William Hurt, the Oscar Award-winning actor who became a leading man in the 1980s in films such as Body Heat and Broadcast News, died on Sunday, his family revealed in a statement.
He was 71 years old.
“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, one week before his 72nd birthday,” the statement said. “He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. The family requests privacy at this time.”
The actor’s health took a turn in 2016, when he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. That cancer later spread to the bone.
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Hurt won the coveted best actor trophy at the Academy Awards in 1985 for his performance as a gay convict sharing the same cell as a political prisoner in South America in Kiss of the Spider Woman. The actor was nominated again the next year for his leading role in Children of a Lesser God, and the year after for Broadcast News.
He was also nominated in the supporting actor category later in his career when he played a Philadelphia-based crime boss in the 2004 thriller A History of Violence.
Earning three consecutive best actor nominations, as Hurt did, has only been achieved by a small group of men, including Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Russell Crowe.
The actor was also known for his roles in the films The Big Chill and Gorky Park.
More recently, Hurt had appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gen. Thaddeus Ross. Hurt appeared as Ross in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow.
Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., in 1950. His father was a career bureaucrat, working for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. His parents separated when he was young, and his mother went on to marry the son of then-Time magazine publisher Henry Luce.
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Hurt attended Tufts University, where he studied theology, before transferring to the Juilliard School to study acting.
He is survived by his four children. No memorial details have been released.
