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William Hurt

William Hurt trained at Tufts University and New York's Juilliard School of Music and Drama. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his supporting role in David Cronenberg's The History of Violence. The film screened at the both the Cannes International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Hurt received Best Supporting Actor accolades for the role from the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Hurt recently signed on to star in a remake of Yoji Yamada's 1977 film Yellow Hankerchief opposite Maria Bello. The film will feature Hurt as an ex-convict recently released from prison for the accidental murder of another man. Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic) is directing the project and production will begin next month in Louisiana.

Hurt will next be seen in Vantage Point opposite Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver and Forrest Whitaker and has also wrapped Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn and starring Marcia Gay Harden, Catherine Keener and Vince Vaughn.

Hurt was last seen in The Good Shepherd written by Eric Roth and directed by Robert DeNiro. In 2006, Hurt starred in James Marsh's film The King with Gael Garcia Bernal. Also in 2006, Hurt appeared in Beautiful Ohio directed by Chad Lowe and Noise, an independent comedy opposite Tim Robbins and Bridget Moynahan.

In 2005, Hurt was seen in Syriana, directed by Stephen Gaghan and starring George Clooney, Matt Damon and Amanda Peet. The same year he also completed production on the ensemble independent film Neverwas opposite Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming and Aaron Eckhardt.

In 2004, Hurt was seen in M. Night Shayamalan's thriller, The Village, opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Sigourney Weaver as well the independent film Blue Butterfly.

In 2002, Hurt appeared in Disney's Tuck Everlasting, directed by Jay Russell, and had a cameo appearance in Paramount's Changing Lanes, starring Samuel L. Jackson. In 2001, Hurt starred in the independent film Rare Birds which screened at the Toronto Film Festival. He was also seen in a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's A.I. In 2000, Hurt delivered a memorable performance in Sunshine, opposite Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Istvan Szabo, Sunshine received three Genie Awards, including one for Best Motion Picture.

In 1980, Hurt appeared in his first film, Altered States. He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Broadcast News and Children of a Lesser God. For Kiss of the Spider Woman he was honored with an Academy Award as well as Best Actor Award from the British Academy and the Cannes Festival. Among his other film credits are Body Heat, The Big Chill, Eyewitness, Gorky Park, Alice, I Love You to Death, The Accidental Tourist, The Doctor, The Plague, The Simian Line, Trial by Jury, Second Best, Smoke, Confidences a un Inconnu Jane Eyre, Michael, Dark City, The Proposition The Big Brass Ring and One True Thing.

In 2006, Hurt returned to television in the TNT special event series Nightmares and Dreamscapes, based on the stories of Stephen King. The series featured all-star casts including William H. Macy, Samantha Mathis, Claire Forlani and Ron Livingston. Hurt's episode entitled Battleground premiered the series. Hurt's television credits include The Hallmark Channel's miniseries Frankenstein opposite Donald Sutherland, CBS's The Flamingo Rising, the title role in the CBS mini-series Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story, The Sci-Fi Channel's Dune and Varian's War for Showtime.

Hurt spent the early years of his career on the stage between drama school, summer stock, regional repertory and Off Broadway, appearing in more than fifty productions including Henry V, 5th of July, Hamlet, Richard II, Hurlyburly (for which he was nominated for a Tony Award), My Life (winning an Obie Award for Best Actor), A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Good.

For radio, Hurt read Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar, for the BBC Radio Four and Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. He has recorded The Polar Express, The Boy Who Drew Cats and narrated the documentaries, "Searching for America: The Odyssey of John Dos Passos, Einstein - How I See the World and the English narration of Elie Wiesel's To Speak the Unspeakable," a documentary directed and produced by Pierre Marmiesse.

In 1988, Hurt was awarded the first Spencer Tracy Award from UCLA.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

William Hurt Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayMarch 20, 1950 (74)
SignPisces
BirthplaceWashington DC, District of Columbia, USA
Height6' 2" (1m88)  How tall is William Hurt compared to you?
Awards1986 Academy Awards: Best Actor (for Kiss of the Spider Woman)

Selected Filmography

Of Mice and Men
Into the Wild
A History of Violence
Too Big To Fail
The Incredible Hulk
Captain America: Civil War
Race
Mr. Brooks
The Miracle Maker
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