American actress Marlee Matlin has claimed in new book that she had been in a physically abusive relationship with actor William Hurt.
The 43-year-old actress met Hurt, 59, when they co-starred in the movie Children of a Lesser God for which Matlin won an Oscar in 1987, and the two began a romantic relationship.
In her book I’ll Scream Later, Matlin describes a turbulent and violent courtship and one abusive fight in which she claims Hurt threw her on a bed and ripped her clothes off while she sobbed, “No, no, no. Please Bill, no.” “I was always afraid ... of him, but i loved him,” the New York Daily News quoted Matlin as telling Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell.
During the two years that they had dated, the actress revealed that she had new bruises every day. “And if I had a split lip, or if… I mean, there were a lot of things that happened that were not pleasant,” Matlin said. Matlin said that Hurt was battling alcoholism at the time and she was addicted to cocaine. “I was so wrapped up in his world and my drugs. The drugs took over my life, took over my brain. I was 19 and I was alone in New York City. I had no friends there except my drug dealer,” she added.