The tears just won't stop pouring.

Gentle giant indeed.

KEVIN SMITH DIES AND TRIBUTES
FLOW
UPDATED: 05:46PM SATURDAY 16 FEBRUARY

One of New Zealand's most popular actors has
died in China.

Kevin Smith died in Beijing early this morning,
after suffering major head injuries from a fall.

The loss has hit New Zealand's acting and
entertainment community hard. Today they paid
tribute to him.

The same courage with which Kevin Smith threw
himself into challenging roles, was pushed to the
limit over the past 10 days, as he fought on a
hospital bed in Beijing, for his life.

Simon Prast, from the Auckland Theatre
Company, commented that, "I think everyone's
feelings are very raw because Kevin was so
strong in life, had such strength and was so vital
and you can say of all the people... these were
not phone calls that I had expected to get
today."

Early this morning the well loved actor died. News
spread quickly through New Zealand's close
entertainment community.

Smith had just finished work on a martial arts
movie called 'Warriors of virtue 2'.

It's understood he suffered a massive head
trauma after falling from a great height.

The accident didn't happen on set, and for over
a week friends here have waited anxiously.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand, a good friend of Smith's,
commented that, "We've all been maintaining a
very positive outlook. We all knew it was
extremely serious, but we were all hoping he
would come home because we all love him."

Smith's quick wit and sense of humour made
him a popular star on shows like 'The Panel',
and in comedy debates.

Despite being billed New Zealand's sexiest man,
in 'The Love Mussell' he had a chance to laugh
at himself.

Ward-Lealand says that, "He put himself so
intelligently on the line and was so... he had
such a good sense of humour, he put the
charactiture of Kevin Smith into that film."

The role Smith was best known for, was as Ares
in Xena.

Prast remembers Kevin Smith as, "In life he was
full of love and laughter, a softie really,
bemused by his many blessings which he freely
shared. This is a very sad day, he was a prince
of a man and we will miss him sorely."

It's believed Smith was on the verge of breaking
into Hollywood with a part in an upcoming Bruce
Willis action movie.

Although he'll never fulfill that dream, for his
family, friends and fans he'll always be
remembered as a gentle giant, a super hero
with a super heart.

Thank you {{{Kendaa}}}

Please continue to post news here. I have been unable to read many of
the threads at TX. I don't know why; probably they are too big for webTV, especially if they have lots of images.

Sadly,
Tabbycat

how aptly put - "a prince of a man"


'
'
'

mallenia

It doesn't help, though.

Isn't that terrible? All of the wonderful thoughts and feelings in the world won't help.

Maybe later.

totally.

'shana

For all the pain we are feeling, his family is feeling so much more.

~dries eyes again~ And the one thing that got me through my Dad's funeral, was all the wonderful words that people spoke.

Not just the condolences, but the memories they shared with me.

Right now, memories of Kevin Smith and the times I have shared with the many I met because of those two campy shows he was on, are getting me through this and even... giving me a smile through the tears.

{{{{{{{{{{{Herc/Smith/Xena}}}}}}}}}}}}}

El

Absolutely nothing, and part of what hurts so bad is knowing how bad Sue and Kev's boys and family are hurting right now.

It is a beautiful tribute though, and when I feel up to it in time, I'm going to put it on my Smithy web site, because people who didn't know him should read how other people saw him.

All I can say is that God had bigger plans for him, and we will never know what they are. But I will trust that God will make good use of his newest Angel.
And I know in my heart of hearts that he will ALWAYS be with his boys. May God bless them all and may they find comfort in Him.

It's funny, Laurissa said exactly that to me on the phone last night - that God had a new Angel, and I believe that with all my heart.

{{{{{{{Kendaa}}}}}}}

Hollywood beckoned for Mr Nice Guy Kevin.
Kiwi hearttrob Kevin Smith was set to break into Hollywood before his
death in China.
The hunky 38 year old actor was in Beijing filming the martial arts movie
Warriors of virtue 2 when he was rushed to hospital after a tragis
accident.
Kevin's brroding good looks had won him attention of Hollywood movie
makers, after his starring role as war-god ares in cult TV fanasty series
Xena - Warrior princess.
He had won a role in the blockbuster Bruce Willis action flick Man of
war, to start filming in Hawaii next month.
Kevin's movie career started after he was concussed in a rugby game
playing for Canterbury in 1987.
He was forced to sit on the sideline for 3 weeks so his wife Suzanne
signed him up for an audition for the musical tribute for Elvis Presley.
He landed the part of a bodyguard.
Widely regarded as NZ's sexiest man, Kevin became a star of homegrown TV
soaps.
In 1995 he won his first national film & TV award - as best suporting
actor in Marlin Bay.
He also starred in Gloss & Marlin Bay.
Kevin was propelled on to the world stage with Xena - a smah hit in
America.
Kevin was also a star of theatre - wowing fans last year with his
performances in the blue room and a streetcar named desire.
He had been signed to play Dr Frank N Furter in a remake of The rocky
horror picture show.
An all-round talent, Kevin also did some stand-up comedy and snag in band
The wide lapels.
Considered the Mr nice guy of NZ acting, he was a devoted family man.
His plans for 2002 included spending more time with his wife, who was his
childhood sweethaert, and their 3 sons -Oscar 11, Tyrone 9, and Willard,
3.
"I'd like to be less selfish and spend more time with my family. I've
realised that not everything is about me," he told sunday news late last
year.
"I also want to get really fit. I've just been maintaining my body but I
want to have a really good go at it in 2002."

{{{{{{{{Everyone}}}}}}}

I'm so hearbroken over this. It's just so sad and so unfair. I believe this is my first time posting here. I really miss you guys. I have two pics of Kevin as Ares I would like to put up. Is it okay to put pics in messages on this board?

Hugs,

shauna

Feel free to post 'em as you'd like. And thanx for wanting to share them with us.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Shauna}}}}}}}}}}}}

Most of you have seen these pics but they are the only ones I have right now. I'm down here in Florida and all my HerK stuff is at home. I just wanted to pay my respects in some way. Thanks guys!

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

Hugs,

shauna

I think I just need to collect a few more of these tributes...

mallenia

There are some beautiful tributes at Nzoom.

http://onenews.nzoom.com/news_detail/0,1227,81931-1-7,00.html


They have a gallery of pics of Kev, including a beautiful one of Sue turning to him and smiling just as he was awarded Best Supporting Actor in the 90s. They also have two beautiful RA videos among other things.

And of course I'm in tears again.

Mortals, Walls, and Heroes
A wall is put between mortals and heroes
Mortals' moral condition grave
Never to know the spring
Of soul's nobility
The Heroes break down
The wall that exists
Between themselves and mortals
Every hero
Rises from the grave
From the winter of despair
To the spring of triumph
Walls, mortals put up walls
Between themselves and their heroes
They say, "I'll never be as good. . . "
But they need not, for in the spring
Their courage shall rise
From the cold, dark grave
Of winter


Lura Anne Puhala

know i cannot find the words to comfort you all; tributes are lovely and so is the poem, aquila!
many big comforting hugs!
Sapph

OK, did anyone watch the episode "Eternal Bonds"?

If so, you may remember this quote. If not, you'll see it for the first time.

Either way, it's just a good thing to bear in mind right now...

"There is no going back...I have a short span of time and then … I'm gone."

but I've changed my front page at ask 'shana for a time...

'shana

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{'shana}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

It's beautiful

Thank you ... I was trying not to go too 'over the top'

I didn't know what else to do...

'shana

You couldn't have done better, hon. It sooo captures the essence of our Kev.

All of it is wonderful. When you all said that God just got a new angel- it really got me.
{{{{{{{{{{{{Forum friends}}}}}}}}}}}}
{{{{{{{{{{{{Smithy's friends & family}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Love always
~Missy~

http://onenews.nzoom.com/news_detail/0,1227,82493-1-7,00.html

'shana

http://www.creationent.com/past_events/kevin/index.html

'shana

Thank you

Oh.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Whisper}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I just still cannot believe this.

How can someone be so strong and healthy and happy and alive one minute and then be gone the next? It just doesn't seem real. I just can't make this real.

I keep waking up and thinking, "That whole thing was a dream. Surely that whole thing was a dream." And then I'll force myself to turn on my computer and check this forum, and nothing's changed.

I dreamed last night that I was able to go back in time and stop this awful thing from happening. The only problem was that then my dream snowballed, and I was trying to stop September 11 and my niece's goofed birth and my brother's illness and and and...

But no matter what I think or how it affects me, I always end up feeling ashamed for being so pitiful. I know Kevin's family is going through an awful time, and I should be focusing my prayers on them, not on unrealistic wishes and my personal emotions...

Even though I am speechless,numb really, it is good to have ALL these beautiful tributes to read.
Thank you.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Everyone}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

tearful hugs
Alura

Looking back, on days gone by,
I think of my dear friend,
and how the days just slipped away...
we thought they’d never end.

yet the time has come to say goodbye,
for just a little while...
and in the days and weeks ahead,
I’ll think of him and smile.

thank you, God, for times we shared,
for all the memories...
the endless laughs and heartfelt tears
forevermore to cease.

Yet in my heart I feel at peace,
just knowing he’s with YOU...
as morning came, he saw Your face,
and his suffering was through.

You called him home to be with You,
releasing him from pain...
just tell my friend that in a while,
I’ll be seeing him again.

© Copyright 1998 Jill Lemming

Through tears I am still in shock, writing this, and trying hard to refuse that it's really true. This beautiful man with so much life. Now gone.

These are some wonderful tributes to Kevin. I hope you send your poems to Sue, his boys, and parents. They might bring more tears, but they will also bring comfort.

I keep wishing there was something I could do to make it not so (just like you tried in your dreams, Whisper). He was one in a billion....so unique. I'll celebrate him with the laughter and joy that he gave so many of us in his performances and his personable connections, but right now I will take yet another moment and weep for his untimely death. He is greatly missed and lovingly remembered. Rest in peace, Kevin.

Kistik

http://www.forevaxena.com/kevin/articles.html

'shana

Thank you

I'm still kinda rattled, ya know?

And I keep searching the net ... looking for who knows what... a meaning? a miracle? Dunno...

'shana

That's pretty much the same for me. I keep finding stuff and automatically posting it to the few places I frequent, because while I'm doing that I don't have to stop and listen to the non-stop keening inside me.

Still at work. Just emailed someone and said I feel pretty much like time has either stopped or become meaningless. Actually, it seems rather irrelevant at the moment.

Love,
Kendaa

For me, it's a whole lot like the days after Sept 11, 2001 ... I forget for a little while, then stop and remember and am shocked all over again.

I'm going to bed now. Last night was the first night since Tuesday that I slept for more than 2 hours at a time....

Talk to you tommorrow!

'shana

because it meant a great deal to me a long while back, and now it means even more to me, so I thought I'd share it:


Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew -
And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

- John Gillespie Magee, Jr, 1922-1944

That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with us.

beautiful...

One of the tv stations used to recite that every night as they showed Air Force jets climbing, then they'd go into the Star Spangled Banner and sign off for the night...

Thanks for reminding me...

'shana

Thank, you sweetie - how beautiful and fitting.

I have been to one of the sites listed above that has a download of a slideshow with the musice "it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday" or something like that. One of the other sites has a nice pic and a poem that has something like, "don't think of me with sorrow...think of me with laughter or not at all".

I don't know, as sad as I have felt, I can't help but think Kev would not want us to think of him with sorrow - but with life, as he definitely lived it!

mallenia
*still sniffing...

www.creativideos.com

They're Real Audio, and just beautiful.

I don't get Real Audio for some reason so I'm unable to view Kevin in all his beauty.
I have a chance to get a couple of movies he made - could you ( or anyone who has seen them) tell me what they are about?

Lawless (1)
Desperate Remedies
Channeling Baby

I just don't believe how hard this has hit me. I just don't understand it!?
If it has hit us this hard, I can't even imagine the h*** Sue & the boys must be going though. My prayers & thoughts are with them Kevin's parents and friends always.


Hugs,
Shait

The sites for two of them, Shait. I just don't have the words or energy to tell you what they're about right now. I'm sorry.

http://webnz.com/lawless/scripts/telefeatures.html

http://www.channellingbaby.co.nz/

You can download Real Audio off the net for free.

http://netclassifieds.nzherald.co.nz/personals/personalsearchresults.cfm?classifications=&keyword=Kevin%20Smith&CurrentSection=1&startrow=1&operator=and

That's lovely and sad. It made me smile a bit to see how many really close friends and family he had and to hear some of the stories.

Thank you Kendaa. That's a healing kind of thing you posted there.

Shhh,
Whisper

Has anyone heard from LoreliLee (AresWriter)? Is she okay? I haven't heard a single word, and I'm getting a little worried...

Shhh,
Whisper

I was hoping it would help. It ease me too, and it wasn't just his family and friends, it was the everyday people in his community that touched me too, like his butcher, and the video store, you know?

She's not around in fandom much these days, but she was as shocked and saddened as we all are

And all those people from the gym, and his breakfast club, and tptb, everyone! It was touching.

*** I know LoreliLee doesn't do much fan stuff, but I was worried anyway. I'm glad to hear she's okay. Thank you.

Shhh,
Whisper

thanks for the links. They helped alot (I'm going to buy the videos)
I totally understand why you couldn't tell me about them. I also went and read the tribunes to Kevin from family & friends. Tore at my heart. I had to stop and go back later to finish.
Like everyone else has already said - this is just so hard to grasp or believe. I wish I was numb. I often wonder when tragic things like this happen if God is capable at times of making mistakes? I always thought things happened for a reason - but I can't think of a one.
Sorry I've gone on like this. Didn't mean to.

Hugs,
Shait

One of the funniest things I ever heard Kev say...

Was at the Burbank '98 con. Someone in the audience asked him if there was another character on Xena that he'd like to be. Without hesitation, he said "Argo." Then blushed (literally) and looked sheepish. "I didn't really say that, did I?" He said, while the entire audience nearly fell off their chairs laughing

Just thought it was worth sharing, because it just cracked me up completely

he said "I can't believe I just SAID that."

And I wonder just what was behind that answer!!

Shhh,
Whisper

Kev being a very naughty boy!

These are just lovely, and there a some really funny, great pics there too.

http://www.theatresports.co.nz/actors/kevin/kevin-s.htm

thanks so much for posting this link. That was such a wonderful tribute to read. Made me take a long hard look at myself and the kind of person I really am.
We really lost a great one when God took Kev.
Thoughts and prayers still with Sue & the boys - family and friends.




Hugs,
Shait

Sweet, funny, tearfully sad. It is a wonderful tribute.

Thank you, Kendaa, for posting that url.

Not really a tribute, but a guest "ramblings" from the Bruce Campbell website....

http://www.bruce-campbell.com/babble/guest/kevin-smith.html

Lessa

Thats a gem!

Kendaa, thanks for that website. I love the look on his face in that pic of a woman kissing his hand! ROTF!