ALL CELEBRITIES

BIOGRAPHIES

FILMOGRAPHIES

PHOTO GALLERIES

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

ARTICLES AND
INTERVIEWS

CELEBRITIES ON WEB

ENTERTAINMENT STORE

WEBMASTERS

PRIVACY POLICY

CONTACT US

More photos...

Birth name Kevin Smith Date of birth (location) 16 March 1963, New Zealand Date of death (details) 15 February 2002, Beijing, China. (Injury due to a fall on the set) Height 6' 3" (1.91 m)

He was born in Auckland, New Zealand and spent his early childhood there. His family moved to the small rural town of Timaru in New Zealand's South Island when he was 11. During high school, he began playing in rock-and-roll bands, but never aspired to a career as an actor. He had a passion for rugby and his dream was to play for the All Blacks, New Zealand's world-famous rugby team. At 17, Smith moved to Christchurch and worked at various jobs before enrolling in Canterbury University at the age of 20. He married his childhood sweetheart, Sue, and stumbled into acting literally by accident when he suffered a concussion playing college rugby in 1987. He was forced to sit on the sidelines for nearly three weeks and during that period, Sue saw a casting call ad for the touring company of Are You Lonesome Tonight, the musical tribute to Elvis Presley, and signed Kevin up for an audition. He landed the part of one of the bodyguards and was understudy to the lead. He had played in a number of alternative rock bands in New Zealand and he was one of the lead singers of The Wide Lapels.

Kevin died in Beijing, China after suffering a severe head injury in a fall. He had just finished work on Warriors of Virtue II (2002) (V) at Beijing Film Studio. Kevin was eager to work on the film because of the opportunity to work with a stuntman from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Kevin was injured on February 6, 2002, the day after he had finished work on the film. Some sources have said that he fell from a height possibly as great as six storeys. His injuries were critical and he was put on life-support. He passed away 10 days later in his sleep. His wife Suzanne, and parents Geoff and Yvonne were with him. At the time of his death, he left 3 young sons: Oscar, 11, Tyrone, 9, and Willard, 3. In March 2002 he was due to begin filming in Hawaii for the action film 'Man of War' starring Bruce Willis. This would have been his first role in a major blockbuster and could have finally put him on the US movie map. Kevin was an extremely popular attraction at numerous Xena/Hercules conventions in the US. He was extremely talented and an accomplished singer and musician, but even bigger than his talent was his heart.

The source is Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com)