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Robert Smith (Canadian actor)
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 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2016) |
Robert Norman Smith (c. July 19, 1965 – c. July 22, 2020)[2] was a Canadian actor who was known as Rob Smith in his earlier works.
Key Information
Criminal charges
[edit]In 2008, Smith pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing and one charge of distributing child sexual abuse material.[3] He received a 20-month prison sentence.[4] In June 2020, he was charged with an additional two counts of distributing child sexual abuse material and three counts each of possessing and accessing child sexual abuse materials.[5]
Death
[edit]His body was found in Minden Lake, Ontario, on July 26, 2020, after he was reported missing three days earlier. No foul play was suspected.[6]
Filmography
[edit]Film roles
[edit]- 1999: Bob in Pushing Tin[7]
- 1999: Forensic man in Resurrection
- 1999: Simple Simon in Detroit Rock City
- 2000: Buzzed in CyberWorld
- 2002: Newspaper photographer in Chicago
- 2004: Santa Claus in Saint Ralph
- 2005: Reporter in Cinderella Man[7]
- 2005: David in King's Ransom
- 2007: John Baker in King of Sorrow
Television roles
[edit]- 1993: Male character in Beyond Reality[8]
- 2003: Detective Anderson in 1-800-Missing
- 2003-2006: Scottish spokesman for Alexander Keith's
- 2004: Boxcar in Cold Squad[9]
- 2004: Dan Malone in Doc
- 2005: Dr. Tony Lewis in Kojak
- 2005: Joe Gaskins in Kevin Hill
Voice acting roles
[edit]- 1998-2000: Teisel Bonne in the Mega Man Legends series
- 1998-2000: Trevor Potanski in Bad Dog
- 1998-2004: Spot, Space Dog, and TV Announcer in Rolie Polie Olie
- 1999-2005: Freddie, Lucky, Fireman Joe/George, Walter, Smiley the Clown, and additional animal characters in Little People: Big Discoveries
- 1999-2002: Coach Rhineheart in Angela Anaconda
- 2003: Various roles in the English dub of Air Master
- 2003: Colin in The Save-Ums!
- 2003-2006: Goliath in JoJo's Circus
- 2003-2008: Jacques LaRock in Chilly Beach ("The World Is Hot Enough" and "The Canadian President")
- 2004: Various roles in Franny's Feet
- 2004-2008: Holley in Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
- 2007: Various roles in Friends and Heroes
See also
[edit]- Robert Cecil Smith, a live-action actor
- Robert O. Smith, a voice actor
References
[edit]- ^ "Former Keith's pitchman sentenced to 20 months in jail on child porn charges | SaltWire".
- ^ "Toronto actor convicted of child porn found dead in Minden Lake". theprovince.
- ^ Blatchford, Christie (March 13, 2009). "Child-porn guilty plea ends Charter challenge". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
- ^ "Former Keith's pitchman sentenced to 20 months in jail on child porn charges | Saltwire".
- ^ "Actor Robert Smith, found in Minden Lake, was convicted child porn offender facing new charges". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "Toronto actor convicted of child porn found dead in Minden Lake". torontosun. Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ a b Mr. Smith has also appeared in such Hollywood films as Cinderella Man, which starred Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, and Pushing Tin, which featured Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton.
- ^ season 2 episode 23 "Reunion"
- ^ season 7 episode 5 "Deadbeat"
External links
[edit]- Robert Smith at IMDb
.svg){kind=small} | This article about a Canadian voice actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a Canadian film and television actor born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Robert Smith (Canadian actor)
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Early life
Birth and family background
Robert Norman Smith was born in Canada circa 1965.[1] He was approximately 55 years old at the time of his death in July 2020.[1] Details regarding his family background are not publicly documented in available sources.Acting career
Live-action film and television roles
Smith's live-action roles were predominantly minor supporting parts in films and guest appearances on television series, often portraying authority figures, reporters, or unnamed tough characters. These credits spanned the late 1990s to mid-2000s, reflecting a career focused more on voice work elsewhere.[2] In film, he debuted with the role of Simple Simon, a contest host, in the 1999 rock comedy Detroit Rock City, directed by Adam Rifkin.[4] Smith appeared as Commentator #2 in the 2001 auto-racing drama Driven, starring Sylvester Stallone. He played a Newspaper Photographer in the 2002 musical Chicago, a Best Picture Oscar winner.[5] Later, in 2005, he portrayed a Reporter in the biographical sports film Cinderella Man, directed by Ron Howard and featuring Russell Crowe as boxer James J. Braddock.[6] Additional film credits include the TV movie America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003), where he played Michael Berman. On television, Smith made guest appearances across procedural dramas and series. He played Tough #1 in an episode of the Canadian-American series Due South (1994–1999). In Dark Angel (2000–2002), he appeared as Pinstriped Suit Man. Other roles include Detective Anderson in 1-800-Missing (2003), Boxcar in Cold Squad (2004), and Dan Malone in episodes of Doc (2001–2004). He also guest-starred as Dr. Tony Lewis in Kojak (2005) and Joe Gaskins in Kevin Hill (2004). These performances were typically brief, aligning with his background in Toronto-based productions.[2]Voice acting roles
Smith voiced multiple characters in the Canadian animated series Angela Anaconda, which aired from 1999 to 2001, including Astronaut Bob and Coach Rhinehart.[7] In video games, he provided the English dub voice for Teisel Bonne in Mega Man Legends (2000) and Mega Man Legends 2 (2001).[3][8] Voice acting databases credit him with roles such as Spot in Medabots and additional characters in other animated projects and dubs, though specific details vary across sources.[3] His voice work largely predated his 2006 arrest, after which professional opportunities in the industry ceased.[9]Commercial work
Smith portrayed a boisterous and irascible Scottish character in a long-running series of television advertisements for Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale, serving as the brand's primary spokesman.[10][11] The campaign depicted the character disrupting pub patrons who ordered competing beers, humorously asserting the superiority of Alexander Keith's through exaggerated Scottish bravado and references to the brewery's 1820 founding in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[12] These ads aired widely in Canada starting in the early 2000s and became one of Smith's most identifiable roles, contributing to the brand's marketing success prior to their suspension in 2006.[13] No other major commercial campaigns featuring Smith have been documented in public records.[14]Legal issues
2006 arrest and 2008 conviction for child pornography
In February 2006, Toronto police raided the home of Robert Norman Smith, a 40-year-old actor known for portraying a gruff Scotsman in Alexander Keith's beer commercials, after observing him downloading child pornography files via the LimeWire peer-to-peer network starting in July 2005.[15][16] The search uncovered more than 1,100 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse on two computers and 14 labeled CDs.[16][15] Smith was charged that month with two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of making child pornography available for distribution.[12][10] Legal proceedings faced delays, including a postponed hearing in March 2006.[17] In April 2008, Smith's defense argued that the search warrant violated his privacy rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but this constitutional challenge was ultimately dropped.[18][15] He entered a guilty plea in May 2008 to the charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.[16][15] On August 25, 2008, Ontario Court Justice Robert Clark sentenced Smith to 20 months in jail, crediting time served and aligning with the Crown's request for the upper end of the guidelines while the defense sought the minimum.[16][19] The sentence included three years of probation upon release, with conditions restricting computer use to work purposes only and requiring supervised visits with his two young children.[1][15] During the hearing, Smith expressed remorse, stating he recognized the harm to the child victims depicted in the materials.[15]2020 child exploitation charges
On June 17, 2020, Toronto Police Service executed a search warrant at a residence near Lawrence Avenue West and Yonge Street in Toronto, leading to the arrest of Robert Smith, a 55-year-old Scarborough resident, on child pornography-related charges.[20][1] Authorities seized child pornography materials during the search.[1] Smith faced two counts of distributing child pornography, three counts of possessing child pornography, and three counts of accessing child pornography.[20][1] He appeared in College Park court on the same day.[20] These charges stemmed from an investigation into allegations that Smith had accessed, possessed, and made available child sexual abuse material.[20]Death
Disappearance and recovery of body
Robert Smith was reported missing by Toronto Police Service on July 23, 2020, after last being seen on July 22 in the Minden Hills area of Ontario.[21] [22] Haliburton Highlands Ontario Provincial Police assisted in the search, locating his motorcycle north of Minden on July 23; authorities stated at the time that foul play was not suspected.[21] [23] On July 26, 2020, a resident discovered Smith's body in Minden Lake near a dock on the north end, shortly before 5:30 p.m., prompting Haliburton Highlands OPP to recover it from the water.[23] [1] The 55-year-old Scarborough resident had been facing child exploitation charges filed in June 2020, though no direct connection to the disappearance was reported by investigators.[1]Cause of death and surrounding circumstances
A post-mortem examination of Smith's body was scheduled following its recovery from Minden Lake on July 26, 2020, at the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto, with results anticipated within several months; however, no official cause of death was publicly disclosed thereafter.[23][1] The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) stated that foul play was not suspected in the death.[23][22] The circumstances surrounding Smith's death were marked by ongoing legal pressures from child exploitation charges. On June 17, 2020, Toronto Police executed a search warrant at his Scarborough residence, leading to his arrest on two counts of distributing child pornography and three counts each of possessing and accessing such material.[1][22] These charges followed his 2008 conviction, for which he received a 20-month prison sentence and three years of probation after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing over 1,000 images depicting children under age 12.[1][22] Smith had last been seen on July 22, 2020, riding his red 1995 Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the Minden area, with the vehicle located abandoned in a nearby parking lot on July 24.[23][21]Filmography
Film roles
Smith's film appearances were predominantly in supporting or minor capacities, reflecting his early career focus on bit parts in American and Canadian productions.| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Detroit Rock City | Simple Simon (DJ) |
| 2001 | Driven | Commentator #2 |
| 2002 | Chicago | Newspaper Photographer |
| 2005 | Cinderella Man | Reporter |
Television roles
Smith's live-action television appearances were limited to supporting roles in Canadian series. In 1993, he appeared as a male character in an episode of the supernatural anthology Beyond Reality.[24] In 2003, he portrayed Detective Anderson in the crime drama 1-800-Missing, appearing in one episode titled "They Come as They Go."[25] In 2004, Smith played the character Boxcar in an episode of the police procedural Cold Squad.[26]Voice roles
Smith voiced the character Teisel Bonne in the English dubs of the Mega Man Legends video game series, including Mega Man Legends (1997), The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (2000), and Mega Man Legends 2 (2000).[27][28] In the animated series Angela Anaconda (1999–2001), he provided multiple voices, including Astronaut Bob, Coach Rhinehart, and Howell Manoir.[29] Other credits include Spot in the direct-to-video film Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun (2002);[30] Pillbug in the children's series Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids (2004–2006);[31] Holley in Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends (2008);[32] and Tatsuhiko Aota in the English dub of Slam Dunk (1993–1996, dubbed 2000s).[33]| Year(s) | Title | Role(s) | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–2000 | Mega Man Legends series | Teisel Bonne | Video games[27][28] |
| 1999–2001 | Angela Anaconda | Astronaut Bob, Coach Rhinehart, Howell Manoir | TV series[29] |
| 2002 | Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun | Spot | Film[30] |
| 2004–2006 | Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids | Pillbug | TV series[31] |
| 2008 | Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends | Holley | TV series[32] |
| 2000s | Slam Dunk (English dub) | Tatsuhiko Aota | TV series[33] |