Bud Cort, star of 'Harold and Maude' and 'Brewster McCloud,' dies at 77

Bud Cort, whose show arsenic a troubled young antheral who finds unexpected emotion with a 79-year-old escaped tone successful “Harold and Maude” helped crook the 1971 movie into an enduring cult classic, died Wednesday greeting successful Norwalk, Conn., aft a agelong illness. He was 77.

His decease was confirmed by Cort’s longtime person Dorian Hannaway, who archetypal met the histrion successful 1978.

Born Walter Edward Cox connected March 29, 1948, successful Rye, N.Y., Cort adopted his nonrecreational sanction aboriginal successful his career, having fallen successful emotion with the theater. After earning tiny roles connected a fewer TV series, helium was discovered by manager Robert Altman portion performing successful a nightclub drama enactment and formed arsenic Pvt. Boone successful the director’s deed 1970 anti-war satire “M*A*S*H.” That aforesaid year, Altman besides gave him the rubric relation successful his “Brewster McCloud,” an eccentric fable astir a Houston loner determined to physique a brace of wings and instrumentality flight.

Cort’s defining relation came the pursuing twelvemonth successful manager Hal Ashby’s “Harold and Maude.” As Harold Parker Chasen, a wealthy, death-obsessed young antheral fixated connected staging elaborate mock suicides, Cort brought a wounded, wide-eyed earnestness that gradually softened into wonderment arsenic his Harold falls successful emotion with Maude, a feisty, life-affirming Holocaust subsister played by Ruth Gordon, past a caller Oscar victor for “Rosemary’s Baby.” The movie was not a large occurrence connected its archetypal merchandise but steadily grew into a midnight-movie favourite and planetary cult touchstone. Cort received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for the performance.

The relation some launched and analyzable his career. “I was typecast to the constituent wherever I didn’t marque a movie for 5 years aft ‘Harold and Maude,’” Cort told The Times successful 1996. “I lone worked successful theatre wherever I was not typecast.”

The film, helium said, “was a blessing and a curse. It closed a batch of doors successful presumption of my improvement arsenic an actor, but connected the different hand, it gave maine the cachet to locomotion successful a batch much doors than I would person been capable to had I not made it.”

Cort resisted roles that leaned excessively heavy into eccentricity, rejecting a part, to his aboriginal regret, successful the 1975 Oscar victor “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” “I should person done everything that I was offered,” helium said. “But I didn’t privation to beryllium [a quality benignant like] Tony Perkins, Maynard Krebs oregon Peter Lorre.”

His vocation was further interrupted successful 1979 erstwhile helium was severely injured successful a car clang connected the Hollywood Freeway, suffering fractures and superior facial injuries that required aggregate integrative surgeries. The mishap disrupted his enactment for years.

Cort aboriginal reemerged arsenic a distinctive supporting beingness successful movie and television. He voiced a sentient machine successful “Electric Dreams” (1984), appeared successful Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995) arsenic an exploitative diner manager and played a stateless antheral revealed to beryllium God successful Kevin Smith’s “Dogma” (1999). He portrayed creation patron Howard Putzel successful “Pollock” (2000) and was portion of the ensemble formed of Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” (2004). In 1991, Cort directed, co-wrote (with erstwhile Times writer Paul Ciotti) and starred successful “Ted & Venus,” a low-budget romance astir a Venice Beach poet.

On tv and successful animation, helium voiced Toyman crossed aggregate DC bid and appeared successful projects including “And the Band Played On,” “Ugly Betty” and “Criminal Minds.”

Looking backmost connected his life, Cort described acting little arsenic a vocation prime than an inevitability. “I don’t cognize if I judge successful past lives oregon not,” helium told The Times. “I don’t deliberation I do. But immoderate my past was, I was an actor.”

He is survived by his member Joseph Cox and his sister-in-law Vickie and their daughters, Meave, Brytnn, and Jesse of Rye, N.Y.; his sister Kerry Cox of Larchmont, N.Y.; his sister and brother-in-law, Tracy Cox Berkman and Edward Berkman, and their sons, Daniel and Peter. He is besides survived by his sister, Shelly Cox Dufour and brother-in-law Robert Dufour, and nieces Madeline and Lucie.