William Hurt, Oscar-Winning Actor for ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman,’ Dies at 71

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Bert

Broadcast News remains one of my absolute favorite movies. Body Heat is, well, incredibly hot. William Hurt will live forever.
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IMDb's "Known For" reduces (or stretches) everyone's career to four titles. Sometimes it's weird, but William Hurt's four make a lot of sense to me:

A History of Violence
Lost In Space
Broadcast News
Altered States

Not to say it's his four best, but they're four significant performances that a lot of people saw and will remember. Of course there's a half-dozen others that people will argue should be there instead, and I'm sure most have a strong case, but there's something broadly audience-gathering about those four together.

I wouldn't recommend "Lost In Space" to anyone -- not saying it's bad, but if you need convincing than the trailer offers, you probably won't enjoy it. But the other three... Acting with a Capital A in films with oomph, so if you haven't seen one, check it out.

One recent performance of his that I really enjoyed was in the series "Goliath." Small role but a lot going on.
Another non-lead with punch was his cop in "Dark City."

I'll be watching "Altered States" again soon.
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DrDominator9
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Really enjoyed Altered States. Great intelligent script, fine acting and entrancing special effects for its time. I'm there for a rewatching!
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tallyho
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He was great as Marshall of England in the Russell Crowe Robin Hood.
I liked him in Gorky Park over Lost in Space but the performance I remember most is Second Best, an odd little film where he plays a Welsh Sub postmaster (yes really) trying to adopt or foster a ten year old boy. Admittedly part of the fascination was his Welsh accent, which isnt great but Ive heard worse, but it was just a fascinating little tale that you wanted to find out where it lead.
I wouldnt go out of my way to see it, but if its on tv try and catch it, his performance had so many layers it was a masterclass in understated acting. The film isnt great (6/10) but its a really good performance.
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Bert

Aaand it turns out three different women William Hurt was in long term relationships with have accused him of physical abuse. The son of a bitch beat on the women he loved. All respect lost.
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