His first film role was as an obsessed scientist in the movie Altered States by Ken Russell in 1980. American actor William Hurt, known for his roles in films as popular as The Big Chill (Friends first) and Oscar winner for Kiss of the Spider Womandied Sunday at the age of 71.
“It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar-winning actor, on March 13, 2022, a week before his 72nd birthday.”says a statement from his son Will published by several media. “He died peacefully, with his family, of natural causes”, he continues. In May 2018, the actor was diagnosed with prostate cancer at an incurable stage. His son, however, did not specify whether it was this disease that took him away.
William Hurt has built his reputation on his desire to embody eccentric and unusual characters, like a Russian policeman in Gorky Park (1983), A Wealthy and Distant Husband in Alice by Woody Allen (1990), and a man with plans to build a machine that would benefit the blind in Until the End of the World (1991).
His appearance alongside Kathleen Turner in Body Heat in 1981 made him a sex symbol. Born in Washington on March 20, 1950, he traveled the world during his childhood, accompanying his diplomat father. He studied theology before entering the prestigious Juilliard School of Art in New York.
Despite his growing notoriety, William Hurt did not seem comfortable with the Hollywood lifestyle. “I’m not comfortable with all of this. I’m not comfortable with the idea of walking the red carpet in a tuxedo, and seeing all the women with their breasts up and all the men dressed in penguins”he explained in an interview.
His private life, however, was very Hollywood. He had married then-newbie actress Mary Beth Supinger and followed her to London, but divorced when they returned to New York. He had a child with ballet dancer Sandra Jennings, two more from another marriage, and a daughter, Jeanne, with French actress Sandrine Bonnaire who directed him in “J’enrage de son absence”.