Mary Beth Hurt, who appeared in Martin Scorsese'sThe Age of Innocenceand Woody Allen'sInteriorsand frequently collaborated with husbandPaul Schrader, has died. She was 79.
Hurt's death was announced on Sunday in a now-deleted Facebook post shared by theFirst Reformeddirector, perVariety.Entertainment Weeklyhas reached out to representatives for Hurt and Schrader.
Hurt was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2015,Schrader revealedin 2023. That same year Hurt moved into a New York City memory care facility, where she spent the last years of her life.
Hurt was among the most sought after film and stage stars of the 1980s and late 1990s, appearing in Oscar-nominated films likeThe World According to GarpandSix Degrees of Separation, and racking up three Tony nominations for her stage work.
Born Mary Beth Supinger in Marshalltown, Iowa, on Sept. 25, 1946, Hurt locked into the acting track at a young age, studying drama at the nearby University of Iowa before graduating to the acting program at Tisch in New York City.
She made her acting debut in 1974 — on stage as Nurse/Uncle Remus in the Vietnam War musicalMore Than You Deserve, and on television as a member of an all-female police squad in the TV movieAnn in Blue.
It would be four years until she received her big break on the big screen, which inaugurated an extraordinary run in some of the most most memorable titles from her filmography. But just the next year she picked up her first Tony nomination for her leading role in a revival of the 1898 Arthur Wing Pinero playTrelawny of the "Wells."She would later earn two more Tony nods for her turns inCrimes of the HeartandBenefactors.
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"I first saw Mary Beth Hurt inCrimes of the Hearton Broadway and was blown away by her performance,"Dana Delany wrote of Hurt on Instagram. "Heart and Midwestern Steel. InChilly Scenes of Winter, she was in command beyond her years. Totally unique. Finally got to meet and work with her inLight Sleeper. Still in awe of her singular sharp wry talent. An artist. May she rest in a deserved peace."
Hurt's first film role became her calling card. Her performance as the anxious, cutting Joey in Woody Allen'sInteriors in1978 is notable for standing out amid more established actors, including Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and Sam Waterston.
The 1978 film was nominated for five awards at the Oscars, and won Hurt her first major screen acting nomination, for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles at the BAFTAs (that year's award went to Christopher Reeve forSuperman). Hurt followedInteriorsup with a co-lead role opposite John Heard in Joan Micklin Silver'sChilly Scenes of Winter, and a major supporting part opposite Robin Williams inThe World According to Garp.
Awards recognition oddly eluded Hurt throughout her career, though it was stacked with acclaimed performances in celebrated films. She later appeared in two films by Martin Scorsese —The Age of InnocenceandBringing Out the Dead—and four by Paul Schrader —Light Sleeper,Affliction,The Walker, andAdam Resurrected.
Hurt was married to the actor William Hurt from 1971 to 1982, and then married Schrader in 1983. The couple share two children, Molly Schrader and Sam Schrader.
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