Hollywood actor William Hurt has died at the age of 71. He died on Sunday in Portland, Oregon, from complications from prostate cancer, his son Will told the US media Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
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.
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The actor, born in 1950 in the US capital Washington, was nominated three more times for the most important film award in the world: in 1987 as a teacher in the deaf drama “God’s Forgotten Children”, in 1988 as a news anchor in the media satire “Nachrichtenfieber – Broadcast News” and in 2006 as a best supporting actor in gangster drama “A History of Violence”. Most recently, he was successful as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in several Marvel comic book adaptations. Hurt, who was born in Washington in 1950, was also known as a theater actor.
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.
Hurt’s friend Gerry Byrne confirmed Variety’s death. Acting colleagues such as Antonio Banderas and Mark Ruffalo expressed their condolences on social networks. Russell Crowe recalled on Twitter: “During Robin Hood I was aware that he had a reputation for asking other people questions about their characters. So I made a folder about the life of William Marshall. When he got to the set, he came to see me. I gave him my stack. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bigger grin. Rest in peace.” (dpa)
