Bud Cort
Walter Edward Cox (born March 29, 1948), known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor and comedian, known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's film Harold and Maude (1971) and the eponymous hero in Robert Altman's film Brewster McCloud (1970).
Bud Cort | |
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Cort in 2008 | |
Born | Walter Edward Cox March 29, 1948[1] New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1967–present |
Early life
Cort was born in New Rochelle, New York, and grew up in Rye, New York. His father, Joseph Parker Cox, was a bandleader and pianist, as well as a World War II veteran and merchant. His mother, Alma Mary (née Court), was a reporter and a merchant, who also worked in MGM studios. Cort has four siblings—three younger sisters and one older brother. His parents ran a clothing business in downtown Rye from the 1950s until the mid-1980s.
Career
Cort was discovered in a revue by director Robert Altman, who subsequently cast him in two of his movies, MASH and Brewster McCloud, in which he played the title role. Cort next went on to his best-known role as the suicide-obsessed Harold, in Harold and Maude. Though the film was not particularly successful at the time of its release, it later gained international cult status and now is acclaimed as an American film classic.[2]
In 1979, Cort nearly died in a car accident on the Hollywood Freeway where he collided with an abandoned car blocking a lane into which he was turning. He broke an arm and a leg and sustained a concussion and a fractured skull. His face was severely lacerated and his lower lip nearly severed. Years of plastic surgery, substantial hospital bills, a lost court case, and the disruption of his career ensued.[3][4]
Cort has since appeared in a number of film, stage and TV roles: Endgame, Sledge Hammer!, The Chocolate War, The Big Empty, Theodore Rex, Dogma, But I'm A Cheerleader, Pollock, The Twilight Zone, The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Cort lent his voice to Edgar the computer in the movie Electric Dreams.
Cort voiced Toyman, a Superman villain, over the course of various DCAU series including Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited, as well as the character Josiah Wormwood in an episode of the earlier DCAU production Batman: The Animated Series.
On the November 8, 2007, episode of Ugly Betty, Cort made a guest appearance as the priest officiating at Wilhelmina Slater's ill-fated wedding. In 2010, he guest-starred on Criminal Minds in the episode "Mosley Lane". Cort played elderly pedophile Roger Roycewood who, along with his wife, kidnapped and killed young children. In 2012, he appeared as the artist "Gleeko" in the episode "Exit Wound the Gift Shop" in the second season of Eagleheart.
Cort's voice can be heard as The King in the English-language version of The Little Prince (2015). The film premiered out of competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival[5] and won the César Award for Best Animated Film in February 2016.[6] It was made available to U.S. audiences through Netflix in 2016.[7]
Filmography
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1967 | Up the Down Staircase | Student | Uncredited |
1969 | Sweet Charity | Hippie | Uncredited |
1970 | MASH | Pvt. Lorenzo Boone | |
The Strawberry Statement | Elliot—Coxswain | ||
The Traveling Executioner | Jimmy Croft | ||
Brewster McCloud | Brewster McCloud | Nominated—Laurel Award for Male Star of Tomorrow | |
1971 | Gas-s-s-s | Hooper | |
Harold and Maude | Harold Parker Chasen | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
1973 | Columbo | Milt (the police photographer) | Episode: "Double Exposure"; uncredited |
1975 | Hallucination Strip | Massimo Monaldi | |
1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Warren (cousin Marjorie's boyfriend who befriends Bernice) | PBS TV movie short production of an F. Scott Fitzgerald story |
1977 | Why Shoot the Teacher? | Max Brown | |
1977 | Pumping Iron | Himself | |
1978 | Son of Hitler | Willi Hitler | |
1980 | Brave New World | Bernard Marx | |
1980 | Die Laughing | Mueller | |
1981 | She Dances Alone | Director | |
1982 | Insight | Teddy | Episode: "Teddy" |
1983 | Hysterical | Dr. John | |
1984 | The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud | Sigmund Freud | |
Love Letters | Danny De Fronso | ||
Electric Dreams | Edgar, the Computer | Voice | |
Maria's Lovers | Harvey | ||
1986 | Telephone | ||
Invaders from Mars | Mark Weinstein | ||
1987 | Bates Motel | Alex West | |
1988 | Love at Stake | Parson Babcock | |
The Chocolate War | Brother Jacques | ||
1989 | Out of the Dark | Doug Stringer | |
1990 | Going Under | McNally | Uncredited |
Brain Dead | Jack Halsey | ||
1991 | Ted & Venus | Ted Whitley | |
1992 | Batman:The Animated Series | Josiah Wormwood | Voice |
1995 | Girl in the Cadillac | Bud | |
The Mask: The Animated Series | Fritz Drizzle/The Tempest | Voice | |
Heat | Solenko, Restaurant Manager | Uncredited | |
1996 | Theodore Rex | Spinner | |
Superman: the Animated Series | Toyman | Voice | |
1998 | I Woke Up Early the Day I Died | Shopkeeper | (as Lord Heinrich "Binky" Alcoa III) |
Sweet Jane | Dr. Geiler | ||
1999 | Dogma | John Doe Jersey (aka God) | |
But I'm a Cheerleader | Peter Bloomfield | ||
2000 | South of Heaven, West of Hell | Agent Otts | |
The Million Dollar Hotel | Shorty | ||
Coyote Ugly | Romero | ||
Pollock | Howard Putzel | ||
2001 | Made | Bernardo, Gay House Owner | Uncredited |
2003 | The Big Empty | Neely | |
Static Shock | Toyman | Voice | |
2004 | The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou | Bill Ubell | Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast |
2006 | Justice League | Toyman | Voice |
Arrested Development | Himself | ||
2007 | The Number 23 | Dr. Sirius Leary | Uncredited |
2010 | Criminal Minds | Roger Roycewood | |
2012 | Eagleheart | Gleeko | |
2014 | Dream Corps LLC | Carl Kwartz | |
2015 | The Little Prince | The King | Voice |
References
- Bud Cort
- AFI top 100 ranked #69
- "Bud Cort profile". Salon.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- "Bud Cort". whet.net. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- "'The Little Prince' ('Le Petit Prince'): Cannes Review". Hollywood Reporter.
- "France's César awards celebrate diversity with 'Fatima' and 'Mustang' - France 24". France24.com. February 27, 2016.
- "Netflix Picks Up 'The Little Prince' From Paramount". Hollywood Reporter.