Marlee Matlin Reacts To Death Of Ex William Hurt, Whom She Accused Of Rape 13 Years Ago: "We've Lost A Really Great Actor"

Marlee Matlin has “fond memories” of former co-star and lover William Hurt.Matlin, 57, and Hurt, who passed away Sunday (Mar 13) from prostate cancer (per Variety) at 71, starred together in the 1986 drama Children of a Lesser God, which won Matlin the Best Actress Oscar. The two actors began dating when she was 19 and he was 35.

Asked by Entertainment Tonight about Hurt's passing on the red carpet at the Critics Choice awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, Matlin, initially struggled to respond as she shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands before signing: "You're the first person to ask me about him."

She then paused and continued: "We've lost a really great actor and working with him on set in Children of a Lesser God will always be something I remember very fondly.

"He taught me a great deal as an actor and he was one-of-a-kind."

Matlin has previously accused Hurt of being physically, emotionally and sexually abusive during their two-year relationship.

In her 2009 memoir, I'll Scream Later, she alleged the Kiss of the Spider Woman actor had brutally raped her on one occasion when he came home drunk.

She wrote: "The next thing I knew he’d pulled me out of the bed, screaming at me, shaking me.

"I was scared, I was sobbing. Then he threw me on the bed, started ripping off his clothes and mine. I was crying. 'No, no, no. Please Bill, no.' The next thing I remember is Bill ramming himself inside me as I sobbed."

In a statement issued afterward, Hurt didn't deny Matlin's allegations but insisted they had both "apologised" to one another.

He said: "My own recollection is that we both apologised and both did a great deal to heal our lives.

"Of course, I did and do apologise for any pain I caused. And I know we both have grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good."

News of the History of Violence actor's passing was announced by his family on Sunday.

They said in a statement: “'It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar-winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday … He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. The family requests privacy at this time.”

Matlin is currently starring in CODA, a drama about an aspiring singer whose parents are deaf, which is up for three Oscars, including Best Picture. It's now streaming on Apple TV+.

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos