In the 1980s’ William Hurt was one of Hollywood’s sexiest and most successful stars who was nominated for Academy Award for Leading Actor three years running.  In 1987, in his third attempt, he won for his remarkable performance In Kiss of The Spider Woman as Luis Molina, an effeminate homosexual in prison for raping an underage boy.  

In those days way before it became a controversial topic, Hurt was in effect the first straight man to play gay and be ‘recognized’ for it as he also got a BAFTA, Cannes Film Festival Palme D’or, and David di Donatello Award (an Italian Oscar).  

It certainly didn’t harm his career and Hurt later transitioned into character roles in the 1990s and successfully alternated between big-screen projects and television, scoring Emmy nominations for his work as a whistleblower in “Damages” and his portrayal of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in “Too Big to Fail.”  In 2006 Hurt collected his 4th Oscar Nomination for less than 10 minutes of screen time in “A History of Violence.

35 years later its Hurt’s performance in The Kiss of The Spider Woman that still resonates so powerfully with us and so many others in the queer community, and what we think about again today as we read of his passing aged 71.  

RIP William Hurt ..... and Thank You