John Hurt

Born: 1940-01-22 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK

Died: 2017-01-25

Known For: 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.

Filmography

2025

Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War as The Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)

2024

Doctor Who at the Proms as The Doctor (War) (archive footage)

2021

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony as Self (archive footage)

2018

Ayamé as Narrator (voice)

2017

Damascus Cover as Miki
The Journey as Harry Patterson
That Good Night as Ralph
My Name Is Lenny as Leslie Salmon

2016

ChickLit as Francis Bonar
Jackie as The Priest
The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets as Siegfried Sassoon
The Final Reel as Self - Narrator (voice)
Back to Utopia as Professor Peter Panludic (voice)

2012

The Hollow Crown as The Chorus
More Than Honey as Narrator (english voice)
Labyrinth as Audric Baillard
Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers as Narrator (voice)
Sightseers as Jerusalem Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Snipist as The Ministry

2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 as Ollivander
Melancholia as Dexter
Immortals as Old Zeus
The Gruffalo's Child as The Owl (voice)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as Control
The Confession as Priest
In Love with Alma Cogan as MC
Human Planet as Narrator (voice)
Planet Dinosaur as Narrator
On Borrowed Time as Self
The Confession as Priest
The Journey – Stories from the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa as Narrator
23 Degrees, 5 Minutes as Professor Orit
Sailcloth as Man

2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Ollivander
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures as Grandpa Sammy (voice)
Love at First Sight as Arthur
Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie as Carnak
Brighton Rock as Phil Corkery
Whistle and I'll Come to You as James Parkin
Behind Jim Jarmusch as Self
Lou as Doyle

2009

The Gruffalo as Owl (voice)
An Englishman in New York as Quentin Crisp
The Limits of Control as Guitar
Waking Sleeping Beauty as The Horned King (voice) (archive footage)
Centenary: The BP Story as Narrator (voice)
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World as Self (archive footage)
44 Inch Chest as Old Man Peanut
Ballybrando as Self
Remembrance as Bellhop

2008

Merlin as Kilgharrah (voice)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army as Trevor Bruttenholm
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as Professor Harold Oxley
New York, I Love You as Bellhop
Recount as Warren Christopher
The Oxford Murders as Arthur Seldom
Outlander as Rothgar
Lecture 21 as Mondrian Kilroy
Verity Lambert: Drama Queen

2007

Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron as Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (voice)
Masters of Science Fiction as Samswope
Boxes as Fanny's father
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas as Self
Interview with John Hurt as Self

2006

V for Vendetta as Adam Sutler
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer as Narrator (voice)
Shooting Dogs as Christopher
The Plot Against Harold Wilson as Narrator (voice)
Whaledreamers as Self

2005

Doctor Who as The Doctor
Manderlay as Narrator (voice)
Valiant as Felix (voice)
The Proposition as Jellon Lamb
The Skeleton Key as Ben Devereaux
Short Order
Hiroshima as Narrator (voice)
Once Upon a Halloween as The Horned King (voice) (archive sound)
Hiroshima: The First Weapon of Mass Destruction as Narrator

2004

Hellboy as Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Who Do You Think You Are? as Self
Pride as Harry (voice)
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation as Self
The Alan Clark Diaries as Alan Clark
Alpha to Omega: Exposing 'The Osterman Weekend' as Self
Shadowing the Third Man as Narrator (voice)

2003

Dogville as Narrator (voice)
Owning Mahowny as Victor Foss
The Beast Within: Making Alien as Self
Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill as Man from Maybury Hill

2002

Miranda as Christian
Crime and Punishment as Porfiry, chief investigator
Bait as Jack Blake
The Alien Saga as Narrator (voice)
I, Claudius: A Television Epic as Self
HypaSpace as Self
Edge of the Universe as Narrator (voice)
The Twilight Hour: Visions of Ireland's Haunted Past as Self

2001

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as Mr. Ollivander
Captain Corelli's Mandolin as Dr. Iannis
Tabloid as Vince
Shaolin: Wheel of Life as Narrator (voice)
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed as Self
The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm as Narrator (voice)

2000

The Tigger Movie as Narrator (voice)
Lost Souls as Father Lareaux
Krapp's Last Tape as Krapp

1999

New Blood as Alan White
If... Dog... Rabbit as Sean Cooper
All the Little Animals as Mr. Summers
Watership Down as General Woundwort (voice)
You're Dead... as Maitland

1998

The Climb as Chuck Langer
Parkinson as Self
Night Train as Michael Poole
Love and Death on Long Island as Giles De'Ath
The Commissioner as James morton

1997

Contact as S. R. Hadden
Brute as Babits

1996

Tender Loving Care as Dr. Turner

1995

Wild Bill as Charley Prince
Dead Man as John Scholfield
Rob Roy as John Graham
Picture Windows as Marquis de Prey
Saigon Baby as Jack Lee
Picture Windows: Two Nudes Bathing as Marquis de Prey
On Jupiter as Narrator (voice)

1994

Thumbelina as Mr. Mole (voice)
Second Best as Uncle Turpin
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues as The Countess
Great Moments in Aviation as Rex Goodyear
The World of Jim Henson as The Storyteller (archive footage)
Inside the Actors Studio as Self
Rabbit Ears - Aladdin and the Magic Lamp as Narrator (voice)

1993

GMTV as Self
Monolith as Villano

1992

Dark at Noon as Anthony / Le Marquis
Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Father

1991

King Ralph as Lord Percival Graves
Performance as The Father
Red Fox as Archie Carpenter
Lapse of Memory as Conrad Farmer
Journey to Knock as Alfred
I Dreamt I Woke Up as Boorman's Alter Ego

1990

Frankenstein Unbound as Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)
The Field as Bird' O'Donnell
Romeo.Juliet as La Dame aux Chats / Mercutio (voice)
Windprints as Charles Rutherford
Who Bombed Birmingham? as Chris Mullin
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch as Self
Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool as Narrator (voice)
Resident Alien as Self - Actor

1989

Scandal as Stephen Ward
Poison Candy as Robert Burger
David Macaulay: Pyramid as Khufu / Second French Explorer (voice)
The Jim Henson Hour

1988

The Storyteller as The Storyteller
Deadline as Granville Jones
The Bengali Night as Lucien Metz

1987

Spaceballs as John Hurt
White Mischief as Gilbert Colville
Aria as The Actor
The Hunting of the Snark as The Narrator (voice)
From the Hip as Douglas Benoit
Vincent as (voice)
Monolith as Narrator (voice)
Iceberg as Narrator (voice)
Frightmares

1986

Jake Speed as Syd
Thames Film
Rocinante as Bill

1985

The Black Cauldron as The Horned King (voice)
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima as Narrator (voice)
After Darkness as Peter Hunningford
Live Aid as Self

1984

Sunset People as Self
Champions as Bob Champion
The Hit as Braddock
Nineteen Eighty-Four as Winston Smith
Success Is the Best Revenge as Dino Montecurva

1983

Natural World as Narrator
King Lear as The Fool
The Osterman Weekend as Lawrence Fassett

1982

Night Crossing as Peter Strelzyk
Partners as Kerwin
The Plague Dogs as Snitter (voice)
Paul McCartney - Take It Away

1981

History of the World: Part I as Jesus - The Roman Empire

1980

The Elephant Man as John Merrick
Heaven's Gate as Billy Irvine
An Evening with Quentin Crisp as Host

1979

Alien as Kane
Crime and Punishment as Raskolnikov

1978

Midnight Express as Max
Watership Down as Hazel (voice)
The Lord of the Rings as Aragorn (voice)
The Shout as Anthony Fielding

1977

The Disappearance as Atkinson
Three Dangerous Ladies as Lt. George Simmonds
Spectre as Mitri Cyon
East of Elephant Rock as Nash
The Hollywood Greats

1976

I, Claudius as Caligula
The Peddler as Alec Cassell
Stream Line as Chandler

1975

The Sweeney as Tony Grey
The Ghoul as Tom Rawlings
The Naked Civil Servant as Quentin Crisp

1974

NOVA as Narrator
Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs as Malcolm Scrawdyke
The Playboy of the Western World as Christopher Mahon (Christy Mahon)

1973

Wessex Tales as Joshua Harlborough

1972

The Pied Piper as Franz

1971

Great Performances as Narrator
10 Rillington Place as Timothy Evans
A Ghost Story for Christmas as James Parkin
Mr. Forbush and the Penguins as Richard Forbush
Green Julia as Bob

1970

Play for Today as Alec Cassell

1969

Sinful Davey as Davey Haggart
Before Winter Comes as Lieutenant Pilkington
In Search of Gregory as Daniel

1967

The Sailor from Gibraltar as John

1966

A Man for All Seasons as Richard Rich

1965

Gideon's Way as Freddy Tisdale

1964

This Is My Street as Charlie

1962

The Wild and the Willing as Phil Corbett

1956

Armchair Theatre as Joe

1944

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee