KEVIN SMITH The End of a Beautiful Dream

New Zealand Woman's Day - 4 March 2002

To his thousands of fans around the world he was a leather-clad Greek god, but to his family Kevin Smith was a devoted husband and father, and to his friends a great bloke. The tragic death of the strikingly handsome actor in Beijing, China last week was a devastating blow for his wife Suzanne. The childhood sweetheart she had supported for 15 years was on the brink of international stardom, having signed to star in a movie with Bruce Willis.

Dad to Oscar, 11, Tyrone, 9, and Willard, 4, Kevin had finished filming "Warriors of Virtue 2" in Beijing early so that he could head home to Auckland to spend precious time with his kids before flying to Hawaii to prepare for the Willis movie.

But on Waitangi Day, the day before Kevin was due to fly home, the actor had dinner with his crew and while waiting for his driver to take him 250km to his hotel, he went for one last look around the studio complex that had been his workplace for the past few weeks.

Alone, he climbed the tower, and for some inexplicable reason, appears to have lost his footing and fallen three storeys to a concrete floor below. When he was found some hours later, he was immediately taken to Beijing Union Hospital.

"It's such a tragedy," says Kevin's agent and closest friend, Robert Bruce. "Kevin was set for life. This was to be the new phase of his life. It marked new beginnings and the end of 12 years' bloody hard work and he and his family going without to get there.

"Before he left for China we were celebrating saying, '2002 is your year, Kevin. It is going to be for you and Sue and the kids.' It was the dream of dreams and there was going to be no looking back. Kevin had paid his dues. Now and forever more we will always wonder why. Why did this have to happen to such a great guy?"

Language problems, time differences and the political climate in China have all contributed to a frustrating lack and lag in information surrounding Kevin's untimely death. "No-one can really tell us what actually happened that night of the accident. The only one who could would be Kevin," says Robert.

While medical treatment Kevin received was faultless, confusion about the seriousness of his condition and the events leading to it was exacerbated because of the language barrier. Initial reports were that Kevin's condition was not life-threatening, and although in a coma, he was at one point able to breathe without a respirator. However, overnight he went into shock and "drifted off to sleep with Sue at his side" on Saturday, February 16. Authorities say alcohol was not a factor in the accident. Kevin had had two beers with his dinner.

Insiders say you'd never find more of a family man than Kevin Smith. Throughout the actor's 13-year climb to the top, he never forgot to pay tribute to those who kept him grounded. Ironically in his launch into international stardom, Kevin saw the chance to see more of his family, rather than less. After heading home to Auckland, the 38-year-old was to leave for Hawaii for SEAL training before starting work on "Man of War" with Willis.

Suzanne and the three boys were to fly to Hawaii and stay in a beautiful suite where Kevin was to be based for four months. Now, friends say, Suzanne has asked to be left alone while she spends private time with the boys who now face their futures without the dad who was the coolest for getting gunged on kids' show "What Now?"

Kevin once told Women's Day after returning from a three-month meet-and-greet trip to Hollywood that "being away from my wife and my boys was like this physical pain. The fact that it took me a couple of seconds to recognise my own son made me think I could never leave them for that length of time again."

Balancing time between family and career was always the hardest thing for Kevin, who constantly credited his childhood sweetheart Suzanne for enabling him to have both. He said, "My wife Suzy's really good. She says, 'It's what you do. It's how we live'. But I try, if I can to fit my work around my family."

Indeed, it was Suzanne who triggered his start in acting at the relatively late age of 25, a move which saw her giving up her career in Christchurch to support her husband and move to Auckland. No sooner had they arrived than the job fell through and the couple was left with no money and plenty of bills. "At times I feel terrible because I dragged Suzy up from Christchurch where she had a great career as a social worker, so I could work in Auckland as an actor," Kevin said after another Hollywood trip to try his luck.

Despite his fierce ambition, this was the man who described being a dad as "the best gig in the world". He also regretted missing key moments of his boys' childhood due to work commitments and did his utmost to spend quality time with them when he was home. "I missed my first two sons walking and it was their first season of rugby this year and I missed half of it because I was away working. That bums me out in ways I can't even tell you. I get very emotional about the kids. I hate having to drop Oscar at school - on his first day I almost couldn't let him go. Once when I dropped him off at kindy he cried out, 'Dad, Dad', and turned around with big tears in his eyes. So I went back and got him and took him home!"

Kevin was realistic at the same time however, saying, "If I don't work then I can't support them, so I have just had to accept it. Suzy has always been so supportive of me. Some people may have seen it as irresponsible my using part of the deposit for a house to go overseas, but Suzy and I took the view that whatever was spent was an investment for our future."

That is the bitter injustice that Kevin's close friends and family are struggling to come to terms with, that the many years of sacrifice were about to reap dividends. But more tragic than any script, his family's final moments with Kevin were to be at his bedside in Beijing.

His Xena co-star and friend Lucy Lawless says, "He could and would talk to anyone, man, woman, child, black, white, US President or film set extra. You were his equal, unless of course you were Sean Fitzpatrick, in which case he would faint the second you extended your hand..."

Comedian and DJ Willy de Wit joined people from comic circles like Jeremy Corbett, Scott Blanks and Mike King at an Auckland pub last week for an impromptu wake. "There wasn't a dry eye or a dry glass," Willy told Woman's Day. That's how he would have wanted it, jokes about him and people giving him a hard time. He did have it all," Willy says of his friend of 14 years. "The most bloody talented bas....I've ever seen in my life. The looks, extraordinary acting talent, great comic timing, natural athleticism, a stunning singing voice. But he wasn't perfect, he supported Canterbury rugby team!"

Mike King remembers the time they were all at the Queenstown Winter Festival looking for a bar. "We ended up at Chico's and there was a queue of about 40 people waiting to get in. I said, 'What should we do?' Kevin said, 'Never walk to the front of a line,' so we stood in the queue, and the bouncers tried to wave us up before everyone else. He said, 'No, these guys were here before us', so they had to let 40 people in! Then we couldn't get to the bar because 40 people were trying to buy this man a beer!"

Actor Mark Ferguson, famous for presenting the TV show "The Mole," credits Suzanne for keeping her much-in-demand husband focused. "He was a family man. That is one of the most heartbreaking things, especially because Kevin was now finally on his way with everything. He was now going to be allowed to spend more time with his family because he was getting to the big time, and higher paying projects that would mean his family could travel with him and he could have more time off between jobs. Sue made a lot of sacrifices for Kevin and his career. He couldn't have spent the time in L.A. and he couldn't have achieved what he did achieve without her. Her pay-off was beginning to happen too. She kept him grounded and he liked that.

Kevin sang at Mark's wedding three years ago. "He sang a duet with Helen Medlyn, the opera singer, and put together this 60s lounge piece. He did a Dean Martin, cocktail in hand, and staggered up to the microphone. I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, Kevin's got drunk at my wedding and he's going to destroy it.' But he arrived on cue with Helen and sang this most beautiful ultra-romantic duet, 'Something Stupid', which was a thousand times better than anything Robbie Willams and Nicole Kidman could do.

He might be a leather-clad god from "Hercules" to those Internet fans, but to me he is still hat mullet-haired boy from Timaru that we all fell in love with. He was a wonderful man who would still cry when Canterbury lost the rugby."

Kevin had a friendly word for everyone, with many locals in Ellerslie, where the family made their home, feeling the loss. Joe Wilson, principal at Ellerslie School, which both Oscar and Tyrone attended, remarks that Kevin was not one to 'big note'. "He never hesitated bringing them to school, he didn't bother about what sort of car he drove - he was just Tyrone's dad. We had a little talk about Kevin in assembly, then had a moment's silence and flew the flag at half mast."

Meanwhile, friends and relatives wait to see what Suzanne wants to do on her return with Kevin's body, to remember her husband in the most fitting way. Kevin's agent once told him that his greatest success would come in his 40s. "The 40th is at hand," Kevin said recently. "Greatness can only be around the corner!"

According to his fans, friends and family, he was already there.

Story: Maryvonne Gray/Louise Wright