RIP Mary Beth Hurt

 

Mary Beth Hurt Dies: ‘The Age of Innocence’ & ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ Actress Was 79 

DEADLINE

By Glenn Garner

March 29, 2026

 

Mary Beth Hurt, the actress known for roles in The Age of Innocence and Six Degrees of Separation, has died. She was 79.

The 3x Tony-nominated actress’ daughter Molly Schrader, whom she shared with husband Paul Schrader, announced that Hurt died on Saturday after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015.

“Yesterday morning we lost my mom, Mary Beth, to Alzheimer’s after a decade long battle with the disease,” wrote Molly on Instagram. “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.”

Born Sept. 25, 1946 in Marshalltown, Iowa, where actress Jean Seberg was her babysitter, Mary Beth Supinger studied acting at University of Iowa and New York University.

Making her stage debut in the 1974 off-Broadway production of Jim Steinman and Michael Weller’s More Than You Deserve, Mary Beth was nominated for three Tony Awards for her performances in Trelawny of the Wells (1975), Crimes of the Heart (1981) and Benefactors (1985-’86).

In 1978, Mary Beth played her first onscreen role as Joey in Woody Allen’s Interiors, starring alongside the late Diane Keaton. She went on to appear in 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), as well as episodes of Kojak, Thirtysomething, Saturday Night Live and Law & Order.

Mary Beth was married to late actor William Hurt from 1971 to ’82, before marrying Schrader in 1983. She and the Oscar-nominated filmmaker shared daughter Molly and son Sam.

HURT, Mary Beth (Mary Beth Supinger)

Born: 9/25/1946, Marshalltown, Iowa, U.S.A.

Died: 3/28/2026, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

 

Mary Beth Hurt’s western – actress:

Royce (TV) – 1976 (Susan Mabry)