Bud Cort
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| Bud Cort | |
| Birth name | Walter Edward Cox |
| Born | March 29, 1948 (age 59) New Rochelle, New York, United States |
| Notable roles | Harold in Harold and Maude |
Bud Cort (born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948) is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Cort was born in New Rochelle, New York and grew up in Rye, New York with his mother Alma Mary Court (a variation of whose maiden name he would later use professionally), his Irish American father, Joseph Parker Cox, Sr., who suffered from multiple sclerosis, three younger sisters and an older brother. His father was a bandleader, pianist, and merchant, and his mother was a reporter of English and French Canadian descent who took over the family clothing business when her husband took ill. Bud Cort graduated from the Roman Catholic Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle in 1966.
[edit] Career
Cort enrolled in New York University in 1967 to study design, but dropped out after two years to pursue a career in acting. His first role was as an extra in the film version of Up the Down Staircase, and he then went on to study acting with Stella Adler and do television commercials, as well as stand-up comedy in New York City. He was discovered in a revue by director Robert Altman, who subsequently cast him in two of his movies, M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud (in which he played the title role).
Cort next went on to his most famous role, as the suicide-obsessed Harold, in Harold and Maude. Though the film was not particularly successful at the time of its release, it later gained international cult status. Cort was anxious to avoid being typecast in troubled youth roles, however, and consequently later turned down the part of Billy Bibbit in Miloš Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Cort asked Forman to give him the role of McMurphy, but was rejected, and subsequently left the project. The part eventually went to Jack Nicholson, while Brad Dourif portrayed Billy, Dourif was nominated for an Oscar for the role
During the 1980s he was a familiar face on TV and appeared in such films as the remake of Invaders From Mars. He was the voice of the supervillain Toyman in the 1990s series Superman: The Animated Series. He recently appeared in Dogma, Pollock, and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. His most recent TV appearance was in the "Fakin' It" episode of Arrested Development in February 2006.
His most recent leading role, which he also co-wrote and directed, Ted and Venus (1991), garnered unfavorable reviews. He also worked during this time as a radio and voiceovers artist.
[edit] Personal life
In 1979, Cort was in a serious car accident on the Hollywood Freeway. On his way home from a Frank Sinatra concert, he rear-ended a car that had been abandoned in the road. His injuries included a fractured skull, severe facial cuts, the loss of several teeth, and a broken arm and leg; he had reconstructive plastic surgery, and subsequently lost a court case against the owner of the abandoned car. Having spent months in recuperation, he was out of the public eye and subsequently suffered career difficulties, with his work being relegated to small character roles in primarily independent films.
[edit] Trivia
For a while in the early 1970's, Cort lived with Groucho Marx.
[edit] References
- Venice Magazine article, May 2005. (PDF)
- Salon.com's Bud Cort article, September 4, 1999
- Bud Cort interview, about his role in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, 2005
[edit] External links
- Bud Cort at the Internet Movie Database
