Bud Cort was born Walter Edward "Bud" Cox on March 29, 1948, in New Rochelle, New York. He studied acting under famed actor William Hickey. He attended Iona Preparatory School and, after graduating there, he took acting classes at he New York University Tisch School of the Art for a time. He also studied acting under Stella Adler. To avoid being confused with actor Wally Cox, he created his stage name by combining his nickname "Bud" with his mother's maiden name "Court," later changing the spelling of "Court" after the Cort Theatre in New York City.
Bud Cort made his television debut in an uncredited role on the daytime soap opera The Doctors in 1968. In the late Sixties, he guest starred on episodes of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, Room 222, and The Governor & J.J. He made his film debut in an uncredited role in Up the Down Staircase (1967) and then appeared in an uncredited role in Sweet Charity (1969). He was discovered in a revue by director Robert Altman, who cast him as Private Boone in MASH (1970). He also played the title role in Robert Altman's movie Brewster McCloud (1970). He also appeared in the movies The Strawberry Statement (1970), Gas-s-s-s (1970), and The Travelling Executioner (1970).
Bud Cort began the Seventies with what might be his best known movie, Harold and Maude (1971), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He appeared in the movies Roma drogata: la polizia non può intervenire (1975), Why Shoot the Teacher (1977), Son of Hitler (1979), and Die Laughing (1980). He appeared on television in the TV movies Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976), Brave New World (1980).
In the Eighties, Mr. Cort guest-starred on the shows Insight, Faerie Tale Theatre, Tales from the Darkside, Tales of the Unexpected,The Hitchhiker, Sledge Hammer!, The Twilight Zone, and Midnight Caller. He appeared in the movies She Dances Alone (1981), Hysterical (1982), Love Letters (1983), Maria's Lovers (1984), The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984), Invaders from Mars (1986), Telephone (1986), Love at Stake (1987), Out of the Dark (1988), The Chocolate War (1988), and Brain Dead (1990). He was the voice of the computer Edgar in Electric Dreams (1984).
In the Nineties, Bud Cort apepared in the movies Going Under (1991), Ted & Venus (1991), Girl in the Cadillac (1995), Heat (1995), Theodore Rex (1995), (1998), Seet Jane (1998), I Woked Up Early the Day He Died (1998), Dogma (1999), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000), (2000), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Coyote Ugly (2000), and Pollocak (2000). On teelvision he was a guest voice on Batman: The Animated Series, Tom & Jerry Kids Show, The Mask, The Sylvester & Tweeties Mysteries, and Superman: The Animated Series. He guest starred on the shows Dream On, Bob, Jack's Place, Scren Two, and Gun.
In the Naughts, Bud Cort guest starred on the shows Arrested Development, Ugly Betty, and Criminal Mnids. He was a guest voice on Static Shock and Justice League Unlimited. He appeared in the movies Made (2001), (2003), The Big Empty (2003), The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004), and The Number 23 (2007). In the Teenes, he was the vocie of the King in the animated movie Le petit prince (2015). He guest starred on the show Eagleheart.
In my humble opinion, Bud Cort was one of the great character actors of the late 20th Century. Chances are good that he will always be best remembered as Harold Chasen in Harold and Maude, the young man obsessed with death., who develops a friendship with 79 year old Maude Chardin (Ruth Gordon). Hr will also be remembered for another collaboration with Robert Altman, Brewster McCloud. Like Harold, Brewster was an eccentric, although in his case he was building his own wings and lived in a fallout shelter.
Although he may be best known for these two roles, Bud Cort played other great roles throughout his career. In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, he played mild-mannered bond company employee. He was the voice of Edgar, the lovestruck computer, in Electric Dreams. In the TV adaptation of Brave New World, he played psychologist Bernard Marx. On television he was also the voice of Toyman on various animated shows based on DC Comics. Bud Cort was a great talent who could bring characters to life, no matter how off-the-wall they were, and make them believable.
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