Oscar winner William Hurt dies age 71

American actor William Hurt, known for much-loved films such as ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘A History of Violence,’ has died at age 71, US media reported Sunday.

Multiple outlets cited Hurt’s son, Will, who said in a statement: ‘It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes.’

The actor had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in May 2018, but his son’s statement did not specify whether the disease contributed to Hurt’s passing.

Hurt built his reputation on his willingness to play quirky and unusual characters such as a Russian police officer in ‘Gorky Park’ (1983), a wealthy and aloof husband in Woody Allen’s ‘Alice’ (1990) and a man seeking to build a machine that would benefit blind people in ‘Until the End of the World’ (1991).

Hurt was also nominated for Oscars as a teacher of deaf students in ‘Children of a Lesser God’ (1986) and as a slow-witted television anchorman in ‘Broadcast News’ (1987).

For his second Academy Award, Hurt played a Philadelphia mobster in David Cronenberg’s ‘A History of Violence.’ He appears in the film for only about 10 minutes, but he made a huge impact with critics, who praised his ‘creepy’ and ‘funny’ character.

In addition to ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ Hurt’s character appeared in four Marvel films including ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’.