William Hurt

Actors

William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. He studied at the Juilliard School and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut in as a troubled scientist in Ken Russell’s science-fiction feature Altered States (1980), with Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, and Drew Barrymore (also in her film debut), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year. He then appeared in Peter Yates‘s Eyewitness (1981), with Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, and James Woods; Michael Apted’s; had his first collaboration with director Lawrence Kasdan in Body Heat (1981), with Kathleen Turner and Richard Crenna; The Big Chill (1985), with Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams; and Gorky Park (1983), with Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannen, Joanna Pacula.

Hurt garnered critical acclaim and multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), with Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. He received another two Academy Award nominations for his lead performances in Children of a Lesser God (1986), with Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, and Philip Bosco; and James L. Brooks‘ Broadcast News (1987), with Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter. He also appeared in A Time of Destiny (1988), with Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo, and Stockard Channing; and The Accidental Tourist (1988), with Turner, Geena Davis, and Bill Pullman.

Films in the 1990s include I Love You to Death (1990), with Kline, Tracey Ullman, Joan Plowright, River Phoenix, and Keanu Reeves; Woody Allen‘s Alice (1990), with Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, Alec Baldwin, Blythe Danner, Judy Davis, Keye Luke, and Bernadette Peters; Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World (1991), with Solveig Dommartin, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow, Rüdiger Vogler, Ernie Dingo, Jeanne Moreau; The Doctor (1991), with Christine Lahti, Mandy Patinkin, and Elizabeth Perkins; The Plague (1992), with Sandrine Bonnaire, Robert Duvall, and Julia; Anthony Minghella’s Mr. Wonderful (1993), with Matt Dillon, Annabella Sciorra, and Mary-Louise Parker; Second Best (1994), with John Hurt and Alan Cumming; and Trial by Jury (1994), with Joanne Whalley, Gabriel Byrne, and Armand Assante.

Films in the mid to late 1990s include Wayne Wang’s Smoke (1995), with Harvey Keitel, Channing, Harold Perrineau Jr., and Forest Whitaker; A Couch in New York (1996), with Juliette Binoche, Paul Guilfoyle, Barbara Garrick, Richard Jenkins, Kent Broadhurst, and Henry Bean; Franco Zeffirelli’s Jane Eyre (1996), with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joan Plowright, Anna Paquin, Geraldine Chaplin, Billie Whitelaw, and Maria Schneider; Nora Ephron‘s Michael (1996), with John Travolta, Andie MacDowell, Robert Pastorelli, Bob Hoskins, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jean Stapleton; and Loved (1997), with Robin Wright, Amy Madigan, Paul Dooley, Lucinda Jenney, Joanna Cassidy.

More late 1990s films include Lost in Space (1998), with Gary Oldman, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Jack Johnson, and Jared Harris; Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998), with Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O’Brien, and Ian Richardson; One True Thing (1998), with Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, and Tom Everett Scott; The 4th Floor (1999), with Juliette Lewis, Shelley Duvall, and Austin Pendleton; Sunshine (1999), with Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Ehle, Deborah Kara Unger, Molly Parker, James Frain, John Neville, and Miriam Margolyes; The Big Brass Ring (1999), with Nigel Hawthorne, Irene Jacob, Jefferson Mays, and Miranda Richardson; and Do Not Disturb (1999), with Jennifer Tilly and Denis Leary.

Films in the early 2000s include Contaminated Man (2000), with Natascha McElhone, Peter Weller, Katja Woywood, and Michael Brandon; Steven Spielberg‘s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), with Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O’Connor, and Brendan Gleeson; The Simian Man (2001), with Harry Connick Jr., Cindy Crawford, Tyne Daly, Monica Keena, Samantha Mathis, Lynn Redgrave, Jamey Sheridan, and Eric Stoltz; Tuck Everlasting (2002), with Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley, Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Victor Garber, Jonathan Jackson, and Scott Bairstow; Changing Lanes (2002), with Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack, and Amanda Peet; Nearest to Heaven (2002), with Catherine Deneuve; and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village (2004), with Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Weaver, and Gleason.

Hurt earned his fourth Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance in David Cronenberg‘s crime thriller A History of Violence (2005), with Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, and Ed Harris. Other films in the mid to late 2000s include Neverwas (2005), with Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, Brittany Murphy, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange; Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana (2005), with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, Tim Blake Nelson, Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, and Mazhar Munir; The King (2006), with Gael García Bernal, Paul Dano, Pell James, Laura Harring; Robert De Niro‘s The Good Shepherd (2006), with Damon, Angelina Jolie, Baldwin, Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, Keir Dullea, Martina Gedeck, Timothy Hutton, Lee Pace, Eddie Redmayne, John Sessions, Oleg Stefan, John Turturro, and Joe Pesci.

More late 2000s films include Mr. Brooks (2007), with Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, Marg Helgenberger, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Danielle Panabaker; Beautiful Ohio (2007), with Rita Wilson, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Julianna Margulies; Noise (2007), with Tim Robbins and Bridget Moynahan; Into the Wild (2007), with Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Zach Galifianakis, and Kristen Stewart; Vantage Point (2008), with Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Whitaker, Weaver, Édgar Ramírez, and Ayelet Zurer; and The Countess (2009), with Julie Delpy (who also directed), Daniel Brühl, and Anamaria Marinca.

Films in the early 2010s include Ridley Scott‘s Robin Hood (2010), with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, and von Sydow; The River Why (2010), with Zach Gilford, Amber Heard, Kathleen Quinlan, Dallas Roberts, and William Devane; Late Bloomers (2011), with Isabella Rossellini, Doreen Mantle, Kate Ashfield, Aidan McArdle, Arta Dobroshi, Luke Treadaway, Leslie Phillips, Hugo Speer, Joanna Lumley, and Simon Callow; Hellgate (2011), with Cary Elwes; Andrew Niccol’s The Host (2013), with Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons, Frances Fisher, Chandler Canterbury, and Diane Kruger; The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013), with Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Viola Davis, Isabelle Huppert, Bill Hader, and Katherine Waterston; Days and Nights (2013), with Jean Reno, Katie Holmes, Christian Camargo, Cherry Jones, Russell Means, Michael Nyqvist, Allison Janney, Juliet Rylance, Mark Rylance, Ben Whishaw; and Winter’s Tale (2014), with Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Connelly, Eva Marie Saint, Crowe, and Will Smith.

Later films include Race (2016), with Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, Carice van Houten; the Miracle Season (2018), with Erin Moriarty, Helen Hunt, and Danika Yarosh; The Last Full Measure (2019), with Sebastian Stan, Plummer, Harris, Jackson, Jeremy Irvine, and Peter Fonda; and The King’s Daughter (2022), with Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Benjamin Walker, Rachel Griffiths, and Fan Bingbing.

Hurt portrayed Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with The Incredible Hulk (2008), with Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Nelson, and Ty Burrell. He continued to play the role in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021), collectively featuring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Martin Freeman, Paul Rudd, and many others.

Each review will be linked to the title below below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Verna: USO Girl (1978) – directed by Ronald F. Maxwell – TV movie
  • Altered States (1980) – directed by Ken Russell
  • Eyewitness (1981) – directed by Peter Yates
  • Body Heat (1981) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
  • All the Way Home (1981) – directed by Delbert Mann – TV movie
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1982) – directed by Emile Ardolino – TV movie
  • The Big Chill (1983) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
  • Gorky Park (1983) – directed by Michael Apted
  • Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) – directed by Héctor Babenco
  • Children of a Lesser God (1986) – directed by Randa Haines
  • Broadcast News (1987) – directed by James L. Brooks
  • A Time of Destiny (1988) – directed by Gregory Nava
  • The Accidental Tourist (1988) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
  • Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (1990) – directed by Randall Miller – short
  • I Love You to Death (1990) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
  • Alice (1990) – directed by Woody Allen
  • Until the End of the World (1991) – directed by Wim Wenders
  • The Doctor (1991) – directed by Randa Haines
  • The Plague (1992) – directed by Luis Puenzo
  • Mr. Wonderful (1993) – directed by Anthony Minghella
  • Second Best (1994) – directed by Chris Menges
  • Trial by Jury (1994) – directed by Heywood Gould
  • Smoke (1995) – directed by Wayne Wang
  • Secrets Shared a Stranger (1995) – directed by Georges Bardawil
  • A Couch in New York (1996) – directed by Chantal Akerman
  • Michael (1996)* – directed by Nora Ephron
  • Jane Eyre (1996) – directed by Franco Zeffirelli
  • Loved (1997) – directed by Erin Dignam
  • Lost in Space (1998) – directed by Stephen Hopkins
  • Dark City (1998) – directed by Alex Proyas
  • One True Thing (1998) – directed by Carl Franklin
  • The 4th Floor (1999) – directed by Josh Klausner
  • Sunshine (1999) – directed by István Szabó
  • The Big Brass Ring (1999) – directed by George Hickenlooper
  • Do Not Disturb (1999) – directed Dick Maas
  • The Simian Line (2000) – directed by Linda Yellen
  • Contaminated Man (2000) – directed by Anthony Hickox
  • The Miracle Maker (2000) – directed by Derek W. Hayes & Stanislav Sokolov
  • Dune (2000) – directed by John Harrison – miniseries
  • The Flamingo Rising (2001) – directed by Martha Coolidge – TV movie
  • Varian’s War: The Forgotten Hero (2001) – directed by Lionel Chetwynd – TV movie
  • Rare Birds (2001) – directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) – directed by Steven Spielberg
  • The Simian Line (2001) – directed by Linda Yellen
  • Tuck Everlasting (2002) – directed by Jay Russell
  • Changing Lanes (2002) – directed by Roger Michell
  • Nearest to Heaven (2002) – directed by Tonie Marshall
  • Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story (2002) – directed by Lawrence Schiller – TV movie
  • The Blue Butterfly (2004) – directed by Léa Pool
  • The Village (2004)* – directed by M. Night Shyamalan
  • Frankenstein (2004) – directed by Kevin Connor – miniseries
  • A History of Violence (2005) – directed by David Cronenberg
  • Hunt for Justice (2005) – directed by Charles Binamé
  • Neverwas (2005) – directed by Joshua Michael Stern
  • Syriana (2005) – directed by Stephen Gaghan
  • The Good Shepherd (2006) – directed by Robert De Niro
  • The King (2006) – directed by James Marsh
  • The Legend of Sasquatch (2006) – Thomas Callicoat – also co-producer
  • Mr. Brooks (2007) – directed by Bruce A. Evans
  • Beautiful Ohio (2007) – directed by Chad Lowe
  • Noise (2007) – directed by Henry Bean
  • Into the Wild (2007) – directed by Sean Penn
  • Vantage Point (2008) – directed by Pete Travis
  • The Incredible Hulk (2008)* –
  • Louis Leterrier
  • The Countess (2009) – directed by Julie Delpy
  • The Yellow Handkerchief (2010) – directed by Udayan Prasad
  • Robin Hood (2010)* – directed by Ridley Scott
  • The River Why (2010) – directed by Matthew Leutwyler
  • Late Bloomers (2011) – directed by Julie Gavras
  • Moby Dick (2011) – directed by Mark & Mike Baker – miniseries
  • Too Big to Fail (2011) – directed by Curtis Hanson – TV movie
  • Hellgate (2011) – directed by John Penney
  • The Challenger Disaster (2013) – directed by James Hawes – TV movie
  • The Host (2013) – directed by Andrew Niccol
  • The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013) – directed by Ned Benson
  • Fire in the Blood (2013) – Dylan Mohan Gray – narrator – documentary
  • Days and Nights (2013) – directed by Christian Camargo
  • Bonnie & Clyde (2013) – directed by Bruce Beresford – miniseries
  • Winter’s Tale (2014) – directed by Akiva Goldsman
  • Race (2016) – directed by Stephen Hopkins
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016)* – directed by Anthony & Joe Russo
  • The Miracle Season (2018) – directed by Sean McNamara
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)* – directed by Anthony & Joe Russo – cameo
  • Avengers: Endgame (2019)* – directed by Anthony & Joe Russo – cameo
  • The Last Full Measure (2019) – directed by Todd Robinson
  • Black Widow (2021)* – directed by Cate Shortland
  • The King’s Daughter (2022) – directed by Sean McNamara