Kurt McKinney
Encyclopedia
Kurt Robin McKinney is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former actor. McKinney is perhaps best known for his role as Jason Stillwell in 1986 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender
No Retreat, No Surrender
No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1986 American martial arts sports film written and directed by Corey Yuen his American directorial debut, and starring Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Tai Chung Kim.-Plot:...

.

Prior to acting

McKinney had earned a black belt in taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

 and was a former amateur kickboxing champion in Kentucky prior to his pursuit of an acting career.

No Retreat, No Surrender

McKinney moved to Hollywood in the mid 1980s and found fame within few months. He auditioned for the lead in American Ninja
American Ninja
American Ninja is a 1985 ninja action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's Cannon Films. Directed by Sam Firstenberg, who specialized in this genre in the 1980s, the film stars Michael Dudikoff in the title role, with Steve James as his side-kick. Domestic box office grosses for the...

 (1985) but was turned down due to his youth. Instead his film debut would come playing Jason Stillwell in 1986 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender
No Retreat, No Surrender
No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1986 American martial arts sports film written and directed by Corey Yuen his American directorial debut, and starring Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Tai Chung Kim.-Plot:...

, which also starred Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...

, J.W. Fails and Tai Chung Kim. The movie grossed $5 million at the US box office (and spawned two sequels). Although this success was moderate compared to similar movies of the time, such as the Rocky series
Rocky (film series)
Rocky is a boxing saga of popular films all written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, who plays the character Rocky Balboa. The films are, by order of release date: Rocky , Rocky II , Rocky III , Rocky IV , Rocky V and Rocky Balboa...

 or The Karate Kid series, it remains a cult classic film to many people around the world. McKinney reportedly turned down the chance to reprise his role for the 1987 sequel
No Retreat, No Surrender 2
No Retreat, No Surrender 2 is an American Hong Kong martial arts film directed in 1987 by Corey Yuen. This film does not continue the story of the original No Retreat, No Surrender...

, considering the filming location 'inconvenient' and with an element of persuasion from Jean-Claude Van Damme, who also turned it down.

TV series

Early in his career, McKinney had guest starring roles on series such as Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...

(1985-86), Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...

(1987) and ALF
ALF (TV series)
ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990, created by Paul Fusco. The title character was Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF , who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class Tanner family.The series starred Max...

(1989). He reportedly turned down the chance to star in American Ninja 3, again apparently considering the filming location inconvenient, and instead accepted his first recurring role in a TV series. He appeared as the first Ned Ashton in General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

, from 1988 to 1991. In 1990, he won the Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Male Newcomer: Daytime" for his performance.

Mid-career films

After departing General Hospital, McKinney starred in 1993 TV film Sworn to Vengeance and (unrelated) 1996 feature Sworn to Justice. The cast of the latter included Cynthia Rothrock
Cynthia Rothrock
Cynthia Rothrock is an American martial artist and actress specializing in martial arts films. -Martial arts achievements:Rothrock is five-time World Karate Champion in forms and weapons between 1981 and 1985...

, Tony Lo Bianco
Tony Lo Bianco
Tony Lo Bianco is an American actor in films and television.Lo Bianco was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is known for his roles in the cult films The Honeymoon Killers, God Told Me To, and The French Connection...

, Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...

, Mako
Mako
-Biology:*Isurus, the mako shark genus, consisting of two living and several fossil species:**Shortfin mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus, the more common mako**Longfin mako shark, Isurus paucus, the rarer mako-Places:*Mako, Ethiopia, a town in Ethiopia...

 and Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable.-Early life:...

.

Guiding Light and final films

His second recurring role in a TV series was also his longest, appearing as Matt Reardon in 128 episodes of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

from 1997 to 2000 and 2005 to 2009, when the series was canceled.

During his first stint in Guiding Light he filmed a minor role in 1999 film Pop. McKinney left the soap in 2000, after 49 episodes, and continued to appear in minor roles in relatively obscure independent films, including 2000's Cupid & Kate, 2001's Supertalk, 2002's Carnival Knowledge and 2004’s Savage Faith, which would prove to be his final film appearance.

Shortly before his return to Guiding Light in 2005, reprising the role of Matt Reardon, McKinney commented in an interview that he had been busy doing several independent films in recent years saying "you'll probably never see which is unfortunately where so many of those end up."

He starred in a further 79 episodes of the long-running soap, up to and including it's final episode in 2009.

Retirement from acting

Following the cancellation of Guiding Light, McKinney's final role was as 'Ellis', for 14 episodes of another long running US TV drama series, As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

, in May 2010. He was uncredited in this role. His final appearance was broadcast in the US on May 6, 2010.

It was also in 2010 that McKinney has retired from acting at the age of 48. However, in 2011, McKinney was asked to star in the recurring role of a new Doctor at Llanview Hospital on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

. McKinney accepted and his role begins on October 14, 2011.

Married and children

McKinney is married to Maronda, they have two children: a son named Cole Madsen and a daughter named Madison Taylor.

His star sign is a Aquarius.

Vice president

McKinney is currently the vice president of a small home improvement business in the suburbs of Westchester, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...

, McKinney has worked for his company since 2001 while maintaining his acting interests http://www.homeservicesshop.com/about.html.

Movies

  • No Retreat, No Surrender
    No Retreat, No Surrender
    No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1986 American martial arts sports film written and directed by Corey Yuen his American directorial debut, and starring Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Tai Chung Kim.-Plot:...

     (1986)
  • Sworn to Justice (1996)
  • Pop (1999)
  • Carnival Knowledge (2002)
  • Savage Faith (2004)

TV series

  • ALF
    ALF (TV series)
    ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990, created by Paul Fusco. The title character was Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF , who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class Tanner family.The series starred Max...

     – 1 episode (1986)
  • General Hospital
    General Hospital
    General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

     unknown episodes (1988 – 1991)
  • Gimme a Break!
    Gimme a Break!
    Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...

     – 2 episodes (1985 – 1986)
  • Guiding Light
    Guiding Light
    Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

     – 128 episodes (1997 – 2009)
  • Highway to Heaven
    Highway to Heaven
    Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...

    – 1 episode
  • As the World Turns – 14 episodes (2010) (uncredited)
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