Oscar-winning actor William Hurt has died.
As reported by Variety, Hurt passed away at the age of 71 on March 13 of natural causes, confirmed by his friend, Gerry Byrne. Best known for his Oscar-winning performance in 1985's Kiss of a Spider Woman and performances in Broadcast News, David Cronenberg's A History of Violence and Children of a Lesser God. The latter two performances also earned him two separate Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.
Hurt was also known as General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He first appeared as the character in 2008's The Incredible Hulk alongside Ed Norton and Liv Tyler and would reprise the role in 2016 for Captain America: Civil War. He would appear in three more Marvel Studios films, including Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow.
Born on March 20, 1950 in Washington D.C., Hurt began his career in entertainment as a stage actor after attending the Julliard School to study acting alongside fellow actors Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams. His acting career began with the theater, where he starred in Off-Broadway productions of Henry V, Fifth of July, Richard II and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
His first Tony Award nomination came from his role in the 1985 Broadway production of Hurlyburly. Hurt's first major film role was in Ken Russell's Altered States in 1980, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He would go on to appear in films like Body Heat, The Big Sleep, Gorky Park and The Big Chill. In recent years, Hurt took on more character roles in productions like A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001, The Village (2004), Into the Wild (2007) and Robin Hood (2010), among others.
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