Tony-nominated actor Mary Beth Hurt dies at 79
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Mary Beth Hurt, a Tony Award-nominated actor who starred on Broadway in "Benefactors" with Glenn Close and reunited with Close for the movie "The World According to Garp," has died.
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By — Mark Kennedy, Associated Press Mark Kennedy, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/tony-nominated-actor-mary-beth-hurt-dies-at-79 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Tony-nominated actor Mary Beth Hurt dies at 79 Arts Mar 30, 2026 4:09 PM EDT NEW YORK — Mary Beth Hurt, a Tony Award-nominated actor who starred on Broadway in "Benefactors" with Glenn Close and reunited with Close for the movie "The World According to Garp," has died. She was 79. Hurt died Saturday in New Jersey after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2015, according to her daughter, Molly Schrader. Hurt was the wife of filmmaker Paul Schrader and appeared in his movies "Affliction" and "Light Sleeper." He had moved into Hunt's senior-living facility in 2023 to stay close to her. READ MORE: Chuck Norris, martial arts master and actor whose toughness became internet lore, dies at 86 "She was an actress, a wife, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend," her daughter wrote in an Instagram post, saying Hurt took on those roles "with grace and a kind ferocity." "Although we're grieving there is some comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering and is reunited with her sisters in peace," she added. The Iowa-born Hurt, who graduated from New York University's graduate theater studies program in 1969, earned three Tony nominations during her career, for performances in "Trelawny of the Wells" in 1975, "Crimes of the Heart" in 1981 and "Benefactors" in 1985. She was last on Broadway playing a nun in a revival of "The House of Blue Leaves" in 2011 with Ben Stiller and Edie Falco. "I've never been extremely comfortable playing the lead," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2010. "I don't like the responsibility; there's a feeling that I have to be good. Besides, I found secondary parts much more interesting, especially when I was younger and the ingénue roles were pretty bland." Her movie credits include...
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