American actor William Hurt, known for acclaimed films such as Reunion and a violent storydied at the age of 71.
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Multiple outlets quoted Hurt’s son Will as saying in a statement: “It is with great sadness that the Hurt family reports the passing of beloved father and Oscar winner William Hurt on March 13, 2022, one week before his birthday. number 72. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family, of natural causes.”
The actor had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in May 2018, but his son’s statement does not specify whether Hurt’s death was due to that disease.
your own way
Hurt built his reputation on his ability to portray quirky and unusual characters as a Russian police officer in Gorky Park (1983), a wealthy and sullen husband in Alice of Woody Allen and a man who wanted to build a machine for the blind in Until the end of the world (1991).
Hurt was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a teacher of deaf students in I will love you in silence (1986) and for his portrayal of a bumbling newscaster in behind the news (1987).
Hollywood’s golden statuette for best actor came to him in 1986 for playing a gay prisoner in The kiss of spider women (1985) and another for his role as a Philadelphia mobster in a violent story by David Cronenberg.
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In recent years, Hurt has become known to younger moviegoers for his role in the Marvel universe as Thaddeus Ross, a brawling general who was present the day Bruce Banner became the Hulk.
In addition to The incredible Hulkthe Hurt character appeared in four Marvel movies, including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, The Avengers: Endgame and the black widow.
Reluctant to stardom
Hurt was born on March 20, 1950 in Washington, DC, but his father was a diplomat and so he traveled extensively in his childhood. After his parents’ divorce, his mother married Henry Luce III, heir to the Time-Life empire, and moved to New York. Hurt studied theology at Tufts University and then enrolled at the renowned Juilliard School of the Arts in New York.
Despite his growing fame, he decided not to settle in Hollywood but in Oregon.
In various interviews, he made it clear that he felt alienated from the world of celebrities. “I don’t feel comfortable with all this. I don’t feel comfortable walking down the red carpet in a tuxedo and seeing all the women with their boobs up and all the men dressed like penguins,” he told an interviewer.
His private life, paradoxically, is seen as a story straight out of Hollywood. The actor married aspiring actress Mary Beth Supinger and followed her to London to study drama. They divorced upon his return to New York. In the late 1980s, he was sued by a former partner, ballet dancer Sandra Jennings, the mother of one of his children.
Hurt had two other sons from another marriage and a daughter, named Jeanne, from a relationship with French actress Sandrine Bonnaire. He was fluent in French and was also an enthusiastic private pilot.
*With information from AFP
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