Bud Cort, a Rye-native actor best known for his role in the 1971 movie “Harold and Maude,” died Wednesday, Feb. 11, in a Connecticut assisted living facility after a long illness at 77, according to Variety.
Cort was born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948, in Rye, NY, and raised along with his three siblings in Westchester County. Cort went to Iona Preparatory High School in New Rochelle, where he developed a love for Broadway.
He picked his stage name to avoid confusion with actor Wally Cox, which was inspired by the Cort Theater in Manhattan. After graduating from Iona Prep in 1966, Cort went on to study scenic design, then acting, at New York University.
Cort moved to Los Angeles to find acting work and was cast by director Robert Altman in a small part in “MASH.” Altman then selected him to star “Brewster McCloud” about a young man who yearns to fly, with Sally Kellerman as a guardian angel.
Breakout star to cult classic actor
His breakout role came in 1971 in “Harold and Maude” as Harold, a 20-year-old man obsessed by thoughts of suicide whose life changes when he meets Maude, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor played by Ruth Gordon.
Cort’s role in the cult classic film earned him both a BAFTA nomination for most promising newcomer and a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy.
Cort’s other roles included films “M*A*S*H*,” “She Dances Alone,” “Electric Dreams,” “The Life Aquatic,” “Heat,” “Dogma,” “Coyote Ugly” and “Pollock.”
He also voiced the character Toyman in “Superman: The Animated Series,” “Static Shock” and “Justic League Unlimited.” He co-wrote, starred in and directed the 1991 film “Ted and Venus.”
In 1979, Cort almost died in a car accident on the Hollywood Freeway in Los Angeles, which required numerous surgeries to his face and limbs and affected his mobility and career.
He is survived by his siblings, nieces and nephews, who still reside in Rye and Larchmont.
(This story was updated to add additional information.)
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Late actor Bud Cort, of ‘Harold and Maude’ fame, grew up in Rye
Reporting by Alexandra Rivera, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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