William Hurt

William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. He is widely known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.

Hurt studied at the Juilliard School and began acting on stage in the 1970s. His film debut, in Ken Russell's science-fiction feature Altered States, was released in 1980, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year. In 1981, he had a leading role in the neo-noir Body Heat, co-starring Kathleen Turner. His starring roles in a series of critically acclaimed films garnered three consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), which he won; Children of a Lesser God (1986), and Broadcast News (1987). During this time he also starred in The Big Chill (1983), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Alice (1990), Until the End of the World (1991), Trial by Jury (1994), Michael (1996), Lost in Space, Dark City, and One True Thing (all 1998) and Sunshine (1999).

Hurt earned his fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence (2005). His later character roles include A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Tuck Everlasting and Changing Lanes (both 2002), The Village (2004), Syriana (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), Mr. Brooks and Into the Wild (both 2007), Vantage Point and The Yellow Handkerchief (both 2008), Robin Hood (2010), The Host (2013), Winter's Tale (2014), Race (2016), The Miracle Season (2018), The Last Full Measure (2019), and The King's Daughter (2022). From 2008 to 2021, he portrayed Thaddeus Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021).

Hurt's various television projects included the FX legal drama Damages, which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 2011, he portrayed Henry Paulson in the HBO movie Too Big to Fail and received another Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

On stage, Hurt appeared in off-Broadway productions including Henry V, Fifth of July, Richard II and A Midsummer Night's Dream; and made his Broadway debut in David Rabe's dark comedy Hurlyburly, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.