MistyMountainHop

Kurtwood Smith says strangers often approach him on the street, pleading to be called a dumb-ass as only Smith can utter the insult. "Dumb-ass" became his catch phrase in eight seasons as the paternally gruff Reginald "Red" Forman on That '70s Show. He was offered the role because the producers wanted a no-nonsense, Chuck Norris type, and Norris himself turned it down. He says his performance was inspired by his own stepfather, who died just as That '70s Show first went into production.

Smith was an infant when his real father, a fighter pilot in World War II, died after being shot down on a bombing run over Germany. His mother wanted to name him Kurt, but she added the extra 'wood' because she thought the name 'Kurt Smith' sounded too curt and insignificant. Smith suspects he is the world's only Kurtwood.

He was a longtime character actor before his sitcom success, usually playing cops, crooks, and other tough guys. On TV, he played the coldhearted Capt Joseph Scanlon on the mid-1980s undercover cop show Renegades with Patrick Swayze and Tracy Scoggins. In the late-80s New Adventures of Beans Baxter, Smith played the sinister mastermind who perpetually threatened the teenage spy Beans. In a funny but short-lived 1993 sitcom about a Hawaiian surf shop, Big Wave Dave's with David Morse and Jane Kaczmarek, Smith played a wacky freeloader who improbably claimed to be Hawaii Five-O's Jack Lord. He also provides the voice of Andy's father on Squirrel Boy. Fans of Star Trek know Smith as the Cardassian Thrax on Deep Space Nine, the time traveler Annorax on Voyager, and the President of the Federation in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

In his best-remembered movie roles, he played John Travolta's choreographer in Staying Alive, the sadistic second-string bad-guy who worked for Ronny Cox in RoboCop, Robert Sean Leonard's domineering father in Dead Poets Society, Nicole Kidman's clueless father in To Die For, the Secretary of Defense in Travolta's Broken Arrow, and one of Winona Ryder's several psychiatrists in Girl, Interrupted. In his quintessential film performance, he played the cruel warden of a privatized prison in Fortress with Christopher Lambert, and he took a rare leading role in Hard Scrambled, an independent drama where his thuggish character wants control of a run-down diner.

Smith's wife is actress Joan Pirkle. They both worked on Robocop, where she played Cox's secretary, and Smith's character made a pass at her. Off-camera, Smith and Pirkle are longtime activists for single-payer universal health care.

MistyMountainHop

I like that explanation. She probably didn't want to come off as a blithering drunk.

Ooh, I didn't even think about one of Kitty's exes. We never really saw Red jealous -- except for the episode where he felt a bit threatened by Dr. Cloak. In "Leo Loves Kitty," I'm never sure whether to take Red seriously during this exchange:

RED: But, Kitty, you gotta understand -- if I got mad at every guy that looked at you, I'd drive myself crazy. I don't even wanna think about all those patients down at the hospital making googly eyes at you.

KITTY: Not to mention the doctors.

RED: Don't get me started on those perverts! They think the nursing staff is their own personal dating service. Glorified plumbers!

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I'd like to think he was serious, but considering all that came before it -- with him pretending to be jealous of Leo -- I have doubts. He might've just found a better way to appease Kitty.

Eloise! Yeah, if Eloise came back into Red's life ... now that would be interesting. I wonder if old feelings would stir up.

nannygirl704

First off Lisa, thanks for the new thread! I LOVE the new title! That scene is one of my favorites

LOL glad that you like that explanation, it fits in my mind!

I think seeing one of Kitty’s exes would have been more interesting than seeing one of Red’s. Though we didn’t see much of Red being the jealous type we did hear stories. Like that lifeguard he punched for pinching Kitty and the doctor he punched out when Kitty first started working at the hospital, though both of those could have had more to them than jealously like protecting Kitty.

And in Leo Loves Kitty, it does seem like an act Red’s putting on when Leo’s there and it’s hard to tell if he’s being serious after he shuts the door on Leo. In my mind, the part with Leo was an act but then maybe as he’s going on the real jealousy from years before starts to rebuild and so when he goes on about the doctors he’s being serious. Could be wrong. But I would like to think that if it was still an act after Kitty leaves the room we would have seen Red smile a bit and shake his head as she leaves before sitting down in his chair—that’s how I would have ended it if the whole thing was an act. Again just me

But like I was saying before I think it would’ve been interesting to see one of Kitty’s exes because I could see Red getting jealous and I think I could better picture Kitty forming a close friendship (or at least having lunch with or something) rather than Red and one of his exes. And Red would perhaps get jealous of the time she was spending with this other guy…Oo I’m suddenly getting a story forming in my head, would you mind if I added something like this to my list of future RK stories?

Red seeing Eloise would have been interesting and I think it may have even gotten Red a little tongue tied…again another idea! Lol You know, seeing Lynn Taylor again could have been fun too with showing the boys reaction. She was runner up of Miss Wisconsin wasn’t she?

BTW Mind if I contribute some RK artwork too? Nothing too fancy

msstock87

Thanks for the new thread!

Prissy, I love that artwork, it's beautiful!

I would have loved to see one of Kitty's exes too, to see how Red would react. I think that would have been a great episode.

MistyMountainHop

You're welcome!

Oh, that's right! And I think that was Red's protective side coming out more than anything. I almost wrote "Hyde" there instead of "Red". Well, that's one of their similarities -- protectiveness of their women.

This all makes sense to me. It was just a weird transition from faking it to getting sincerely worked up -- so that's where my doubts come in. But I'd like to believe he was sincere, so I will.

Yes! Write it, Prissy! *wants to see it*

She was. And I'd love it if you wrote that story, too.

KITTY: And there you were at the movies, in front of God and everybody, slurping on horse-face Lynn Taylor like she was a Popsicle.

RED: Kitty...

KITTY: A big, easy, horse-face Popsicle!

RED: Horse-face? She was a runner-up in the Miss Wisconsin pageant! ... Which she lost because she was such a horse-face!



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Thanks for the art, Prissy! I added it to the OP.

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ETA: I used a lot of emoticons in this post.

msstock87

I just watched that episode the other day with horse face Lynn Taylor! It always cracks me up!

MistyMountainHop

Kitty could definitely get into a snit when she was in the mood, but -- at least in the early seasons -- Red knew what to say to coax her out of it.

msstock87

Exactly, early Red knew exactly how to calm Kitty down and to help her get back to her happy place.

nannygirl704

LOL yeah that’s happened to me a few times too. The two really do have quite a few similarties.

Glad that it made sense, Lisa. It was a weird transition and there are even parts in the dialogue where it sounds like he’s making it up as he goes along but I didn’t see that ending scene leik the one I mentioned before so in my head it was sincere

Thanks for the support Lisa! Added both stories to my list of future RK stories. I have so many of them that I have to write them down lol Some are short others not so much.

And thanks to both you ladies on the kind words on the artwork. It’s one of my personal faves. It’s RK, from Kitty’s Birthday episode, Red in a cowboy hat, and George Strait lyrics

MistyMountainHop

You hit the nail on the head. That's why the scene confuses me because it seems like Red's making it up as he goes along. Like, scrambling to say something convincing. But then he says it so angrily, and that doesn't seem insincere. Hence, my :confusion:

Awesome. I keep getting inspiration for T7S stories, and it's frustrating 'cause I know I don't have time to write them all.

msstock87

That scene always confused me too. It did seem Red was making it up as he went along. I think he was being sincere and wanted to make Kitty feel better, just was maybe going about it the wrong way.

MistyMountainHop

WITH A FIERY PASSION THAT CONSUMED HIS SOUL!

()

I wonder if -- in the kids' younger days -- Red ever tried with Kelso to smarten him up (and not with threads of bodily harm). Like sat Kelso down and actually tried to talk common sense into him.

msstock87

That would have been interesting to see Red sit down with Kelso. I did like the scene where they were putting together the new paddles in the garage.

MistyMountainHop

Oh, yeah! Red/Kelso bonding. Red wanted Kelso to stay with him at Bargain Bob's to play Pong.

jessec12

Those few scenes in S1 to me showed that Red didn't hate Kelso. But then after that it seemed like most times Red saw him he wanted to stick a foot up his rear end.

I liked Red's line in the ep with the canoe (S6) where he says about Kelso "he may not be smart but he has more fun than all of us combined". Something like that.