He is a great name in American cinema who has just left us today at the age of 71. Oscar-winning actor William Hurt has died, his son announced in a statement. He had in particular embodied Thaddeus Ross in the MCU. He leaves behind a very impressive filmography.
An Oscar-winning career
Born in Washington in 1950, the son of a diplomat, he traveled the world during his youth then studied theology before heading to a drama school, the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. Beginning a career on the boards at the end of the 70s, in parallel, he landed roles in cinema and television. Thus, the public could see it in Beyond reality by Ken Russell in 1980 then in eye of the witness by Peter Yates the following year and Hurt continued with body fever Where Gorky Park. Thanks to his role in Kiss of the Spider Womanhe won the Oscar for best actor in 1985.
An actor well known to science fiction fans
It was at the end of the 90s that William Hurt forks into science fiction. He appears in DarkCity by Alex Proyas and lost in space by Stephen Hopkins in 1998. He also collaborated with Steven Spielberg for the film AI Artificial Intelligence in 2001.
Marvel fans know him well because between 2008 and 2021, he is the one who plays General and then Secretary of State Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the MCU especially in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame and lately in the movie Black Widow.
With such a rich career, William Hurt had always struggled with the standards imposed by Hollywood. In an interview, he said he didn’t “be comfortable walking the red carpet in a tuxedo and seeing all the women with their boobs up and all the men dressed as penguins“.
Unfortunately, this March 13, 2022 is his son Will who announced the death of his father via a press release :
It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of beloved father and Oscar-winning actor William Hurt on March 13, 2022, a week before his 72nd birthday.
The message explains that the actor passed away peacefully, with his family and of natural causes. It is not known if his death is related the incurable prostate cancer he had been battling since May 2018.