John Hurt
Acting
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.
Born: January 22, 1940
Place of Birth: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
Known For
Filmography
as The Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)
as The Doctor (War) (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Narrator (voice)
as Miki
as Ralph
as Leslie Salmon
as Harry Patterson
as The Priest
as Siegfried Sassoon
as Professor Peter Panludic (voice)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
as Francis Bonar
as The Doctor (War) (picture) (uncredited)
as Tom
as Sailor John (voice)
as 347
as Jack
as The Alchemist (voice)
as Narrator
as Cotys
as Christopher Marlowe
as The War Doctor
as The War Doctor (archive voice)
as The War Doctor
as The War Doctor
as Self / Stephen Ward
as Self
as Gilliam
as Kingsley Bedford
as The Voice of the Winter Palace / Self
as Narrator (voice)
as Jerusalem Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
as Audric Baillard
as Narrator (voice)
as Narrator (english voice)
as The Chorus
as The Ministry
as The Owl (voice)
as Old Zeus
as Self
as Control
as Narrator
as Ollivander
as Professor Orit
as Dexter
as Priest
as Priest
as Narrator (voice)
as Man
as James Parkin
as Ollivander
as Arthur
as Phil Corkery
as Grandpa Sammy (voice)
as Doyle
as Owl (voice)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as Old Man Peanut
as The Horned King (voice) (archive footage)
as Guitar
as Quentin Crisp
as Narrator (voice)
as Mondrian Kilroy
as Kilgharrah (voice)
as Bellhop
as Trevor Bruttenholm
as Warren Christopher
as Professor Harold Oxley
as Rothgar
as Arthur Seldom
as Samswope
as Fanny's father
as Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (voice)
as Self
as Narrator (voice)
as Self - Guest
as Self
as Narrator (voice)
as Christopher
as Adam Sutler
as Jellon Lamb
as The Horned King (voice) (archive sound)
as Narrator (voice)
as Ben Devereaux
as Narrator (voice)
as The Doctor
as Felix (voice)
as Self
as Narrator (voice)
as Harry (voice)
as Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
as Alan Clark
as Narrator (voice)
as Man from Maybury Hill
as Victor Foss
as Narrator (voice)
as Porfiry, chief investigator
as Jack Blake
as Christian
as Narrator (voice)
as Narrator (voice)
as Mr. Ollivander
as Dr. Iannis
as Narrator (voice)
as Vince
as Father Lareaux
as Krapp
as Narrator (voice)
as Alan White
as Maitland
as Sean Cooper
as General Woundwort (voice)
as Mr. Summers
as Giles De'Ath
as Chuck Langer
as James morton
as Self
as Michael Poole
as Babits
as S. R. Hadden
as Dr. Turner
as John Scholfield
as Charley Prince
as Marquis de Prey
as John Graham
as Marquis de Prey
as The Storyteller (archive footage)
as Uncle Turpin
as Narrator (voice)
as Self
as The Countess
as Rex Goodyear
as Mr. Mole (voice)
as Villano
as Self
as The Father
as Anthony / Le Marquis
as Archie Carpenter
as Boorman's Alter Ego
as The Father
as Conrad Farmer
as Lord Percival Graves
as Narrator (voice)
as Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)
as Bird' O'Donnell
as Self - Actor
as Charles Rutherford
as Chris Mullin
as La Dame aux Chats / Mercutio (voice)
as Robert Burger
as Stephen Ward
as Khufu / Second French Explorer (voice)
as Lucien Metz
as The Storyteller
as Granville Jones
as Gilbert Colville
as (voice)
as John Hurt
as The Actor
as Douglas Benoit
as Narrator (voice)
as Narrator (voice)
as Syd
as Narrator (voice)
as The Horned King (voice)
as Self
as Peter Hunningford
as Winston Smith
as Braddock
as Dino Montecurva
as Bob Champion
as Self
as Narrator
as Lawrence Fassett
as The Fool
as Snitter (voice)
as Kerwin
as Peter Strelzyk
as Jesus - The Roman Empire
as Billy Irvine
as John Merrick
as Kane
as Raskolnikov
as Aragorn (voice)
as Hazel (voice)
as Max
as Anthony Fielding
as Atkinson
as Nash
as Lt. George Simmonds
as Mitri Cyon
as Caligula
as Chandler
as Alec Cassell
as Quentin Crisp
as Tom Rawlings
as Tony Grey
as Malcolm Scrawdyke
as Narrator
as Joshua Harlborough
as Franz
as James Parkin
as Richard Forbush
as Timothy Evans
as Narrator
as Alec Cassell
as Daniel
as Davey Haggart
as Lieutenant Pilkington
as John
as Richard Rich
as Freddy Tisdale
as Charlie
as Phil Corbett
as Joe
as Self - Nominee