Bud Cort death: Dies at 77 from pneumonia complications

Bud Cort, ‘Harold and Maude’ Star, Dies at 77 in Connecticut

By Jonathan Miller • February 12, 2026

Bud Cort, best known as Harold in Harold and Maude, has died at 77 in Connecticut. Family reps say he died of pneumonia complications at an assisted‑living facility.

Actor Bud Cort, remembered for his offbeat lead in the 1971 cult classic Harold and Maude, has died at 77. Friends and representatives say Cort died Wednesday in Connecticut; a family representative told the New York Times he passed at an assisted‑living facility from pneumonia complications after a long illness.

Career and defining role

Born Walter Edward Cox in Rye, New York, in 1948, Cort began his career doing standup in New York City in the late 1960s. Director Robert Altman noticed him and cast him in the films M-A-S-H and Brewster McCloud, both released in 1970. His defining role came the following year when Hal Ashby cast him as the title character in Harold and Maude, playing a morbid, privileged young man who forms an unlikely bond with a much older woman played by Ruth Gordon.

The dark romantic comedy eventually became a cult favorite and was recognized by the American Film Institute among the top romantic comedies. Writer‑director Cameron Crowe is quoted in the piece as describing Harold and Maude as the story of “a young man obsessed with death” who falls for “an old woman obsessed with life,” adding that the film’s Cat Stevens soundtrack “scratches at your soul.”

Later work and reflections

Cort later said the role that made him famous also led to typecasting; he told the Los Angeles Times in 1996 that he did not make a film for five years and that he had even turned down a role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Over nearly five decades he maintained a steady career with roles in films including Heat, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Dogma, Coyote Ugly and Pollock, and provided voice work for animated projects such as Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited and The Little Prince.

Death and tributes

Friend and veteran television producer Dorian Hannaway told KABC that Cort had died in Connecticut. A representative for Cort’s family confirmed to the New York Times that he died at an assisted‑living facility from pneumonia complications. The short notice of his passing and the film that made him a household name prompted remembrances of his singular performance in Harold and Maude and of a long, varied career on stage, screen and in voice work.