Bud Cort, the actor who played the morbid young aristocrat Harold Chasen in Harold and Maude and later became a familiar presence across film, TV and voice acting, has died. He was 77. The The Hollywood Reporter reported he died Wednesday in Connecticut from complications of pneumonia after a long illness, citing friend and producer Dorian Hannaway.
Hannaway also confirmed Cort’s death in separate reporting, which said Cort died Wednesday morning in Norwalk, Connecticut, after a long illness.
Born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948, in Rye, New York, Cort adopted the stage name Bud Cort early in his career and began landing screen work after performing in a comedy act. Director Robert Altman cast him in M*A*S*H and handed him the lead in Brewster McCloud, roles that set up his breakout the following year.
In Harold and Maude, directed by Hal Ashby, Cort played a death-fixated young man whose relationship with Ruth Gordon’s free-spirited Maude turned a dark premise into an enduring cult touchstone. The film failed to catch fire on first release, then found new life through late-night screenings and word of mouth, earning Cort Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.
The part brought attention and frustration. “I was typecast to the point where I didn’t make a film for five years after ‘Harold and Maude,’” Cort said in a later interview, explaining he leaned on theater work during that stretch.
A serious 1979 car crash left Cort with major injuries and multiple surgeries, slowing his momentum. He later returned in supporting turns in Heat, Dogma, Pollock and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and voiced Toyman across DC animated series. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis was among those sharing memories of Cort after news of his death.
