R.I.P. BUD CORT

You made quirkiness contagious, forging oddball characters who always had the peculiar penchant to please, no matter if they won, lost or landed somewhere in between. 

I think it's safe to say that Harold and Maude (with spunky ol' Ruth Gordon) is your biggie in that uncommon respect, but there are many other obtruding productions that beam a comparable shine. 

These include Brewster McCloud, M*A*S*H, Brave New World 1980, Brain Dead, Invaders from Mars 1986, Electric Dreams, Out of the Dark, The Traveling Executioner, Gas-s-s-s, Sweet Charity, The Strawberry Statement, Hallucination Strip, Theodore Rex, Dogma, The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud, Pollock, Son of Hitler, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Why Shoot the Teacher?, Up the Down Staircase, Die Laughing, Hysterical, She Dances Alone, Love Letters, Love at Stake, Girl in the Cadillac, I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, Sweet Jane, Going Under, Heat, Made, Telephone, The Big Empty, The Little Prince 2015, But I'm a Cheerleader, The Chocolate War, South of Heaven/West of Hell, The Million Dollar Hotel, And the Band Played On, Dogma, Coyote Ugly, The Number 23, Pumping Iron (restored edition), Ted & Venus (as star, writer and director) ... and then there's The Twilight Zone-ish pilot for 1987's Bates Motel, which would have led Psycho's mythology in a bold, mystical direction, if only it had been extended. 

You also became part of the 1980s, Twilight Zone revival (in "The Trunk"), Tales from the Darkside (in "Snip, Snip"), Tales of the Unexpected (in "Nothin' Short of Highway Robbery") and The Hitchhiker (in "Made for Each Other"), plus Room 222, Columbo, Sledge Hammer!, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, The Mask: The Animated Series, Static Shock, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Eagleheart, Arrested Development, Ugly Betty and Criminal Minds. 

Your uniqueness made a long-lasting impression, and that impression projects nothing but quality, Mr. Cort. As far as character actors go, you'll always remain at the top, and as far as legacies go, yours has no recourse but to grow.