WILLIAM HURT (1950 - 2022)

William Hurt, the star of "Body Heat", "Children of a Lesser God", "Broadcast News" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1985 for his performance, has passed away on March 13th. The handsome and gifted actor, who was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2018 and had been battling privately, was seventy-one.

Born in Washington, D.C. to parents who were prominent figures in the district, Hurt first began studying theology while attending Tufts University before deciding to switch to acting, going on to Juilliard. He joined the Circle Repertory Company, appearing in several stage productions and winning an Obie Award for his debut performance in 1977 for his work in "My Life". Focusing only on the stage, with little interest in becoming famous, for the early part of his career, Hurt didn't make his first film appearance until he was thirty with a starring role in the sci-fi drama, "Altered States" in 1980. Although not much of a success at the time, the Ken Russell directed feature would go on to become a cult classic and lead to his breakout role. Lawrence Kasdan, a hot screenwriter who had co-written "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark", made his directorial debut with a neo-noir drama he had written, "Body Heat" and cast Hurt and another performer from the stage, Kathleen Turner in her film debut. Inspired by Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity", this erotic thriller was elevated by the intense chemistry between the two performers, helping to turn these little-known stage actors into major movie stars.

Hurt would go on to appear in Kasdan's "The Big Chill" and "The Accidental Tourist" which co-starred Geena Davis and reteamed him with Turner. Héctor Babenco directed Hurt as Luis Molina, a movie-obsessed, gay man in prison who clashes with his cell-mate, a leftist revolutionary (played by Raul Julia) in "Kiss of the Spider Woman". His captivating performance in the 1985 drama first earned Hurt the Best Actor prize after it made it's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival before later receiving the Oscar. Hurt would go on to earn three more Academy Award nominations for his work in "Children of a Lesser God", a 1986 drama based on the stage play about a romance between a hearing speech teacher and a young deaf woman (played by Marlee Matlin who won the Best Actress Oscar) working as a janitor; "Broadcast News", the 1987 newsroom romantic-comedy from James L. Brooks co-starring Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks with Hurt playing a television anchorman and "A History of Violence", David Cronenberg's action-thriller with Hurt receiving a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2005.

Over the course of his career, Hurt moved comfortably from leading man to character actor, appearing in Nora Ephron's 1996 fantasy film, "Michael" with John Travolta; the big screen adaptation of the sci-fi television series, "Lost in Space"; the 1998 neo-noir classic, "Dark City"; the timely sci-fi drama, "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" from Steven Spielberg and joining the Marvel Universe as General Thaddeus Ross, he made appearances in "The Incredible Hulk", "Captain America: Civil War", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Avengers: Endgame" and "Black Widow" which was released last year. Hurt also appeared in several recent television series including "Humans", "Goliath" and "Condor".

William Hurt worked hard playing against expectations, uninterested in the stoic, leading man types with waspy good looks that casting directors would try and steer him towards. That's why you don't see any traditional romantic-comedies or action movies in his resume. Instead he was far more interested in digging deep into characters that were complicated, emotional and deeply flawed. As an actor, Hurt wasn't a chameleon yet he was always very expressive in all of his performances, able to reveal the humanity of his characters that made him one of the greats in cinema.