contents
He celebrated his greatest successes in the 1980s, but until the end US actor William Hurt celebrated success with rather quiet film roles. He has now died at the age of 71.
William Hurt was particularly successful in the 1980s and won the 1986 Oscar for best actor in the film “The Kiss of the Spider Woman”. In it he played the gay prisoner Luis Molina, who is being held in a South American prison with other political prisoners during a military dictatorship.
The actor, born in 1950 in the US capital Washington, was nominated three more times for the world’s most important film award: in 1987 as a teacher in the deaf drama “God’s Forgotten Children”, in 1988 as a news anchor in the media satire “Message Fever – Broadcast News” and in 2006 as best supporting actor in the gangster drama «A History of Violence».
Most recently, he was successful as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in several Marvel comic films. Hurt, who was born in Washington in 1950, was also known as a theater actor.
Quiet roles, eventful private life
The father of four had often tried to keep his private life under wraps. Ex-girlfriend and film partner Marlee Matlin wrote in her memoirs about alleged abuse in their two-year relationship.
Hurt was married twice in the 1980s and 1990s. One of his children came from the relationship with the French actress Sandrine Bonnaire. Another woman Hurt had a son with made headlines with a child support lawsuit.
William Hurt died on Sunday in Portland, Oregon, as a result of prostate cancer, his son Will told the US media “Deadline” and “Hollywood Reporter”. He was 71 years old.