THE MIGHTY B.C.*

I swear sometimes this blog is like a damned obituary page, but I gotta acknowledge the passing of Bud Cort. 

I was 12 years old when I first caught Harold and Maude on TV, and it was exactly the right time in my life for that movie to find me. I was a shy, quirky kid just entering middle school, and while people are somewhat forgiving to shy, quirky, little kids, by the time you hit that pre-pubescent stage, you notice that you're suddenly expected to straighten up, blend in, and CONFORM. The halls of my middle school were filled with these mean, nasty little preppy clones who had not only gotten the memo, they enthusiastically embraced and celebrated their uniformity. It was all profoundly depressing, and I wondered if this was what life was going to be like for the rest of forever. 

Then I saw Harold and Maude, this wonderfully weird, darkly funny, big-hearted film that was unlike anything I'd ever encountered before. I remember thinking, "Someone gets it." And that brought me a great deal of comfort.         

Ruth Gordon was brilliant of course, but Bud Cort was a revelation.

Sometime later, I learned that BC was also the voice of the computer in Electric Dreams, a romantic comedy that I'd loved for years. I couldn't believe it--Harold was Edgar, and Edgar was Harold! It made me love him even more. (I still maintain that Electric Dreams is a darling movie, even though there seems to be lots of mixed opinions on it. And the new wave soundtrack totally rules--I wore it out on cassette tape as a youngster.)

BC with Virginia Madsen on the set of Electric Dreams.
How adorable are they?!?

I think I'm finally going to have to bite the bullet and check out Brewster McCloud. Even though I'm not an Altman fan, I'll do it for Bud.

I mean, just look at him with Shelley Duvall! 

I like to think they became besties after this.

In fact, BC actually made an appearance on an episode of Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre years later. I have vague recollections of that show, and now I think I'm going to have to hunt that one down as well.

The most surprising place Bud Cort turned up was this outtake from Arnold Schwarzenegger's Pumping Iron, of all things. I had no idea this clip existed until recently, when I came across it among all the online tributes. I love how chill and down-to-earth Bud comes off in it. And dig his groovy leisure suit at the end!

Rest in peace, Bud. 

You made generations of oddball kids feel seen.

*A play on the title of this excellent tune by the late, great, doomed For Squirrels. If you want to disappear down a rabbit hole--and discover some good music--check 'em out.