Mary Beth Hurt, the acclaimed American actress known for roles in The World According to Garp and The Age of Innocence, has died at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer's disease. Her death was confirmed by her husband, director Paul Schrader, and their daughter Molly in a Facebook post.
The post described her as 'an actress, a wife, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend' who took on all those roles 'with grace and kind ferocity'. They added: 'Although we’re all grieving, there is some comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering and reunited with her sisters in peace.'
Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1946, Hurt studied drama at the University of Iowa and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She began her stage career in New York in 1974, earning three Tony Award nominations for performances in Trelawny of the Wells, Crimes of the Heart, and Benefactors.
Her screen debut came in 1978 with Woody Allen's Interiors, for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer. She later starred alongside Robin Williams in The World According to Garp (1982) and appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993).
Hurt also collaborated with her husband on films such as Light Sleeper and Affliction. Her final film role was in the 2018 drama Change in the Air, and her last television appearance was in an episode of Law & Order in 2009. She is survived by Schrader and their children, Molly and Sam.
