Bud Cort, the actor who made death obsession lovable in Harold and Maude, died February 11, 2026, at 77.
The cult icon passed away in Norwalk, Connecticut, from pneumonia complications while living at an assisted-living facility. His friend Dorian Hannaway, a television producer, confirmed he’d been battling a long illness.
Cort was best known for playing Harold Chasen, a wealthy, morbid teenager who falls for Ruth Gordon’s spirited 79-year-old Holocaust survivor in the 1971 dark comedy.
The Final Numbers
- Death date: February 11, 2026
- Age: 77 years old
- Cause: Pneumonia complications
- Location: Norwalk, Connecticut (assisted-living facility)
- Birth name: Walter Edward Cox
- Born: March 29, 1948, Rye, New York
- Career span: Over 40 films, numerous TV series
- Awards: Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Harold and Maude
The Role That Defined Him
Harold and Maude became one of the most memorable films of the 1970s. Cort played Harold Chasen, a death-obsessed 19-year-old who drives a hearse and stages elaborate fake suicides that only bore his wealthy mother.
At random funerals, Harold meets Maude Chardin (Ruth Gordon), a 79-year-old woman living in an abandoned train car who shares his fascination with death but approaches it with joy and empathy. Director Hal Ashby later reveals the concentration camp number on Maude’s forearm, explaining her profound perspective on life.
The unconventional romance earned Cort nominations for both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. The film became a cult classic and made him “a household name and a film idol of the anti-establishment 1970s”.
Discovered by Robert Altman
Robert Altman discovered Cort while he was performing in a revue and immediately cast him in two 1970 films: MAS*H and Brewster McCloud. Both became hits.
In MAS*H, Cort played the sensitive Private Boone. His quirky presence made him Altman’s go-to for offbeat characters.
Cort’s career spanned over 80 films and TV series. During the 1970s, he appeared in the comedy-drama Why Shoot the Teacher? and a television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Bernice Bobs Her Hair alongside Shelley Duvall.
The Crashes That Changed Everything
A serious car accident in 1979 left Cort with significant injuries—fractures to an arm and leg that required plastic surgery. The crash limited his career opportunities for years.
In 2011, he suffered another car accident that severely injured his arm, making it challenging to find acting work in subsequent years. The injury complications may have contributed to his eventual need for assisted living.
His Later Career Revival
Cort found new audiences through voice work and character roles. He contributed to animated series including Batman, The Mask, and Superman.
His television career included roles in Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, and Arrested Development. He also appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Even in his later years, Cort was frequently recognized for his portrayal of Harold Chasen—a wealthy, introspective teenager whose friendship with Maude became one of cinema’s most unconventional love stories.
Why This Role Still Matters
Harold and Maude challenged every Hollywood convention. It presented death as something to contemplate rather than fear, and love as something that transcends age and social expectations.
Cort’s performance made audiences root for a relationship that should have been absurd on paper—a 19-year-old and a 79-year-old. His vulnerability and deadpan humor turned Harold into an icon of 1970s counterculture.
Born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948, in Rye, New York, Cort built a career spanning stage, screen, and voice work. But it was his first major role—Harold Chasen—that defined his legacy.
The role, while making him famous, also “limited his growth as an actor,” according to the New York Times. He was forever associated with that death-obsessed teenager, even decades later.
Cort died in the same state where he’d been living quietly in assisted care, far from Hollywood’s spotlight. He leaves behind a filmography of over 40 movies and a performance that continues to influence independent cinema.
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