KEVIN SMITH (ACTOR)

'Kevin Tod Smith' (March 16, 1963 - February 15, 2002) was a New Zealand actor best known for playing the Greek god Ares, of war in the television programs '', '' and ''Young Hercules''. He died on February 15, 2002, twenty-nine days before he would have reached the age of 39, after an accident on set in China.

Contents

Biography

His early life

Career

His death

Trivia

Filmography

Starring Roles

Guest appearances

External links

Biography

His early life

Kevin Smith's mother was Tongan, and his father hailed from New Zealand. Smith's family moved to the South Island town of Timaru when he was eleven. He attended Timaru Boys' High School from 1976 to 1979. Drama was an interest throughout high school, and incidentally, in 1979 he was in the drama club alongside future well-known Auckland drag artist Mika (Neil Gudsell).
Smith played in rock and roll bands during high school. He also loved rugby and hoped to become a member of New Zealand's world-famous rugby team, the All Blacks.
At the age of 17, Smith moved to Christchurch, and worked at various jobs before enrolling in Canterbury University at the age of 20. In 1986 he married his high school sweetheart, Sue, with whom he had three sons: Oscar, Tyrone and Willard.

Career

Smith got into acting by accident: he suffered a brain concussion while playing college rugby in 1987 and was forced to sit on the sidelines for almost three weeks. His wife saw a casting call advertisement for the touring musical tribute to Elvis Presley, ''Are You Lonesome Tonight'', and signed up Kevin for an audition. He got the role of bodyguard JoJoe and was the lead understudy.
Later that year, Smith joined Christchurch's Court Theatre and performed on stage for the next three years in a variety of roles including Don Pedro in Shakespeare's ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. In 1989, he got the role of charming "bad boy" Demian Vermeer on the New Zealand primetime soap opera ''Gloss'', and moved to Auckland to work on the series' final season.
In 1993, Smith played Lawrence Hayes in ''Desperate Remedies''. He then appeared as Paul Cosic in the last two seasons of the primetime drama ''Marlin Bay''. For this role, he won the 1995 New Zealand Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He screen-tested for the lead role in Paramount's big budget action-film The Phantom, but the role ultimately went to Billy Zane instead. His fellow cast member, low-budget-movie actor and Pacific Renaissance Pictures partner Bruce Campbell, was also one of the contenders for the role of the legendary superhero.
Also in 1995, Smith appeared on ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' as Hercules' half-brother, Iphicles. Later he joined the cast of ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' as Ares, a role he eventually reprised on ''Hercules'' and ''Young Hercules''. As the dark and dangerously seductive Greek god of war, Smith gained legions of fans.
While guest-starring on ''Xena'' and ''Hercules'', Smith also appeared in other TV shows and films, notably as detective John Lawless in three TV movies: ''Lawless'' (1999), ''Lawless 2: Dead Evidence'' (2000), and ''Lawless 3: Beyond Justice'' (2001).
Smith also continued to act in the theater and played in a number of New Zealand's alternative rock bands. He was one of the lead singers of The Wide Lapels, a band famous for its campy performances of the worst songs of the 1970s.

His death

In a tragically ironic twist, Kevin Smith, whose acting career had been launched due to an accidental injury, had his life cut short by an accidental injury on the verge of what would have been his Hollywood debut. He had been cast in a supporting role in the movie ''Tears of the Sun'', starring Bruce Willis. First, however, he traveled to China to film the movie ''.
On February 6, 2002, while waiting for a ride back to the hotel after completing his work on the set, Smith decided to walk around the Central China Television film studio grounds and climbed a prop tower on the set of another film. He lost his footing and fell approximately three stories, suffering severe head injuries. Smith was sent to a local hospital, then transferred to Beijing. He lapsed into a coma and was kept on life support for ten days when his family decided to let him go. He died on February 15 without regaining consciousness. He is survived by his wife and his three sons.

Trivia

★ Kevin Smith acted out the same character, that of Ares, on , and Young Hercules simultaneously.

★ His nickname was "Smithy."

★ His hobbies were rugby and painting.

★ He sang in the celebrity band The Wide Lapels and also in his early bands, Say Yes to Apes and Hyphen-Smythe.

Filmography

Starring Roles

'Year'	'Title'	'Role'	'Other Remarks'
1987	''"Gloss"''		TV Series
1991	''Mon Desir''
1991	''"Away Laughing"''	Various Characters	TV Series
1992	''"Shortland Street"''	Jed	TV Series
1993	''Desperate Remedies''	Lawrence Hayes
1994	''Kevin Rampenbacker And The Electric Kettle''
1994	''"Marlin Bay"''	Paul Cosic	TV Series
1994	''"Heartland"''	Shorty Carmichael	Mini Series
1995	''	Ares/Iphicles	(1995-1999) TV Series
1995	''Xena, Warrior Princess''	Ares, God of War	(1995-2001) TV Series
1996	''McLeod's Daughters''	Rod	TV
1998	''"Young Hercules"''	Ares	TV Series
1998	''Flatmates''	TV
1998	''	Ares (provided character voice)	Produced For Direct Video
1998	''Young Hercules''	Ares, Hercules' Half Bro/Pellas	Video
1999	''Channelling Baby''	Geoff
1999	''Lawless''	John Lawless	TV
2000	''	John Lawless
2000	''Jubilee''	Max Seddon
2001	''The Meeting''	Wallace Greenway
2001	''	John Lawless
2002	''	Dogon
2003	''Riverworld''	Valdemar	TV (voice dubbed)

Guest appearances

'Year'	'Title'	'Role'	'Installment'
1996	''"Naked: Stories of Men"''	Ted	1.2 "''Fisherman's Wake''"
1996	''"City Life"''	Damon South	1.1
1996	''"City Life"''	Damon South	1.2
1997	''"Wildside"''	Lenny Maddox	1.2
1998	''"F/X: The Series"''	Ricky Delacruz	2.13 "''Vigilantes''"
1998	''"Wildside"''	Lenny Maddox	1.34
1999	''"Wildside"''	Lenny	2.9
2000	''"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"''	Himself	3.4

External links

★

★ Devoted to Smithy (fan site)

★ The Kevin Smith Trust Fund

★ See Ares/Kevin Smith's props and costumes at The Xena Museum