From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
       Bud Cort, 'Harold and Maude' Star, Dies at 77   
       ---------------------------------------------   
       Bud Cort, who personified the role of Harold in the 1971 Hal Ashby   
       classic "Harold and Maude," died Wednesday in Connecticut after a   
       long illness. He was 77.   
      
       His longtime friend Dorian Hannaway reported his death.   
      
       Cort also starred in Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud" and had   
       roles in numerous other films and TV shows.   
      
       In "Harold and Maude," which became a beloved and enduring cult   
       classic despite a rocky start at the box office, Cort played a   
       20-year old man obsessed by thoughts of suicide whose life changes   
       when he meets Maude, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor played by   
       Ruth Gordon.   
      
       Born Walter Edward Cox in Rye, N.Y., he changed his name to avoid   
       confusion with character actor Wally Cox. He went to school in   
       New Rochelle, N.Y. and enjoyed going to Broadway shows.   
      
       "I was only fourteen when I met Bud at the backstage door at my   
       sister's play," Roslyn Kind recalled in a statement. "He was   
       majoring in art at the time in high school. We became close friends   
       who shared our interest in entertainment. When I got married, Bud   
       and our songwriter friend, Bruce Roberts, wrote a special song that   
       was performed at the ceremony. His unique spirit will always be   
       with me."   
      
       Cort moved to Los Angeles to work in film, and was cast by Altman   
       in a small part in "MASH." Altman then selected his to star in the   
       quirky "Brewster McCloud" about a young man who yearns to fly, with   
       Sally Kellerman as a guardian angel.   
      
       "We were in the line for lunch when I spotted him," she later   
       recalled. "Although I didn't know who he was, I said 'Oh, boy.   
       We're going to be best friends.'"   
      
       His chemistry with Gordon while auditioning for the part of Harold   
       convinced Ashby and writer Colin Higgins to cast him in "Harold and   
       Maude," which has endured as a repertory screening favorite for more   
       than 50 years. He was nominated for a BAFTA award as most promising   
       newcomer and for a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or   
       comedy.   
      
       "A young man obsessed with death falls in love with an old woman   
       obsessed with life. She dies and teaches the kid how to live,"   
       Cameron Crowe described it for AFI in 2011. "And it's done with   
       music [by Cat Stevens] that scratches at your soul... that movie   
       holds up - to this minute."   
      
       His other roles included films "She Dances Alone," "Electric Dreams"   
       and "The Life Aquatic," as well as "Heat," "Dogma," "Coyote Ugly"   
       and "Pollock."   
      
       He also voiced the character Toyman in "Superman: The Animated   
       Series," "Static Shock" and "Justic League Unlimited." He co-wrote,   
       starred in and directed the 1991 film "Ted and Venus."   
      
       In 1979, Cort narrowly survived a devastating car accident, which   
       necessitated numerous surgeries and affected his career.   
      
       He is survived by his brother 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 also survived by his sister, Shelly Cox Dufour and   
       rother-in-law Robert Dufour, and nieces Madeline and Lucie.   
      
       A memorial will be held at a future date in Los Angeles.   
      
      
      
      
      
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