Bud Court, star of Harold and Maude, dies at the age of 77 | film

Actor Bud Cort, best known for his role in the black comedy Harold and Maude, has died at the age of 77.

According to Variety, Kurt died in Connecticut after a long illness.

He was originally discovered by Robert Altman when he was part of a play and the director cast him in both M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud.

His role in Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, which saw him play a young man obsessed with death and develop a relationship with Ruth Gordon, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor, earned him nominations for a Golden Globe and BAFTA.

The film was not initially well received by critics or audiences, but it later became a cult classic and was included on the American Film Institute’s list of the funniest films of all time.

“As I was reading the script, I immediately knew it was going to be a classic for the ages,” he said in 2012. “There was no denying that. The studio was at a loss as to how to promote it… The truth is, its success came from the people.”

In 2014, Kurt told The Guardian that it was a “blessing and a curse” because it led to him being photographed, and he was only offered eccentric characters. He turned down the role of Billy Bibbett in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because he wanted the lead role, and after Jack Nicholson was cast, he later asked for it back, but it was too late.

In the 1970s, Kurt starred in the comedy-drama Why Shoot the Teacher? and a television film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s film Bernice Bob’s Hair with Shelley Duvall. In 1979, he was involved in a car accident that left him with serious injuries, a broken arm and leg, and had to undergo plastic surgery.

He later returned to acting with roles in 1980s films such as the Jamie Lee Curtis-led romance Love Letters and Tobe Hooper’s sci-fi horror film Invaders from Mars. The 1990s saw him in Dogma and Kevin Smith’s bizarre classic, before later appearing in films including Coyote Ugly, The Number 23, and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Small screen appearances have also included Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, and Development Arrest. His long list of voice credits includes the animated series Batman, The Mask, and Superman.

Kurt was involved in another car accident in 2011 in which he nearly tore off his arm, making it difficult to find work in the following years.