Kurtwood Smith
as
Red Forman
Kurtwood Smith portrays Red Forman, the ultra- conservative Dad to Eric on "THAT '70s SHOW".
Smith born in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, was raised in California. He studied drama at the College of San Mateo and San Jose State and earned a drama fellowship for Stanford's MFA program. In the mid '70s, he began working regularly at the California Actor's Theatre in Los Gatos and moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to seek film and television roles.
Smith has made several memorable guest appearances for TV shows including "The X Files," "Magnificent Seven," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Deep Space Nine" and "Picket Fences." He was also a series regular on "Big Wave Dave." In addition to starring in the mini- series "North and South II" and "The Nightmare Years," he appeared in telefilms such as "A Bright Shining Lie," "While Justice Sleeps," "Doorways" and "The Christmas Gift."
No stranger to the silver screen, Smith has appeared in several highly successful films including, "Girl Interrupted," the 1998 Dreamworks film "Deep Impact," critically acclaimed "A Time To Kill," John Woo's "Broken Arrow," "Under Seige 2: Dark Territory," "To Die For" with Golden Globe winner Nicole Kidman and Academy-award-winning "Dead Poets Society" with Robin Williams. Smith also had a starring role in short film "12:01 P.M." which was nominated for an Oscar for "Best Short Film." Additional film credits include "Citizen Ruth," "Last Of The Dogman," "Prefontaine," "The Crush," "Fortress," "Boxing Helena," Quick Change," "Rambo II," "Oscar 1991," "True Believer," and "Robocop."
How he is like Red:
"Red is actually very much like my father was. He's a good father; he's primarily interested in thheir son's doing the right thing. He picks on Eric because he expects more from his son. He's trying to prepare him for the world (in which) Red grew up as opposed to the world Eric will be growing up in."
Favorite Red moment:
A defining moment for the relationship between Red and Eric was in one of our early episodes, when Eric has gotten himself into trouble, and he complains that he doesn't know why bad things always happen to him. Red tells him: 'Bad things don't just happen to you because you're unlucky. Bad things happen to you because you're a dumbass.'
Smith currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Joan.
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