
John Hurt
0 FOLLOWERS • 76 CREDITS • JAN 22, 1940 - JAN 25, 2017 • 77
Biography
Sir John Vincent Hurt (January 22, 1940 – January 25, 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. He came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966) and gained BAFTA Award nominations for his portrayals of Timothy Evans in 10 Rillington Place (1971) and Quentin Crisp in television film The Naked Civil Servant (1975) – winning his first BAFTA for the latter. He played Caligula in the BBC TV series I, Claudius (1976). Hurt's performance in the prison drama Midnight Express (1978) brought him international renown and earned Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards, along with an Academy Award nomination. His BAFTA-nominated portrayal of astronaut Kane, in the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), notably included a scene where an alien creature burst out of his chest, named by several publications as one of the most memorable moments in cinema history.
Hurt earned his third competitive BAFTA, along with his second Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, as Joseph Merrick in David Lynch's biopic The Elephant Man (1980). Other significant roles during the 1980s included Bob Champion in biopic Champions (1984), Mr. Braddock in the Stephen Frears drama The Hit (1984), Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and Stephen Ward in the drama depicting the Profumo affair, Scandal (1989). Hurt was again BAFTA-nominated for his work in Irish drama The Field (1990) and played the primary villain, James Graham, in the epic adventure Rob Roy (1995). His later films include the Harry Potter film series (2001–11), the Hellboy films (2004 and 2008), supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key (2005), western The Proposition (2005), political thriller V for Vendetta (2005), action adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), sci-fi action Outlander (2008) and the Cold War espionage film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Hurt reprised his role as Quentin Crisp in An Englishman in New York (2009), which brought his seventh BAFTA nomination. He portrayed the War Doctor in the BBC TV series Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", in 2013.
Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors; director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in the world". He possessed what was described as the "most distinctive voice in Britain", likened by The Observer to "nicotine sieved through dirty, moonlit gravel". His voice acting career encompassed films such as Watership Down (1978), The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Plague Dogs (1982), The Black Cauldron (1985), Dogville (2003) and Planet Dinosaur (2011) as well as BBC TV series Merlin (2008–2012). In 2012, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement BAFTA Award, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to cinema". He was knighted in 2015 for his services to drama.
Known For

Doctor Who

The One Show

GMTV

Parkinson

Golden Globe Awards

Who Do You Think You Are?

Performance

The Hollywood Greats

The Hollow Crown

A Ghost Story for Christmas

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Live Aid

History of the World: Part I

Creating the World of Harry Potter

Doctor Who at the Proms

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song

New York, I Love You

I, Claudius

Thumbelina

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Merlin

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Spaceballs

Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

A Man for All Seasons

Pride

Valiant

Only Lovers Left Alive

Melancholia

Immortals

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

V for Vendetta

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

The Black Cauldron

Jackie

Alien

The Gruffalo

Outlander

The Jim Henson Hour

The Lord of the Rings

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Snowpiercer

Contact

The Skeleton Key

Hellboy

Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor

Damascus Cover

Hercules

The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed

Dogville

The Elephant Man

The Alan Clark Diaries

Partners

Great Moments in Aviation

The Confession

Saigon Baby

The Storyteller

Love and Death on Long Island

Human Planet

Hiroshima

Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers

Champions

The Peddler

Scandal

The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima

Journey to Knock

Planet Dinosaur

The Plot Against Harold Wilson

Shadowing the Third Man

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Deadline

Whistle and I'll Come to You
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