpenter K. Smith	Voice, recurring role
2022	The Dropout	David Boies	Recurring role
2023–2024	That '90s Show	Red Forman	Main cast, spin-off of That '70s Show
2024	Monsters at Work	Alistair Clawbottom	Voice, 3 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel	General Dekker

External links

• Kurtwood Smith at IMDb
• Kurtwood Smith at the TCM Movie Database