American actor William Hurt, who won an Oscar for the film Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), passed away at his residence in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday. He was 71.
Hurt was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 2018.
In a statement, his son, Will Hurt, wrote, “It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. The family requests privacy at this time.”
Born in 1950, Hurt initially attended Tufts University and studied theology, but later quit to pursue acting. He joined a theatre group called Circle Repertory Company in 1977.
Hurt’s made his debut with Ken Russell’s 1980 film Altered States. His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the New Star of the Year category. The actor went on to appear in films like Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) and The Big Chill (1983), among others, and earned Oscar nominations for three consecutive years, from 1985 to 1987.
His very first nomination earned him an Academy Award for his performance as Luis Alberto Molina in Hector Babenco’s Kiss of the Spider Woman.
The actor went on to work with the biggest directors of all time, including, Woody Allen in Alice (1990), Nora Ephron in Michael (1996), Stephen Hopkins in Lost in Space (1998), Istvan Szabo in Sunshine (1999), Steven Spielberg in AI Artificial Intelligence (2001), M Night Shyamalan in The Village (2004), and Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd (2006), among others.
Hurt was married first to actor Mary Beth Hurt. Later, he went on to marry Heidi Henderson in 1989. He is survived by four children.
Members from across the film industry paid their tributes to the veteran actor.
Actor Ben Stiller wrote a Twitter thread about Hurt and his relationship with his father, that dated back to Broadway. He mentioned, “I had a chance to spend time with him (Hurt), when I was younger. My father worked with him in a play called Hurlyburly by David Rabe.”
Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe wrote on Twitter, “William Hurt has passed. On Robin Hood, I was aware of his reputation for asking character-based questions, so I had compiled a file on the life of William Marshall. He sought me out when he arrived on set. I handed him the stack. Not sure if I’ve ever seen a bigger smile. RIP.”
“I’m so sad to hear of the passing of William Hurt. I had the privilege of directing him in The Village. He was a master of his acting craft. Every take was new and revealing,” tweeted filmmaker M Night Shyamalan.
Renowned author Stephen King wrote, “Very sorry to hear about the passing of William Hurt. He was a fine actor, an Academy Award winner. He also did a classic reading of my story Low Men in Yellow Coats, from Hearts in Atlantis. I loved hitchhiking on his immense talent.”
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Marvel Studios, whose association with Hurt dates back to the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, wrote, “Rest in Peace to an amazing talent William Hurt, beloved Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in our Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Hurt had appeared in several superhero films based on Marvel comics as the character Thaddeus Ross, including, Avengers: Endgame.
However, Hurt’s life was not without its own scandals. Marlee Matlin, the first-ever deaf actor to win an Oscar, had said during an interview that her relationship with Hurt involved drug abuse and physical abuse.