The Best Actor of the 1980s: William Hurt

Once upon a time, boys and girls, William Hurt was a bona fide movie star whose name was prominently displayed on posters to open movies. Even better, he was a great actor. The 1980s is notable for the collapse of Al Pacino as a force to be reckoned with, as well as the transformation of Jack Nicholson into a parody of himself more often than not. The late 80s also marked the beginning of Robert DeNiro's sad decline into making more movies than your average British actor, meaning he made just as many clunkers as masterpieces. Dustin Hoffman went from the brilliance of Tootsie to the embarrassment of Rain Man. Only Gene Hackman escaped the decade unscathed; unfortunately, most of his movies in the 1980s were pretty forgettable. William Hurt emerged as the great white bread hope and rose quickly to heights from which it seemed impossible he could fall so quickly.

William Hurt kicked of the decade by plastering his face over one of the most famous movie posters of all time. Most people recognized him from his upside down appearance in the poster for Altered States. If only that movie had been as inventive as the poster. Next up was the tight little thriller Eyewitness. Both those movies served as mere precursors to the film that would turn him into a star. Body Heat's history is somewhat similar to A Christmas Story; both are movies that precious few people saw in theaters but nearly everybody has since seen. By the mid-80s you could talk about Body Heat with just about everybody. The only reason this is so is because it quickly became a staple on HBO. I saw Body Heat in a theater that was only about one-third full. As an example of just how much Body Heat wasn't a hit, the box office tally was roughly half that of The Fox and the Hound. And yet how many people do you know who remember that movie? As a result of Body Heat's cable success both its stars became huge in the 80s.