Kevin Smith

In 1991, Smith returned to the stage displaying his buff, hirsute body playing a male stripper in the hit "Ladies Night" but after the play's final performance, he was the victim of a attack by a group of disgruntled youth. Unable to work for a while, Smith was forced to make his living doing temp work (at a bank) and as a manual laborer. His hiatus was short-lived, however, when he landed the recurring role of a hunky aerobics instructor on the New Zealand serial "Shortland Street" and friend Michael Hurst cast him in a stage production of "Cabaret." Smith completely rebounded when he signed on to the long-term role of ruthless businessman Paul Cosic on "Marlin Bay." In between, the actor found time for his first film lead as a penniless immigrant hired by a wealthy woman to romance her drug-addicted sister in the period romance "Desperate Remedies" (1993), which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Hoping to capitalize on the buzz surrounding his debut as a feature leading man, Smith ventured to Los Angeles and made the casting rounds. Reportedly, he auditioned for the lead in "The Phantom" (1996) but lost out to Billy Zane, and was under consideration for a recurring part on "NYPD Blue" but immigration snafus curtailed that opportunity. Although Smith had declined the chance to audition for the lead in a series of telefilms about the mythological figure Hercules, the producers were impressed enough to offer him the recurring roles of Herc's sibling Iphicles in the syndicated "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys." The same producers then tapped him to play Ares on their sister production "Xena: Warrior Princess" and Smith gained international attention and a large fan base portraying the sinister but smoldering god of war on both shows. Over the course of his run on them, he was able to demonstrate his versatility tackling romantic and comedic storylines and even demonstrating his accomplished singing voice in musical episodes. While Ares was another in the string of bad boys that became Smith's stock in trade, the actor was able to continue to hone his craft on stage (in productions like "Othello" in 1995) and in other roles. In 1996, the very macho performer caused a minor sensation by engaging in the first male-to-male kiss on New Zealand television when he was cast as a sexually ambiguous landlord who falls prey to a murderer in the serial "City Life." He also co-starred as an Australian bushman in the telefilm "McLeod's Daughters" (also 1996). After reprising Ares in the spin-off Fox Family Channel series "Young Hercules" in 1998, Smith returned to the big screen as a Vietnam veteran in the drama "Channelling Baby" (1999) and in a pivotal role as a rugby player in "Jubilee" (2000). Back on the small screen, he earned plaudits for his work as an undercover cop in a series of telefilms, "Lawless" (1999), "Lawless - Dead Evidence" (2000) and "Lawless - Beyond Justice" (2001). Having eschewed Hollywood because of his family, Smith was poised to finally cash in on the international success of "Hercules" and "Xena" in 2002. He had been cast in support of Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci in "Hostile Acts/Man of War" but first had a commitment to the film "Warriors of Virtue II" in China. Having completed his role in that film, Smith suffered an accident and fell a reported six stories in early February, suffering head injuries. He remained in a coma for about ten days before he succumbed to septic shock at the age of 38.