Actor William Hurt has died at the age of 71 of natural causes.
Hurt’s friend Gerry Byrne confirmed Hurt’s death to Variety on Sunday. Hurt’s son Will said in a statement Sunday: ‘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.’
Hurt announced in 2018 that he was diagnosed with with terminal prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
The latest: Actor William Hurt has died at the age of 71 of natural causes. He was snapped in LA in 2016
The Washington, D.C.-born actor had won an Academy Award for his role in the 1985 motion picture Kiss of the Spider Woman, and had been nominated for his performances in movies including 2005’s A History of Violence, 1987’s Broadcast News and 1986’s Children of a Lesser God.
Hurt had been in Marvel Universe films playing the role of General Thaddeus Ross in motion pictures including 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and 2021’s Black Widow.
The actor had studied his craft at Juillard and appeared in multiple stage productions for the Circle Repertory Company prior to being cast in the 1980 film Altered States as Eddie Jessup.
He went on to appear in a number of notable films including 1981’s Body Heat and The Big Chill and Gorky Park in 1983 prior to his Oscar-winning turn for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Luis Molina in the 1985 movie Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Hurt won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Luis Molina in the 1985 movie Kiss of the Spider Woman
Hurt played the role of Luis Molina opposite the late Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman
Hurt appeared opposite Kevin Kline in the 1983 ensemble The Big Chill
Hurt was seen in the 1981 motion picture Body Heat in the role of Ned Racine
Hurt played the role of newscaster Tom Grunick in 1987’s Broadcast News
Hurt racked up a number of credits in film and TV, garnering an Emmy nomination for his role as Daniel Purcell on the 2009 TV series Damages. Other roles of note throughout his decades-long career included movies such as 1991’s The Doctor, 1996’s Jane Eyre, 1998’s Lost in Space, 2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence and 2002’s Tuck Everlasting.
Hurt in recent years had appeared on the TV shows Goliath, Mythic Quest and Condor, and in the film The King’s Daughter.
Speaking about his craft with People in 1985, Hurt described himself as ‘a character actor in a leading-man’s body.
‘I want more mask than, say, Spencer Tracy did. But I don’t “pretend” to be somebody else. Acting isn’t schizoid like that. Acting is about telling the truth. And it’s an adventure. It isn’t about what I know before I do it. It’s about what I can discover while it’s happening.’
In recent years, Hurt had been in Marvel Universe films playing the role of General Thaddeus Ross in motion pictures including 2008’s The Incredible Hulk
Hurt was seen in the 1998 motion picture Lost In Space
Hurt was snapped at the Winter’s Tale premiere in February 11, 2014 in New York City
Amid his massive success on-screen, Hurt had been guarded of his personal life. He told The New York Times in a 1989, ‘It’s not right that my privacy is invaded to the extent that it is. I’m a very private man, and I have the right to be. I never said that because I was an actor you can have my privacy, you can steal my soul. You can’t.’
Hurt had been married twice, to actress Mary Beth Hurt from 1971 to 1982 and to Heidi Henderson from 1989 to 1991, and had been romantically involved with Children of a Lesser God co-star Marlee Matlin.
Matlin spoke with ET on the red carpet at Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards, saying, ‘We’ve lost a really great actor and working with him on set in Children of a Lesser God will always be something I remember very fondly. He taught me a great deal as an actor and he was one-of-a-kind.’
Hurt is survived by his four children.
Hurt was snapped in January of 2008 in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival
Hurt was snapped in 2016 in Beverly Hills, California during the TCA Summer Press Tour
The actor was snapped in New York City in the 1970s
In the wake of Hurt’s passing, a number of his colleagues took to Twitter to pay memorial to the late actor.
Albert Brooks wrote, ‘R.I.P. William Hurt. So sad to hear this news. Working with him on Broadcast News was amazing. He will be greatly missed.’
Mark Ruffalo said, ‘Wow, another Major loss to the acting community. Great actor. Great mind. RIP.’
Topher Grace, who worked with Hurt in 2011’s Too Big to Fail, wrote: ‘Grateful that I had the opportunity to work with William Hurt. I admired his acting so much and watching his commitment in person was remarkable. My thoughts are with his family.’
Author Brian Koppelman called Hurt ‘a magnificent actor’ and one of his all-time favorites.
‘Never met him or worked w him but always admired the hell out of his work,’ Koppelman said. ‘Check Cronenberg’s History Of Violence for a great, late era performance.’
In the wake of Hurt’s passing, a number of his colleagues took to Twitter to pay memorial to the late actor
