William Hurt, leading actor from the 1980’s onward, passed away yesterday, March 13, from natural causes in Portland, Oregon. He was 71 years old. Variety first broke the news.
Born March 20, 1950, in Washington, D.C. William Hurt was trained as an actor at Julliard. He made his debut on the small screen appearing in a two-part episode of ‘Kojak’ in 1977.
Feature Film Debut and Early Roles
William Hurt soon made his silver screen debut and rapidly established himself as a Hollywood leading man. His first role was as a de-evolving scientist in director Ken Russell’s sci-fi flick ‘Altered Staes’ in 1980.
He quickly followed up that hit with roles in two 1981 mysteries. ‘Eyewitness’ saw him as a janitor seducing news anchorwoman Sigourney Weaver. ‘Body Heat’, a classic neo-noir, had him playing opposite Kathleen Turner as a Florida lawyer seduced into a murder.
In 1983, he was part of an ensemble in the hit light drama about college friends reuniting, ‘The Big Chill’. Before the year was out audiences would see him play a detective solving a triple homicide in the Soviet Union opposite Lee Marvin in ‘Gorky Park’.
Oscar Win and Academy Award Nominations
William Hurt won the Oscar for Lead Actor for his role as a homosexual locked up in a South American prison in the 1985 drama ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’. His co-star in the film was Raul Julia.
Two more Academy Award nominations followed, both for Lead Actor. The first for the 1986 drama ‘Children of a Lesser God’ opposite Marlee Matlan. The second for the romantic comedy ‘Broadcast News’ opposite Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks.
Other Roles
Never one to stop acting, William Hurt played a number of roles for the next decades. From the 1988 romance film ‘The Accidental Tourist’ with Geena Davis to director Wim Wenders’ 1992 sci-fi road epic ‘Until the End of the World’. That same year he reteamed with Raul Julia for the political allegory, ‘The Plague’.
He really made his mark with science fiction and fantasy films throughout his career. He worked opposite John Travolta in the 1996 fantasy comedy ‘Michael’ and followed that with the sci-fi noir ‘Dark City’ in 1998.
Also in 1998, he starred in the feature film adaptation of the classic sci-fi tv show ‘Lost in Space’. Two years later he would play Duke Atreides in the tv mini-series ‘Dune’. He went on to play in another tv mini-series in 2004, the adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’.
More Famous Directors and Another Oscar Nomination
Three notable films from famous directors stand out in William Hurt’s filmography during the 2000’s.
Stanley Kubrick’s unfinished final film, which Steven Spielberg completed in 2001, ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’ saw Hurt opposite Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law.
In 2004, Hurt played the patriarch in director M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’ opposite Joaquin Phoenix.
William Hurt earned his last Oscar nomination, this time for Supporting Actor, in David Cronenberg’s ‘A History of Violence’ opposite Viggo Mortensen.
General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
A vast majority of younger audiences today are more likely familiar with William Hurt as the antagonistic General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He first played the role in 2008’s ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and reprised the role in 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’. He reprised the character three more times, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and finally in 2021’s ‘Black Widow’.