| Show i t t 1 IN STEP WITH:® i f V I 1 i i 1 BY JAMES BRADY - I I I BORN: Mar I — 1950 in - A Vid1 I 41 trweosnsdGeerftuaildainc- 4 William Hurt ! Page died a year ago her actor F i BRADY'S BITS 1 1 bignicranbglYongt - I he was making fr-- t '''s isn't often you meet someone at the very start of what's going to be an extraordinary career And when you do you probably don't realize it Bill Hurt was doing I I i a and he didn't look as if he'd changed t Shakespeare Shakespeare in -- bilitated himself out of it fallen in and out of love New York— 1 i ? unheralded and unknown—and they sent him to an obscure cable-Tstudio to hype the flow I was there (laing a talk show li Irt was out in a V I 'J corridor Aaiting for his turn and looking-- :(rA perhaps (bogy –!Ing—a bit silly a costume of abethan tights ' i talked for a :e Nice guy resting man oAt I could ) sensed I atness1 didn't t well a nice PARADE MAGAZINE JUNE ' - 1 - - L''''''''''''''''''):- - '''''N 0‘ ios' New York But he had of course All of us had He'd won the Oscar de- veloped a drinking problem and reha- in 1 lY halitth very much since had first met him back in 1976 when he was performing It t - 1I I His personal life has been some- thing else When 1 over a Broadway theater for a little tribute 1I was there out on the sidewalk covering it for television—talking to actors asking questions about Miss Page Some of them seemed to enjoy the spotlight Others like William Hurt hurried inside without saying a word—there for Miss Page and not for us Bill Hurt is a - VS janitor You want !professional self- confidence? Meet I 1 e- friends took — l' a i HecEcNentTticHnAllTy ' t 1 ' ' t N I 11 k ‘ it ‘ A A ' i 4 I - 1 had a son Alexan- - der and become while still in his the 30s arguably strongest leading man in American film Yet I read re' I cently that he had just gone back to acting classes —the beginners' course The man can be counted upon to do the unexpected Consider his choice of movie roles: in Broadcast News he was a sexy anchorcharming empty-heade- d man in Body Heat he was suckered into committing murder in Altered States he was a scientist in Kiss a gay Woman the Spicier of window dresser in Eyewitness Jekyll-and-Hy- 5 1988 PAGE 23 I : 1 1) 1 I TroadeastNews"is only William Hurt'skttesthit His nextrolewiRbein"The Aceidental7burists" Hurt is cts they say in thebiz"hotr ) t Gorky Park in Rus- i i n 1983h sia was trouble with the other cast mem- bers As the story goes when one of them slugged Hurt the late Lee Mar-vin chortled "You saved me the trou- bk" Maybe Hurt was drinking then He was born in Washington and 20 I1 1 4 I 1 Washington DC PERSONAL:Warried to Mary Beth Hurt 1975-8- 2 Dated dancer Sandra Jennings one son Alexander Devon THEATER: Includes productions with the Circle Repertory Company in New York City 1917-8- 2 Hutlyburty 1984 FILMS: Include Altered States 1980 Eyewitness 1981 Body Heat 1981 The Big Chill 1983 Gorky Park1983 Kiss 1 1 1I 1 i I 1 I 1 of the Spider Woman 1985 grew up on Guam (Academy Award) where his father Children of a Less' er i 1 f was a State Depart- - God 1986 It 1 ment officer When Broadcast News he was 6 his par- 1 i Nu ents divorced—his I i mother to marry Henry Luce III son of the founder of ' Time He went from the ' of the South Pacific to a rich man's home in Manhattan He attended prep ' school and graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University where he studied religion and married the actress Mary Beth Hurt in his junior year Hurt saw a link between theology and theater and entered an acting class ' When his marriage fell apart he motorcycled across the country In Oregon he won a stage role realized that he had 'a developed a craft and returned to New York and a series of fine stage performances His buddies were Robin Williams and Kevin Kline Then the big movies came along—and the women A dancer named Sandra Jennings is the mother of his son Marlee Matlin gave him moral support when he checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to confront his alcohol problem He and Marlee were still lovers when in one of those show-bi- z flukes he presented her with her own Academy Award That relationship is now over as well I don't think Bill Hurt is sitting home alone A survey of the audience for Broadcast News reported that the segment of viewers Hurt attracted were women from 18 to 24 t 1 —'' demi-paradi- I 4 I se 1 1 1I 1 I I |
