Actress Mary Beth Hurt died at the age of 79 after her decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Hurt was nominated for three Tonys and appeared in films including Interiors and The World According to Garp.
Molly Schrader, the actress' daughter confirmed Hurt's death on social media.
Mary Beth Hurt Dies At 79: Interiors, World According To Garp Actress Passes Away After Battle With Alzheimer’s
Actress Mary Beth Hurt died at the age of 79 after her decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Summary
Mary Beth Hurt, the Tony-nominated actress known for roles in The Age of Innocence, Six Degrees of Separation, Interiors, Chilly Scenes of Winter and The World According to Garp, passed away on Saturday (March 28, 2026). She was 79.
Molly Schrader, the actress' daughter, announced Hurt's death via an Instagram post.
Hurt was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015.
Mary Beth Hurt death
Hurt breathed her last at an assisted living facility in Jersey City, New Jersey, her husband, Oscar-nominated writer and director Paul Schrader, informed The Hollywood Reporter.
On Sunday, taking to her Instagram handle, Molly wrote, “Yesterday morning we lost my mom, Mary Beth, to Alzheimer’s after a decade-long battle with the disease.”
“She was an actress, a wife, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend, and she took on all those rolls with grace and a kind ferocity. Although we’re grieving there is some comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering and is reunited with her sisters in peace (sic).”
Who was Mary Beth Hurt?
Born on September 25, 1946, in Marshalltown, lowa, Mary Beth studied acting at the University of Iowa and New York University.
She made her stage debut in the 1974 off-Broadway production of Jim Steinman and Michael Weller’s More Than You Deserve. She appeared 15 times on Broadway from 1974 to 2011 and in 1982. The actress received three Tony Awards nominations for her performances in Trelawny of the Wells (1975), Crimes of the Heart (1981) and Benefactors (1985-’86).
Mary Beth Hurt career
Her role as Joey in Woody Allen’s Interiors (1978) was her first onscreen performance, where she starred with the late Diane Keaton. The World According to Garp (1982), The Age of Innocence (1993), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Autumn in New York (2000), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), The Dead Girl (2006), Lady in the Water (2006) and Young Adult (2011), are some of her notable works.
She also appeared in Kojak, Thirtysomething, Saturday Night Live and Law & Order.
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Mary Beth got married to actor William Hurt in 1971. They divorced in 1982. Later, she married Schrader in 1983. Both shared daughter Molly and son Sam.
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