Bud Cort, born Walter Edward Cox, Jr., is vastly remembered for performances that blended innocence, irony, and emotional daring. He only recently passed on February 11th, with his impact on cinema and stage being brought back into remembrance.
Cort began working as a child, appearing in commercials and stage productions after an incredibly tragic youth, including an early loss of his own father. Such an early exposure to death caused Cort to feel more at ease before audiences and also a sort of sensitivity that would define his silver screen presence.
His breakthrough in film came with the 1971 classic ‘Harold and Maude’, where he portrays a death-obsessed young man. And soon after, he played an eccentric dreamer in another 70’s hit ‘Brewster McCloud’, cementing his talent for playing characters who lived outside of reality. General audiences will also remember him from ‘MASH‘, ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’, and ‘Coyote Ugly’.
Even though he was never that mush of a leading man, Cort’s career was marked by adventurous choices in film, television, and theater. He was a a voice actor for many animated projects, worked on many independent works, and repeatedly came back to the stage, where his craft remained sharp and curious.
Bud Cort’s legacy rests not on his body of work, but the impact he had on the greater whole of performative art. He showed that vulnerability could be radical, that oddness could be humane, and that a single fearless performance can echo for generations long after the curtain falls.
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