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How Rockstar Rex Smith Turned His Life and Career into a One-Man Show

Season 4 Episode 405
Aired on 08/17/2014 | CC tv-14
If you were a teenage girl in the '70s, you remember curly-haired cutie Rex Smith. In 1970, Rex moved to New York City as a teenager and formed a rock band called Rex. In 1979, Rex starred in the hit TV movie Sooner or Later and performed four songs on the soundtrack, including "You Take My Breath Away." The ballad became a hit and turned Rex into an overnight sensation.

Later, Rex performed on Broadway in Grease and The Pirates of Penzance. Then, in 1997, he got the surprise of his life after a performance of Sunset Boulevard. "There's a 16-year-old boy sitting right there in the dead center, and wherever I go, he's following me," Rex says. "His eyes are burning through me."

After the show, Rex met the young boy named Brandon in the lobby and had a life-changing realization. "I looked up, and I knew I was looking into the eyes of my firstborn son." Rex reflects on that moment and shares how he told his two young daughters about their brother. Plus, meet Brandon.

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