Yet for the finest performance of his career, as Macon Leary in The Accidental Tourist (1988), he was ignored for Best Actor. Two more nominations for Best Actor followed in consecutive years, Children of a Lesser God (1986) for which he learned to sign, and Broadcast News (1987) as a dim anchor man who has a talent for reading the news on air. In his acceptance speech, he shared the award with co-star Raul Julia, who portrayed his cell mate, a revolutionary Hurt’s character falls in love with. It was a superb performance, from the emotions, the physicality, the voice, every aspect was perfection. Instead, they chose his haunting performance as a homosexual in prison in South America in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) to award him Best Actor. His cynical, funny performance as Vietnam veteran Nick in The Big Chill (1983) was yet snubbed by the Academy. Hurt followed Body Heat with an array of films and characters that were unforgettable.

Both actors deserved Academy Award nominations that did not come, but the reviews they received certainly made clear they were white hot. Exploding into American cinema with Altered States (1980) after a solid Broadway career, he and Kathleen Turner burned up movie screens in Body Heat (1981), an extraordinary film noir that took something tried and true and made it brand new, and hotter than ever. William Hurt’s passing this year took me back to the period in the 80s when he towered over most other actors as the finest of his generation.

The accidental tourist book review