Kurtwood Smith

There are a number of actors and actresses who I believe are severely underrated and underpublicized, and underutilized. Within this blog, I'll be discussing many of them. The actor having the honor of being the first is...Kurtwood Smith.

Kurtwood Smith has starred and appeared in various films and television shows. He made his big screen debut in The Deer Hunter (1978), which starred Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken (back in his villain-playing days), and Meryl Streep. Aside from television shows and movies, Smith as also taken part in animated shows, such as in a couple of episodes of Robot Chicken in 2005, and served as a voice actor for many video games such as Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel in 2001. However, Smith is probably best known for his roles of the main antagonist Clarence Boddicker in Robocop (1987), Senator Blaine Mayer in 6 episodes of 24 in 2009, and of course, the father of the house, Reginald "Red" Forman in That 70's Show (1998-2006).

I watch That 70's Show every weekday after I come home from class. Like clockwork, it is always on FX in the late afternoon. (Two episodes in a row...YES!) And Red Forman is one of my favorite characters on the show, not just because he is the smart-alecky, war veteran, post-Korean father figure, but he also has great comedic timing and has a commanding presence.

I didn't watch the show when it was originally on, starting in 1998. I didn't really get into it until after 2004 or 2005 when reruns from FOX started being shown on its sister channel, FX. I was then able to watch all the episodes from the beginning. The first time I watched an episode of That 70's Show, I watched the opening credits and saw that Smith was playing the father, and I said to myself "The guy who played Clarence Boddicker in Robocop is in a family sitcom? The guy who blew Peter Weller's hand off with a shotgun? The guy who made a funny catchphrase out of 'Bitches, leave'?"

But, then I started watching the show and found out that he was actually hysterical and not only was able to do comedy, but he was able to do more dramatic scenes when the show called for it. Not to mention, the unending barrage of "foot in ass" jokes. Smith has a great range that I don't believe was every properly displayed. Unfortunately, at 66, Smith's career is winding down. I don't think he could've shared the screen with some of Hollywood's A-list stars...I think he could have BEEN one of Hollywood's A-list stars if he had reached popularity 20 years earlier than he really did. Luckily, Smith will be remembered for one of his best performances and best characters, Red Forman, although he wishes he could be remembered for some of the other characters:

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