Oscar-nominated actor who played Mozart seen unrecognizable in Manhattan, decades after Amadeus

An Oscar-nominated actor who portrayed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1984 biopic Amadeus was spotted on a casual stroll in Manhattan on Monday, looking markedly different from his screen days as he nears 70. The sighting comes 41 years after his most famous starring role, a performance that earned him both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. The biopic Amadeus, which opened in 1984, went on to win a Golden Globe Award in 1985 and remains a touchstone of 1980s cinema.

Tom Hulce, who is now 71, is best known for bringing Mozart to life on screen. In the years that followed, he built a varied resume that extended beyond acting to directing and writing for the stage. Hulce largely stepped back from on-camera work in the mid-1990s to focus on theater, a shift that helped redefine his career away from the screen. In 2023, he returned to acting briefly by reprising one of his most celebrated roles, indicating that while he has steadied his focus on the stage, he is not entirely absent from the spotlight.

Hulce’s screen legacy extends beyond Amadeus. He starred in Echo Park (1986) opposite Susan Dey and played Pinto in National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978). He also appeared in Parenthood (1989) with Steve Martin and lent his voice to Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Quasimodo in 1996. Amadeus earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination, while his later work earned an Emmy for The Heidi Chronicles in 1995. The breadth of his career underscores a performer who has navigated both intimate stage projects and larger film ventures.

In 2007 Hulce achieved another major milestone when he won a Tony Award for Best Musical as a lead producer for Spring Awakening. His name often comes up in conversations about artists who successfully traverse film, television and the stage, with multiple nominations for performances in productions including A Few Good Men and Hamlet. The blend of screen and stage work has been a defining feature of his professional life, even as he shifted away from acting work for extended periods.

In 2008 Hulce publicly came out as gay in an interview with Seattle Gay News, marking a notable moment in his public life. He later addressed online rumors about his private life in a 2018 Page Six interview, clarifying that reports of a wife and child were false and emphasizing that directing and producing had become his primary artistic focus. He described a shift in his career that left acting behind for long stretches, noting that directing and producing provided a more sustainable creative outlet. He explained that directing involves choosing projects, assembling teams, and navigating complex production challenges, a process he found deeply engaging.

Today Hulce remains active in the theater world as a producer and occasional actor, choosing projects that reflect his long-standing interest in storytelling and collaboration behind the scenes. The Manhattan sighting has reignited public interest in the actor whose career has spanned film, television and stage for more than four decades, and who has largely kept a low profile in recent years while continuing to influence the theater landscape.