William Hurt
William Hurt was born on March 20, 1950 in Washington, D.C., the son of Claire Isabel (née McGill), who worked at Time, In, and Alfred McCord Hurt, who worked for the U.S. State Department. His parents divorced, and his mother married Henry LuceIII (the son of the founder of Time Magazine) during Hurt’s childhood. Hurt graduated from Middlesex School in 1968 where he was vice president of the Dramatics Club and had the lead role in several of the school plays. His high school yearbook predicted, “With characteristics such as these, you might even see him on Broadway.” Hurt attended Tufts University and studied theology, but turned instead to acting and joined the Juilliard Drama School studying alongside Christopher Reeve. He has received the nickname “bojangles” from several of his classmates at Juilliard.
Hurt is fluent in French and maintains a home outside Paris. He was previously married to Mary Beth Hurt from 1971 to 1982.
In the 1980s, Hurt was involved in a lawsuit with Sandra Jennings which alleged that the two shared a common-law marriage. While he was still married, Hurt and Jennings began a relationship in Saratoga, New York in the summer of 1981. Jennings became pregnant in the Spring of 1982 which precipitated Hurt’s divorce from Mary Beth Hurt, after which Hurt and Jennings relocated to South Carolina, which recognized common-law marriages. Hurt and Jennings, never officially married, later separated, and Jennings sued in New York, seeking a court order recognizing their purported common-law marriage under South Carolina law. The New York court, which did not recognize common-law marriage and was reluctant to recognize a common-law marriage originating in South Carolina, found in Hurt’s favor that no common-law marriage existed.
Additionally, Hurt dated Marlee Matlin for two years, and they lived together during 1986. In her 2009 autobiographical book, I’ll Scream Later, Matlin claimed their relationship involved considerable drug abuse and physical abuse by Hurt. In response to the accusations aired on CNN on April 13, 2009, Hurt’s agent declined to respond. Hurt issued a statement on April 14, 2009, responding to Matlin’s remarks. He stated “My own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we have both grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.”
Hurt has four children: Jeanne with actress Sandrine Bonnaire, Alex with Sandra Jennings and two sons, Sam and William Hurt, from his 1989-92 marriage to Heidi Henderson.
