19.02.2002
By LOUISA CLEAVE

Kevin Smith was climbing a film prop designed like a castle when he fell on to a stone base, causing the head injuries that led to his death.

The actor had been drinking but was not intoxicated, his agent said yesterday.

Robert Bruce gave details of the New Zealand actor's death in China on behalf of Smith's wife, Suzanne, and family.

He said the accident happened on Smith's last day on the set of the movie Warriors of Virtue II, and no one saw it.

Smith had arranged to finish filming early so he could return to New Zealand and spend time with his family before heading to the United States. He was to enter a Navy SEALS "boot camp" to prepare for his next role, acting alongside Bruce Willis in Hawaii.

Mr Bruce said he understood Smith drank a couple of beers, ate dinner and took a walk around the Central China Television film studios while he waited for a ride to his hotel.

The studios are in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of the Hebei Province, 250km southwest of Beijing.

"He went for a wander around the film set and there was this castle-type film set structure which he climbed and fell," Mr Bruce said. "We don't know why but he was found at the base of that with head injuries.

"On film sets there are no bars or anything like that. If you have a couple of beers it's because someone brings in a six-pack at the end of the night."

He did not know how much time elapsed before Smith was discovered, semi-conscious. Mr Bruce said Smith's family had visited the film set where he died and had told him the structure was about three storeys high.

Smith was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Beijing in the early hours of February 6.

At the Beijing hospital he fell into a coma and did not regain consciousness.

After several days, Smith showed signs of recovery, but his body went into shock, said Mr Bruce who had told Friday night's Holmes television show that the injuries were not life-threatening. He learned early on Saturday that Smith had died.

Mr Bruce said there were no suspicious circumstances and police were not investigating the accident. An autopsy was not carried out.

Asked if climbing a film prop was something Smith would normally do, Mr Bruce said: "This was one which must have taken his fancy as a lookout.

"I guess if you put yourself in the same position, you've finished filming, you're in the studio, some people have gone home, you're waiting for a lift and wandering around. Some of these sets I've been on are absolute works of art.

"So yeah, there'd be a certain amount of interest [in this prop] I'm sure."

Head injury claims star