Vale: William Hurt

Acclaimed Hollywood star William Hurt, best known for The Big Chill, Broadcast News and Kiss of the Spider Woman has died, aged 71.

He died on Sunday at his home in Portland, Oregon, of natural causes.

Hurt was nominated for four Oscars over the course of his long career, scoring two best actor nominations for Broadcast News and Children of a Lesser God and a supporting actor nod for A History of Violence.

He was one of the most heralded performers of the 1980s, becoming something of a cerebral sex symbol and a reluctant, but bankable, movie star.

He later transitioned into character roles in the 1990s and successfully alternated between big screen projects and television shows, scoring Emmy nominations for Damages and Too Big to Fail.

More recently, he played General Thaddeus Ross in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow.

After studying acting at Juilliard and appearing in stage roles, Hurt secured a lead role in Altered States, before starring opposite Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. More marquee roles would follow in Gorky Park, The Big Chill, The Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a Lesser God, Broadcast News, The Accidental Tourist, I Love You to Death.

Other credits included The Doctor, Second Chances, Until the End of the World, Lost in Space, The Good Shepherd, Into the Wild, A History of Violence.

Kojak in 1977 was his very first screen role but later TV credits would include Dune, The King of Queens, Melbourne made Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Damages, Moby Dick, Bonnie & Clyde, Humans, Condor, Goliath and the upcoming Pantheon.

“Acting is building the tip of the iceberg,” he once said. “You have to build what isn’t seen and then play the tip. Only a little bit of the iceberg is ever seen, but it is massive. That’s sometimes hard to do in American movies, where the philosophy is to show the whole iceberg.”

He would have been 72 next Sunday.

Source: Variety, Hollywood Reporter.