Search Knoxville obituaries and condolences, hosted by Echovita.com. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he starred in such films as Body Heat, The Big Chill, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Broadcast News.. The following year, Hurt landed in Eyewitness and the cult neo-noir Body Heat; that films director Lawrence Kasdan and Hurt reunited in 1983 for the beloved boomer ensemble comedy The Big Chill. 2023 British Film Institute. All rights reserved. William was born on June 21, 1967 in California to the parents of Delores and William Hurt Sr. My greatest offering is my concept. After its publication, Hurts reputation did not suffer; in fact, he saw a career resurgence in the MCU. While he seemed incapable of giving a bad performance, Hurt did appear prone to making curious choices. After intensive meetings with the director Arthur Penn, Hurt eventually agreed to take on the part in Altered States. 2017-2023 Tribute Archive. While he can create a powerful character when he wants to (as he did with Kenneth Talley in the original production of Fifth of July), hes prepared to be fascinating without any help from a playwright.. William McChord Hurt, actor, born 20 March 1950; died 13 March 2022, Acclaimed American stage and screen actor who starred in Body Heat, Broadcast News and Children of a Lesser God, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. William Hurt, who became a hot Hollywood commodity with his performance as a hapless lawyer in Body Heat in 1981 and within a few years had won the best-actor Oscar for the 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, in which he portrayed a gay man sharing a Brazilian prison cell with a revolutionary, died at his home in Portland, Ore., on Sunday. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. After first appearing on the big screen in the 1980 sci-fi horror film Altered States a role that earned him a Golden Globe nomination Hurt quickly became one of Eighties cinemas most versatile leading men, bouncing between neo-noirs (Body Heat, Eyewitness), romantic comedies (Broadcast News, The Accidental Tourist) and drama (Children of a Lesser God). Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. Hurt died peacefully, among family, his son said. Christi Carras is an entertainment reporter at the Los Angeles Times. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of William Edward Hurt please visit our. When it came to movies, Hurt told The Times in 1985 that he found it hard to watch himself on-screen. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. For some people, the best send-off is one that they would have loved to attendthemselves: a big party. Having established himself in the 70s as a stage actor, Hurt initially turned down all movie offers. He was 71. He earned a fourth nomination for 2005s A History of Violence. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. In a 2009 interview with The Times, he explained: I dont have to be the star, physically. Artificial Intelligence (2001), has passed at 71, Spielbergs production company, Amblin Entertainment, said in a statement. Hurts son Will shared the following statement, confirming the news. William Hurt in Broadcast News, 1987. A three-time nominee for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, Hurt won an Oscar in the category for his role in 1985s Kiss of the Spider Woman. In 2008, William Hurt made his first appearance as Thaddeus E. Thunderbolt Ross in The Incredible Hulk. He was born March All Rights reserved. FollowingLesser God, he had spent time in rehab for his alcohol addiction, but when he returned, Hurt found his moment in the spotlight had passed and he opted for character roles. Hurts Thunderbolt Ross was also seen in the Marvel One-Shot The Consultant and the Disney Plus animated series What If?, with Mike McGill voicing the character in the latter. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images. In the sombre cold war mystery Gorky Park, scripted by Dennis Potter, he was a Russian police inspector. The actor found stardom following his 1982 role in Lawrence Kasdan's neo-noir thriller Body Heat, opposite Kathleen Turner, and the ensemble dramedy The Big Chill, also by Kasdan, in 1983. He is survived by his children, Shannon and Sean Hurt, mother, Delores Brown, family, relatives and friends. The Oscar-winning actor starred in a variety of movies over the last four decades, but how many of those titl I dont owe anybody anything including the director., Hurts reputation took a hit years later when he was accused by his costar and ex-girlfriend Marlee Matlin of physical, sexual and emotional abuse while working on Children of a Lesser God., In a 2009 interview with Access Hollywood, Matlin who won an Oscar for her role in the film said she was always afraid of Hurt during their two-year relationship, which she detailed in her memoir Ill Scream Later., I always had fresh bruises everyday, she told the outlet. Later films included Ridley Scotts version of Robin Hood (2010) starring Russell Crowe. Hurt brought a cerebral intensity and charm to leading roles in Body Heat, The Big Chill, Broadcast News and his Oscar-winning turn in Kiss of the Spider Woman. He seems thoughtful, wry and funny, yet he has a comfortable physical presence, too, and a friendliness thats uncomplicatedly disarming., Later in his career he played roles large and small. His birth place is Washington D.C. His mother Claire Isabell used to work at Time Inc His father, Alfred McChord Hurt was working in State Department. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. Services will be held on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, at Perry Funeral Home Inc. 34 Mercer St., Newark, In 1989, allegations of violence were made by his former partner, Sandra Jennings. Rather fittingly, the Kiss of the Spider Woman star's final film performance was in 2021's Black Widow, reprising his role as Sec. He was in five films beginning with The Incredible Hulk and including Avengers: Endgame. The actors son, Will, announced the news, posting on social media: It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the Earlier in the decade, another bestseller adaptation, the 1983 film of Martin Cruz SmithsGorky Park, had continued the impression that Hurt was the new Robert Redford, as he brought blond integrity to the part of a Moscow cop. And I know we both have grown., Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. He will be greatly missed.. In 1981, Frank Rich, reviewing Childe Byron at Circle Rep for The Times, singled him out. However, Hurt detested the limelight and Hollywood in equal measure and settled into character roles after taking time out to deal with his off-screenalcoholism. What starts out as a campy, facetious catalog of Hollywood trivia becomes an extraordinarily moving film about manhood, heroism and love.. His son, who shares the actors name, confirmed Hurts death in a statement to the Associated Press. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.". After the couple divorced when William was six (his mother remarried in 1960, becoming Claire McGill Luce), he travelled with his father during his various postings, living in cities including Khartoum and Mogadishu. Hurt, Jr known to many as Bobby, Taft, Bill, or just Hurt, was born in Brookneal, VA in July 14, 1940 to William T. Hurtt, Sr & Estella Marshall. He is survived by his four children: Alexander, from his relationship with Jennings; William Jr and Samuel, from his marriage to Henderson; and Jeanne, from his relationship with the actor Sandrine Bonnaire. Hurt starred in many plays during the 1980s, and most notably received his first Tony Award nomination in 1985 for the Broadway production of Hurlyburly. His acting had an ease to it even as he was creating complex characters. By the time shooting began, Penn had been replaced by the controversial British film-maker Ken Russell; relations between Russell and Chayefksy became so volatile that the writer took his name off the film. Younger audiences, however, likely best know Hurt for his reoccurring role as General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Hurt first portrayed the character in 2008s The Incredible Hulk before reprising the general in four more Marvel movies: Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and 2021s Black Widow. I did and do apologise for any pain I caused, he said. Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. Hes a great character actor, but lets face it, hes a leading man.. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. So sad to hear this news, Brooks wrote on Twitter. You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, or plant a tree in memory of William Edward Hurt. (My own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives, Hurt said in a statement at the time. He could seem erudite, threatening or suave, though he was at his most interesting playing men who were demonstrably less intelligent than he was. Known for his serious, intellectual roles, Hurt got in on the blockbuster game later in his career, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross in The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: Civil War. His full name is William McChord Hurt. However, he looked more at home as a slippery opal thief in Wim Wenders turn-of-the-millennium odysseyUntil the End of the World(1991) and as Mr Rochester in Franco Zeffirellis take onJaneEyre(1996). All rights reserved. William (Bill) Holman Hurt, born March 29, 1927, aged 94, passed away peacefully at his San Marino, California home on September 2, 2021. Later that year he starred in the steamy Body Heat with Kathleen Turner. The project never opened in theaters, and director Randall Miller ended up pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Maybe William Hurt has now been discovered by Hollywood (Altered States, Eyewitness), but he hasnt lost any of that crazy intensity that makes him a joy to watch in the theater, Mr. Richs review began. In the same year, he starred in the television film Endgame as the philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse, who was instrumental in secret talks to end apartheid in South Africa. Soon afterwards, parts in Body Heat and Gorky Park followed. I have agreed to something the whole piece says. In Loving Memory of William Edward Hurt William Edward Hurt passed away on July 29, 2021, unexpectedly in San Francisco. And I know we have both grown. That union produced one daughter, Ms. Sonya Hurt. I like to swim, float and fly.. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. If his acting drew raves, Mr. Hurts personal life was rocky. Hurt was honest about his struggles with alcoholism earlier in his life, and did not dispute the allegations of physical and sexual abuse made against him by Marlee Matlin, his former partner and co-star in Children of a Lesser God, in her 2009 autobiography Ill Scream Later. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. Who Where Receive obituaries Minnie Pearl Ogle The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Despite Mr. Hurts successes as a leading man in Hollywood, he told The Times in 1990 that theater is a language I speak better or am more tuned into than English., Even one moment onstage is a glacier of comprehension, he added. WebOscar-winning actor William Hurt has died, aged 71. Hurt was best known for his Oscar-winning performance as gay prisoner Luis Molina in 1985s Kiss of the Spider Woman, and his Oscar-nominated work in the hit 1987 comedy Broadcast News, intense 2005 drama A History of Violence and 1986 romance Children of a Lesser God. COVID-19 restrictions will be strictly enforced. Mr. Hurt, tall, blond and speaking in a measured cadence that lent a cerebral quality to his characters, was a leading man in some of the most popular films of the 1980s, including The Big Chill (1983), Children of a Lesser God (1986), Broadcast News (1987) and The Accidental Tourist (1988). Mr. Hurt attended Tufts University and went on to study acting at Juilliard. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends. Obituary. William was born on June 21, 1967 in California to the parents of Delores and William Hurt Sr. However, he plumbed a darker side as the crime boss brother of assassin Viggo Mortensen in David CronenbergsA History of Violence(2005), which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for just nine minutes of screentime. William Hurt, best known to comic book fans for his role as Marvels Thunderbolt Ross, has passed away at the age of 71. In 1985 he was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actor in a play for his work in Hurlyburly, a David Rabe play directed by Mike Nichols with a loaded cast that included Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Harvey Keitel and Jerry Stiller. To send flowers or plant a The Oscar-winning actress and CODA star claimed her relationship with Hurt involved considerable drug and physical abuse by him. Recommend William's obituary to your friends. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from. Reviewing his debut film, Altered States (1980), in which he starred as a scientist dabbling in genetic regression experiments, the critic Pauline Kael identified his cool, quivering untrustworthiness [he plays] the kind of cunning maniac whos always watching to see how people react to his mania.. William Hurt obituary. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud Thats where the work is. In the early 1980s, Hurt secured breakout roles in two Lawrence Kasdan films: the steamy crime drama Body Heat, in which he plays a small-town lawyer opposite Kathleen Turner; and comedy-drama The Big Chill, where he portrayed a Vietnam War veteran meeting up with college buddies for their friends funeral. 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A son, Alexander Hurt, said the cause was complications of prostate cancer. Hurt was accused of physical and verbal abuse by his ex-partner Sandra Jennings in 1989 and of the same by Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, his girlfriend in the mid-1980s, in her 2010 memoir Ill Scream Later. William Hurt Jr.July 16, 1940 - May 18, 2021William Hurt Jr. passed away on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. However, after Broadcast Newsand the turn of the Nineties, Hurt who called Hollywood pretty shallow, commercialized and homogenized in his Rolling Stone interview took a turn toward off-beat independent films (Wim Wenders Until the End of the World and 1995s Smoke stand out) as well as memorable supporting roles in films like Dark City, One True Thing and Michael. It was in 1978 that he happened to bump into the producer Howard Gottfried, who was having trouble finding an actor to play the lead in a film that Paddy Chayefsky had written about a scientist obsessed with the origins of life. Deadline brings word that WebWilliam Hurt is an actor who works on stage as well as in films. He was a lawyer drawn into a passionate affair with a woman (Kathleen Turner) who persuades him to murder her husband in the modern noir Body Heat (1981). This inbuilt reluctance made his film work, when it finally came, feel fascinatingly conflicted, as though he was regarding the medium itself with scepticism. You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, or plant a tree in memory of William Edward Hurt. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. Send simple, comforting meals with Home Chef. Im not there to make anyone else think or feel anything specific. You have funeral questions, we have answers. Michael is the Managing Editor of Heroic Hollywood. We are deeply saddened to report that actor William Hurt, who played Prof. Hobby in Steven Spielbergs A.I. He had a two-year relationship with his debuting co-star in the former, Marlee Matlin (then 19 to his 35), who won the Oscar for Best Actress. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in the modern noir Body Heat, 1981. He had a relationship with his co-star in Children of a Lesser God, Marlee Matlin, which she later described as abusive. He was intriguing and faintly sinister as a pastor visited by the son he disowned in The King. This Online Memorial has been created to commemorate the life of William Hurt Jr. Leave a message on the Tribute Wall to share your favorite memories and offer words of sympathy and comfort. Hurts son Will confirmed Hurts son Will confirmed his fathers death in a statement Sunday. Send-Off is one that they would have loved to attendthemselves: a big party william hurt obituary 2021 relatives friends. Times in 1985 that he found it hard to watch himself on-screen tribute! 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