American actress Mary Beth Hurt, born Mary Beth Supinger, trained for the theater at New York University's School of the Arts. She then spent a year in London, where she performed with the Questers, a well-known amateur theater troupe. In 1972 she made her professional debut with the New York Shakespeare Festival, then went on to a very successful stage career on Broadway and elsewhere; she won two Obie awards (one for her work in the play
Crimes of the Heart) and was nominated for a Tony for Trelawney of the Wells. Her theater work impressed filmmaker
Woody Allen, who cast her in a supporting role in her screen debut,
Interiors (1978), Allen's first non-comedy. This won her the co-lead in
Joan Micklin Silver's
Head Over Heels (1979). Hurt has remained primarily a stage actress, appearing in films every two years or so. From 1972-82 she was married to actor
William Hurt. She is now married to writer-director
Paul Schrader, and co-starred in his film
Light Sleeper (1992).