'Kiss of the Spider Woman' actor William Hurt dies at 71

His son Will said in a statement: “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. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes.” Hurt was born March 20, 1950 in Washington, D.C.

Actor William Hurt, who became a top leading man in the 1980s by winning an Oscar for 1985’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, and starring in The Big Chill and Body Heat, has died of natural causes.

He 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 less than 10 minutes of screen time in History of Violence.

More recently, Hurt became well known to a younger generation of movie lovers with his portrayal of the no-nonsense General Thaddeus Ross in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. He later reprised the role in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow.

He also appeared in the TV mini-series version of Dune, in Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence and in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.

Hurt was married to the actress Mary Beth Hurt from 1971 to 1982 and was married to Heidi Henderson from 1989 to 1991. — IANS

Illustrious career

William Hurt made a debut with Altered States (1980), which got him a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best New Actor – Motion Picture. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) won him Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Film Actor in a Leading Role and Cannes Film Festival – Best Male Interpretation. Children of a Lesser God (1986) got him nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. For Broadcast News (1987), he was again nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Here are few of his other notable works, chronologically.

• Altered States (1980)
• A History of Violence (2005)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
• Children of a Lesser God (1986)
• Into the Wild (2007)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• The King’s Daughter (2022)