Walter Edward Cox (born March 29, 1948), known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor known for his unorthodox starring roles in Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970) and Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971). He also had supporting roles in films such as M*A*S*H (1970), Electric Dreams (1984), Heat (1995), Dogma (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).
Bud Cort | |
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![]() Bud Cort in 2008 | |
Born | Walter Edward Cox March 29, 1948 Rye, New York, U.S.[1] |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1967–2015 |
He also voiced Toyman over the course of various series in the DC Animated Universe, including Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited.
Career
editCort was discovered in a revue by director Robert Altman, who subsequently cast him in two of his movies, M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud. In the latter, he played the title role. Cort went on to his best-known role as the suicide-obsessed Harold in Harold and Maude. Though it was not particularly successful on release, it gained international cult status and is now considered an American classic, ranking Number 69 on the American Film Institute's 100 Best Romantic Comedies.[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. The accident resulted in plastic surgeries, substantial hospital bills, a lost court case, and the disruption of his career.[1][3]
He 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's voice-over roles include Edgar the computer in the movie Electric Dreams; Toyman, a Superman villain, over the course of various DCAU series including Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited; and Josiah Wormwood in an episode of the earlier DCAU production Batman: The Animated Series. He can also be heard as The King in the English-language version of the feature film The Little Prince (2015), which premiered out of competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival[4] and won the César Award for Best Animated Film in February 2016.[5] It was made available to U.S. audiences through Netflix in 2016.[6]
Cort made a guest appearance on the November 8, 2007, episode of Ugly Betty as the priest officiating at Wilhelmina Slater's ill-fated wedding. In 2010, he guest-starred on Criminal Minds in the episode "Mosley Lane", playing elderly pedophile Roger Roycewood who, along with his wife, kidnapped and killed young children. In 2012, he appeared as the artist "Gleeko" in the "Exit Wound the Gift Shop" episode of the second season of Eagleheart.
Filmography
editFilm
editYear | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1967 | Up the Down Staircase | Student | Uncredited |
1969 | Sweet Charity | Hippie | |
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 | |
1975 | Hallucination Strip | Massimo Monaldi | |
1977 | Why Shoot the Teacher? | Max Brown | |
Pumping Iron | Himself | ||
1978 | Son of Hitler | Willi Hitler | |
1980 | Die Laughing | Mueller | |
1981 | She Dances Alone | Director | |
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 | ||
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 | also director and co-writer |
1995 | Girl in the Cadillac | Bud | |
Heat | Solenko, Restaurant Manager | Uncredited | |
1996 | Theodore Rex | Spinner | |
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 | |
2004 | The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou | Bill Ubell | Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast |
2007 | The Number 23 | Dr. Sirius Leary | Uncredited |
2014 | Dream Corps LLC | Carl Kwartz | |
2015 | The Little Prince | The King | Voice[7] |
Television
editYear | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | Columbo | Milt | Episode: "Double Exposure"; uncredited |
1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Warren | PBS television film |
1980 | Brave New World | Bernard Marx | |
1982 | Insight | Teddy | Episode: "Teddy" |
1985 | Tales from the Darkside | Abe North | Episode: "Snip, Snip" |
Tales of the Unexpected | Newt | Episode: "Nothin' Short of Highway Robbery" (filmed in 1981) | |
1987 | Bates Motel | Alex West | |
1988 | The Twilight Zone | Willy Gardner | Episode: "The Trunk" |
1992 | Batman: The Animated Series | Josiah Wormwood | Voice, episode: "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy"[7] |
1995 | The Mask: Animated Series | Fritz Drizzle/The Tempest | Voice, 2 episodes |
1996 | Superman: The Animated Series | Toyman | |
1998 | The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries | Flint Northwood | Voice, episode: "The Stilted Perch"[7] |
2003 | Static Shock | Toyman | Voice, episode: "Toys in the Hood"[7] |
2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Voice, episode: "Alive!"[7] | |
Arrested Development | Himself | ||
2010 | Criminal Minds | Roger Roycewood | |
2012 | Eagleheart | Gleeko |
References
edit- ^ a b "Bud Cort profile". Salon. September 4, 1999. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions". American Film Institute. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ "Bud Cort". whet.net. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ Felperin, Leslie (May 22, 2015). "'The Little Prince' ('Le Petit Prince'): Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ "France's César awards celebrate diversity with 'Fatima' and 'Mustang'". France 24. February 27, 2016.
- ^ Kilday, Gregg (March 17, 2016). "Netflix Picks Up 'The Little Prince' From Paramount". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ a b c d e "Bud Cort (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 3, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.