Trivia
- In 2008 William Hurt reprised his role as General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, from the movie version of The Incredible Hulk, in video game versions for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems.
- William is Godfather to actress Meghan Glennon, who appeared in Deadwood.
- Hurt drove from New York to Oregon on a motorcycle to join the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
- William was vice-president of the Dramatics club at Middlesex School.
- William lived in France for a few years in the 1990s. He owns a home in outside Paris.
- Before being cast in his first film William was a member of New York's prestigious Circle Repertory Company.
- In the late 1980s William's ex-girlfriend, Sandra Jennings, claimed that she had been his common-law wife and unsuccessfully sued Hurt for a share of his assets.
- In February 2006 Hurt reported that his Oscar had apparently been stolen. He believed it happened while he was moving the previous June.
- William made his stage debut in a 1977 production of "Henry V" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
- In 2005 Williams's alma mater, Tufts University, awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.
- William has a daughter, Jeanne, with French actress Sandrine Bonnaire.
- William has a son, Alexander, with Sandra Jennings, a ballet dancer.
- William is a Lutheran.
- William is fluent in French.
- William was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2005, for A History of Violence.
- William was married to stage actress Mary Beth Hurt from 1971 until they divorced in 1981.
- William was nominated for a Tony Award in 1985 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, for Hurlyburly.
- William won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1986 for his role in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
- Hurt's first film was "Altered States," playing a scientist who experiments on himself (1980).
- William attended Tuft University in Massechusetts.
- William was married to Heidi Henderson from 1989 to 1992. They have two sons, Willie and Sam.
- He lived with Marlee Matlin in the mid 1980s.
Quotes
- William Hurt: I'm still not comfortable with all this. I'm not comfortable with walking the red carpet in a tuxedo and seeing all the women with their boobs pushed up and all the men dressed as penguins - particularly when the subject of your film is the nature of violence and humanity. But that's the nature of Cannes. That's the process that we are both dealing with today.
- William Hurt: Sometimes people call me a success for all the reasons that make me think I'm a failure.
- William Hurt: (on preparing for a role) You're trying to let yourself be permeated by the issues and the characters of the piece until you are completely blended into it appropriately. And what that would eventually mean is that you would, under the best of circumstances, you would disappear entirely into the subject.
- William Hurt: (on going to boarding school) I was a little punk, and suddenly I was at school with all the upper-class-kids from [the] East Coast. At that point it was a great shock in my life!
- William Hurt: All I know is that my best work has come out of being committed and happy.
