Kurtwood Smith: From Ultra-Bad Guy to Ultra-Bad Dad
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
I love the TV series That 70’s Show, and really enjoy the performance of Kurtwood Smith as the eternally-angry and insulting father Red Foreman – but it was one year prior to the show’s debut that I sent an autograph request to Kurtwood Smith on October 14, 1997. My primary reason for writing him was because of his appearance of the quirky psycho killer Barry Jenkins in my all-time favorite episode of my all-time favorite drama Picket Fences – perhaps the most appropriately cast role in the history of television. That guy really scared me. Read the rest of this entry »
If you don’t instantly recognize the name M. Emmet Walsh, perhaps there’s one thing that should know about him: he hates these cans! Yes, among his nearly 200 roles in film and television, he was the mad gunman who tries to mow down Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) in The Jerk. In fact, movies and TV have been riddled with memorable appearances of Mr. Walsh since the early 1970’s. 
Okay, okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Richard Libertini does not exactly possess a household name as of yet. But I’m betting that most of you recognize him in the photo at right. That’s from All of Me and he’s the guy who played the swami Prahka who continuously repeated ‘bakinbol, bakinbol’ – interpreted as ‘back in bowl.’ He was also the ever-exasperated Frank, boss to Chevy Chase’s Fletch. And then there was his role as Sidney in Robert DeNiro’s Awakenings. And his two appearances in The Bob Newhart Show, once as a doctor and once as psychotic patient Mr. Twillmer. So as you can see, it shouldn’t surprise you that Richard Libertini’s resume spans forty years and well over a hundred various roles in film and television. 
September 1997 had been very good to me in the way of through-the-mail autograph collecting. As you have seen, I had a multitude of successes and only a handful of unanswered requests. The failures were Suzy Delair, Kathy Shower, Orson Bean, Jason Bateman, Barbi Benton, and Alyssa Milano. Quite an eclectic crew, wouldn’t you say? As October began, the natural follow-up to my previous request of 
I grew up watching syndicated reruns of Carol Burnett and Friends, and one of my favorite parts of the show was always waiting to see how long it would take for Tim Conway to crack up Harvey Korman in the show. It was like a game that we were all in on. Korman always did a remarkably good job and every once in a while he would even turn the tables. Throughout Harvey Korman’s forty years of acting, he starred in everything from television shows to his own variety show, and from low budget rubbish to blockbuster films.