William Hurt

William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor.

He is widely known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.

Hurt was born on March 20, 1950, in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (née McGill; 1923–1971), who worked for Time Inc., and Alfred McChord Hurt (1910–1996), who worked for the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department.

He had two brothers.

With his father, he lived in Lahore, Mogadishu, and Khartoum.

His parents divorced and, in 1960, his mother married Henry Luce III (1925–2005), a son of publisher Henry Luce.

Hurt attended the Middlesex School, where he was vice-president of the Dramatics Club and had the lead role in several school plays.

He graduated in 1968 and his yearbook predicted, "you might even see him on Broadway."

Hurt studied at the Juilliard School and began acting on stage in the 1970s.

Hurt attended Tufts University and studied theology, but turned instead to acting and joined the Juilliard School (Drama Division Group 5: 1972–1976).

Hurt began his career in stage productions.

From 1977 to 1989, he was a member of the acting company at Circle Repertory Company.

He won an Obie Award for his debut appearance there in Corinne Jacker's My Life, and won a 1978 Theatre World Award for his performances in Fifth of July, Ulysses in Traction, and Lulu.

In 1979, Hurt played Hamlet under the direction of Marshall W. Mason opposite Lindsay Crouse and Beatrice Straight.

His film debut, in Ken Russell's science-fiction feature Altered States, was released in 1980, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year.

His first major film role was in the science-fiction film Altered States (1980), where his performance as an obsessed scientist gained him wide recognition.

After this run of particularly prominent roles in the 1980s, Hurt began to appear more frequently in supporting roles.

In 1981, he had a leading role in the neo-noir Body Heat, co-starring Kathleen Turner.

His performance opposite newcomer Kathleen Turner in Lawrence Kasdan's neo-noir film Body Heat (1981) elevated Hurt to stardom.

During this time he also starred in The Big Chill (1983), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Alice (1990), Until the End of the World (1991), Trial by Jury (1994), Lost in Space, Dark City, and One True Thing (All in 1998), and Sunshine'' (1999).

Kasdan and he became frequent collaborators: Hurt co-starred in Kasdan's acclaimed comedy-dramas The Big Chill (1983) and The Accidental Tourist (1988), both of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and he later had a supporting role in the ensemble comedy I Love You to Death (1990).

Hurt appeared in the thriller Gorky Park (1983) opposite Lee Marvin.

His starring roles in a series of critically acclaimed films garnered three consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), which he won; Children of a Lesser God (1986), and Broadcast News (1987).

He received the Best Male Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Actor for his turn as a prisoner in Hector Babenco's drama Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1985.

“Mr.

Hurt won a well-deserved best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for a performance that is crafty at first, carefully nurtured and finally stirring in profound, unanticipated ways,” she wrote.

“What starts out as a campy, facetious catalog of Hollywood trivia becomes an extraordinarily moving film about manhood, heroism and love.”.

He received three additional Oscar nominations: Best Actor for Children of a Lesser God (1986) and Broadcast News (1987; he was thus nominated for Best Actor for three consecutive years) and Best Supporting Actor for A History of Violence (2005).

Broadcast News, a romantic comedy directed by James L. Brooks, is possibly Hurt's most acclaimed film and is included at the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Some of his notable roles include performances in Dark City (1998), Lost in Space (1998), Sunshine (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Tuck Everlasting (2002), The Village (2004), A History of Violence (2005), and Syriana (2005).

Hurt received particular acclaim for his role in A History of Violence, where despite less than 10 minutes of screen time, he received an Academy Award nomination.

His later character roles include A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Tuck Everlasting and Changing Lanes (Both in 2002), The Village (2004), Syriana (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), Mr. Brooks and Into the Wild (Both in 2007), Vantage Point and The Yellow Handkerchief (Both in 2008), Robin Hood (2010), The Host (2013), Winter's Tale (2014), Race (2016), The Miracle Season (2018), The Last Full Measure (2019), and The King's Daughter (2022).

Hurt earned his fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence (2005).

In June 2007, Marvel Studios announced that Hurt would portray General Thaddeus Ross in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk alongside Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, and Tim Roth.

Other later film roles included Into the Wild (2007), Mr. Brooks (2007), Vantage Point (2008), The Yellow Handkerchief (2008), and Robin Hood (2010).

From 2008 to 2021, he portrayed Thaddeus Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021).

Hurt's various television projects included the FX legal drama Damages, which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

In 2011, he portrayed Henry Paulson in the HBO movie Too Big to Fail and received another Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

On stage, Hurt appeared in off-Broadway productions including Henry V, Fifth of July, Richard II and A Midsummer Night's Dream; and made his Broadway debut in David Rabe's dark comedy Hurlyburly, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Hurt reprised his role in four additional Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films: Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021).