Oscar-winning actor William Hurt has died at the age of 71, just a week before his birthday. 

In a statement obtained by Deadline, the actor’s family said he died on Sunday of natural causes. 

“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 family requests privacy at this time,” he said. 

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Born in Washington DC on March 20, 1950, William Hurt made his screen debut in 1980’s Paddy Chayefsky-scripted “Altered States” in which he played a psychopathologist studying schizophrenia and experimenting with sensory deprivation. He quickly emerged as one of the 1980s foremost leading men, earning three consecutive Academy Awards nominations for Best Actor. He won the award for the 1985 movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” 

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He is also known for his roles in movies like “Body Heat” and The Big Chill.”

Hurt earned his fourth Oscar nomination in 2005 for his role David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence. 

The actor made his MCU debut in Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk, playing the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.   

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In an interview with The New York Times, Hurt had said, “Acting is a very intimate and private thing. The art of acting requires as much solitude as the art of writing. Yeah, you bump up against other people, but you have to learn a craft, technique. It’s work. There’s this odd thing that my acting is assumed to be this clamor for attention to my person, as if I needed so much love or so much attention that I would give up my right to be a private person.”