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 One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, his quiet shyness betrayed an early passion for acting. First enrolled at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art, his focus invariably turned from painting to acting.Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960, John made his stage debut in "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger" followed by "The Dwarfs." Elsewhere, he continued to build upon his 60's theatrical career with theatre roles in "Chips with Everything" at the Vaudeville, the title role in "Hamp" at the Edinburgh Festival, "Inadmissible Evidence" at Wyndham's and "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" at the Garrick. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the "angry young man" British drama Young and Willing (1962), followed by small roles in Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967).A somber, freckled, ravaged-looking gent, Hurt found his more compelling early work in offbeat theatrical characterizations with notable roles such as Malcolm in "Macbeth" (1967), Octavius in "Man and Superman" (1969), Peter in "Ride a Cock Horse" (1972), Mike in '"The Caretaker" (1972) and Ben in "The Dumb Waiter" (1973). At the same time he gained more prominence in a spray of film and support roles such as a junior officer in Before Winter Comes (1968), the title highwayman in Sinful Davey (1969), a morose little brother in In Search of Gregory (1969), a dim, murderous truck driver in 10 Rillington Place (1971), a skirt-chasing, penguin-studying biologist in Cry of the Penguins (1971), the unappetizing son of a baron in The Pied Piper (1972) and a repeat of his title stage role as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974).Hurt shot to international stardom, however, on TV where he was allowed to display his true, fearless range. He reaped widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark television play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Hurt's bold, unabashed approach on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the BAFTA (British TV Award). This triumph led to the equally fascinating success as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic television masterpiece I, Claudius (1976), followed by another compelling interpretation as murderous student Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1979).A resurgence occurred on film as a result. Among other unsurpassed portraits on his unique pallet, the chameleon in him displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and as a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978) earning Oscar nominations for both. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). With this new rush of fame came a few misguided ventures as well that were generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with Ryan O'Neal in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. For the most part, the craggy-faced actor continued to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).Latter parts of memorable interpretations included Dr. Iannis in Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the recurring role of the benign wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), the tyrannical dictator Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta (2005) and the voice of The Dragon in Merlin (2008). Among Hurt's final film appearances were as a terminally ill screenwriter in That Good Night (2017) and a lesser role in the mystery thriller Damascus Cover (2017). Hurt's voice was also tapped into animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. He also returned to the theatre performing in such shows as "The Seagull", "A Month in the Country" (1994), "Afterplay" (2002) and "Krapp's Last Tape", the latter for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.A recovered alcoholic who married four times, Hurt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen in 2004, and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. That same year (2015) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In July of 2016, he was forced to bow out of the father role of Billy Rice in a then-upcoming London stage production of "The Entertainer" opposite Kenneth Branagh due to ill health that he described as an "intestinal ailment". Hurt died several months later at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England on January 15, 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.
Bio:
One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, his quiet shyness betrayed an early passion for acting. First enrolled at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art, his focus invariably turned from painting to acting.Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960, John made his stage debut in "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger" followed by "The Dwarfs." Elsewhere, he continued to build upon his 60's theatrical career with theatre roles in "Chips with Everything" at the Vaudeville, the title role in "Hamp" at the Edinburgh Festival, "Inadmissible Evidence" at Wyndham's and "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" at the Garrick. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the "angry young man" British drama Young and Willing (1962), followed by small roles in Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967).A somber, freckled, ravaged-looking gent, Hurt found his more compelling early work in offbeat theatrical characterizations with notable roles such as Malcolm in "Macbeth" (1967), Octavius in "Man and Superman" (1969), Peter in "Ride a Cock Horse" (1972), Mike in '"The Caretaker" (1972) and Ben in "The Dumb Waiter" (1973). At the same time he gained more prominence in a spray of film and support roles such as a junior officer in Before Winter Comes (1968), the title highwayman in Sinful Davey (1969), a morose little brother in In Search of Gregory (1969), a dim, murderous truck driver in 10 Rillington Place (1971), a skirt-chasing, penguin-studying biologist in Cry of the Penguins (1971), the unappetizing son of a baron in The Pied Piper (1972) and a repeat of his title stage role as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974).Hurt shot to international stardom, however, on TV where he was allowed to display his true, fearless range. He reaped widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark television play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Hurt's bold, unabashed approach on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the BAFTA (British TV Award). This triumph led to the equally fascinating success as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic television masterpiece I, Claudius (1976), followed by another compelling interpretation as murderous student Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1979).A resurgence occurred on film as a result. Among other unsurpassed portraits on his unique pallet, the chameleon in him displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and as a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978) earning Oscar nominations for both. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). With this new rush of fame came a few misguided ventures as well that were generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with Ryan O'Neal in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. For the most part, the craggy-faced actor continued to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).Latter parts of memorable interpretations included Dr. Iannis in Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the recurring role of the benign wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), the tyrannical dictator Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta (2005) and the voice of The Dragon in Merlin (2008). Among Hurt's final film appearances were as a terminally ill screenwriter in That Good Night (2017) and a lesser role in the mystery thriller Damascus Cover (2017). Hurt's voice was also tapped into animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. He also returned to the theatre performing in such shows as "The Seagull", "A Month in the Country" (1994), "Afterplay" (2002) and "Krapp's Last Tape", the latter for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.A recovered alcoholic who married four times, Hurt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen in 2004, and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. That same year (2015) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In July of 2016, he was forced to bow out of the father role of Billy Rice in a then-upcoming London stage production of "The Entertainer" opposite Kenneth Branagh due to ill health that he described as an "intestinal ailment". Hurt died several months later at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England on January 15, 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.
Tivia:
Out of all working actors in Hollywood, he holds the record for the most onscreen character deaths, 47 in total.He spoofed his role from Alien (1979) in Mel Brooks' parody Spaceballs (1987).He was friends with the late John Entwistle, bassist and founding member of The Who. He had written a poem about him and read it out loud at his memorial October 24, 2002.He was not the first choice for the role of Gilbert Kane in Alien (1979). He was brought in on the second day of filming after Jon Finch, the original actor cast for the role, was diagnosed with a severe case of diabetes and taken to hospital.An early passion for acting was triggered when he saw Alec Guinness play Fagin in the film Oliver Twist (1948).He was cast as the Doctor in Doctor Who (2005) when Christopher Eccleston declined to reprise the role for the Time War episodes. To avoid throwing off the numbering of subsequent Doctors (Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, etc.), his version was designated the War Doctor. He was the first Oscar-nominated actor to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) or Doctor Who (2005). At age 73, he also became the oldest actor to play a version of the Doctor on television, the first CBE to play the Doctor on television, and in 2015, he became the only actor to have played the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) or Doctor Who (2005) to have been conferred with a knighthood.He did the film History of the World: Part I (1981) because he had just gotten through doing two seriously dramatic films, The Elephant Man (1980) and Heaven's Gate (1980), and said that he wanted to have fun and do a comedy.Once an alcoholic, he gave up smoking and drinking after his fourth marriage (2005).The make-up he wore to play The Elephant Man (1980) also inspired the appearance of Gothmog in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).He resided with Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot from 1967 until 1983, when she was killed in a riding accident in Oxfordshire. They were riding together when he witnessed the accident, in which she was thrown from her horse and landed on her head on the road.He trained to become a painter at Grimsby Art School in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England.He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama. He resided in Cromer, Norfolk, England.He was offered the role of Mohandas K. Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi (1982), but declined the offer. He felt that by the 1980s it had become inappropriate for a Caucasian European to portray a person of Asian descent. The role instead became a big break for another British classical actor, Ben Kingsley, who was of genuine Indian descent on his father's side.Hurt's elder sister became a school teacher in Australia. His brother, the eldest of the three siblings, converted to Roman Catholicism and became a monk, Brother Anselm, first at Downside (a Benedictine school in England) and later at Glenstal Abbey (County Limerick, Ireland), where he remains as of 2019, although, following allegations of abuse, he is banned from interacting with students and lives retired.He provided the voice of Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's film The Lord of the Rings (1978). Though not a financial success, it sparked enough interest in Tolkien's works that the BBC decided to air its own adaptation, and it was also what inspired Peter Jackson to make his live-action films. Both subsequent adaptations featured Ian Holm, with whom Hurt appeared in Alien (1979).He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Drama.Had appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: A Man for All Seasons (1966), Midnight Express (1978) and The Elephant Man (1980). The only one to win was A Man for All Seasons (1966).As Winston Smith in 1984 (1984), he portrayed a victim of a totalitarian society, with Big Brother as its head. In V for Vendetta (2005), he portrayed the Big Brother-type leader Chancellor Sutler.Had two sons with Jo Dalton: Nicolas Hurt and Alexander Hurt.Hurt was the 22nd Harry Potter film series cast member to die.On January 16, 2006, he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Hull, Yorkshire.He was offered the role of Dr. Wellington Yueh in David Lynch's Dune (1984), which went to Dean Stockwell.His sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) while he was filming The Proposition (2005).Hated the idea of being regarded as "a star." John Hurt always claimed that he had no idea what stardom meant.When his performance as John Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980) was premiered in October 1980, David Bowie was playing the same role on Broadway.He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England; he became an Associate Member.He was considered for the role of Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween (1978), which went to Donald Pleasence.He was the youngest of three children of Arnold Herbert Hurt and Phyllis Massey. His father was vicar of Shirebrook, Derbyshire and Vicar of St. John's parish in Sunderland, County Durham. His mother opened a school at his father's vicarage when he was five.He was the voice of Aragron in The Lord of the Rings (1978), which featured Norman Bird as Bilbo, Christopher Guard as Frodo, and William Squire as Gandalf. In other films, Hurt went on to work with two other Gandalfs, Bilbos and Frodos, and one other Sam Gamgee. Watership Down (1978) featured Michael Hordern, who played Gandalf for the BBC Radio adaptation. The Black Cauldron (1985) featured John Huston, who played Gandalf in The Hobbit (1977). Scandal (1989) featured Ian McKellen, who played the role in Peter Jackson's films. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), he appears with Bill Nighy, who played Sam in the BBC Radio version. In The Oxford Murders (2008), he works with Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Peter Jackson's films. In Pride (2004), he works with Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). In Alien (1979), he works with Ian Holm, who played Frodo on the radio, and Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).He was awarded the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Solo Performance for "Krapp's Last Tape", in a Gate Theatre Dublin production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, California.He worked with two Boromirs. In Ralph Bakshi's film The Lord of the Rings (1978), he provided the voice of "Aragorn", opposite Michael Graham Cox (as "Boromir") who went on to reprise the role for BBC radio. He later appeared in The Field (1990) with Sean Bean, who played the role in Peter Jackson's adaptation.Had two roles in common with Sylvester McCoy: (1) Hurt played the Fool in King Lear (1983) while McCoy played him in King Lear (2008) and (2) McCoy played the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) and Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) while Hurt played the War Doctor in Doctor Who (2005).He shared a role, apart from Aragorn, with three cast members of Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth films. In Immortals (2011) he plays the older version of Zeus, who is played as a young man by Luke Evans. In Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Zeus is played by Sean Bean.He played Lord Percival Graves in King Ralph (1991), which was loosely based on Emlyn Williams' novel "Headlong" (1980). Both Williams and Hurt played the Roman Emperor Caligula in adaptations of Robert Graves' novel "I, Claudius" (1934): Williams in the unfinished film I, Claudius (1937) and Hurt in I, Claudius (1976) between the ages of 16 (in 29 AD) and 28 (in 41 AD). Hurt's portrayal of Caligula is vastly considered an unparalleled interpretation of the role of all times, which, among others, was highly praised by Marlon Brando in his autobiography too, with whom Hurt also collaborated in the unfinished short comedy film Divine Rapture (1995).He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Alien (1979).There is a song by Alt-J: "The Gospel of John Hurt".Both he and William Hartnell, one of his predecessors as the Doctor, appeared in film adaptations of Graham Greene's 1938 novel "Brighton Rock": Hartnell played Dallow in Brighton Rock (1947) while Hurt played Phil Corkery in Brighton Rock (2010).When he appeared as the War Doctor in the 50th anniversary special, he was not the first actor to play an alternative incarnation of the Doctor. Michael Jayston had played the Valeyard in the original series, Doctor Who (1963), in 1986, who was an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations.He pulled out of a West End version of "The Entertainer" due to an intestinal complaint.John Hurt spent so long waiting around for something to do in Heavens Gate that he made The Elephant Man (1980), then came back to shoot more scenes for for Heavens Gate.He won the role of Kane in Alien (1979) following two incidents. First, he was banned from South Africa, where he was set to film Zulu Dawn (1979). This was because the country mistook him for John Heard, who strongly opposed apartheid (Hurt later admitted that he was also opposed to it, but he was lucky that he didn't get blacklisted). Second, Jon Finch, who was cast as Kane to replace hurt, got seriously ill from diabetes on the first day of filming. Director Ridley Scott then drove to Hurt's house and pitched him the script over the weekend. The next Monday, Hurt arrived on the set with very little sleep.In June 2016, Sir John, along with Helena Bonham Carter, Idris Elba, Keira Knightley and Cara Delevingne, announced his support for the vote to remain in the European Union (EU) for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. |
| Name: |
John Hurt |
Type: |
Actor,Soundtrack (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Actor,Soundtrack |
| Products for sale: |
Actor,Soundtrack |
| Model rank: |
321 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 03:38:43 |
| Height: |
5' 9' (1.75 m) |
| Biography: |
One of stage, screen and TV\'s finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an |
| Trivia: |
Out of all working actors in Hollywood, he holds the record for the most onscreen character deaths, 47 in total.He spoofed his role from Alien (1979) in Mel Brooks' parody Spaceballs (1987).He was friends with the late John Entwistle, bassist and founding member of The Who. He had written a poem about him and read it out loud at his memorial October 24, 2002.He was not the first choice for the role of Gilbert Kane in Alien (1979). He was brought in on the second day of filming after Jon Finch, the original actor cast for the role, was diagnosed with a severe case of diabetes and taken to hospital.An early passion for acting was triggered when he saw Alec Guinness play Fagin in the film Oliver Twist (1948).He was cast as the Doctor in Doctor Who (2005) when Christopher Eccleston declined to reprise the role for the Time War episodes. To avoid throwing off the numbering of subsequent Doctors (Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, etc.), his version was designated the War Doctor. He was the first Oscar-nominated actor to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) or Doctor Who (2005). At age 73, he also became the oldest actor to play a version of the Doctor on television, the first CBE to play the Doctor on television, and in 2015, he became the only actor to have played the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) or Doctor Who (2005) to have been conferred with a knighthood.He did the film History of the World: Part I (1981) because he had just gotten through doing two seriously dramatic films, The Elephant Man (1980) and Heaven's Gate (1980), and said that he wanted to have fun and do a comedy.Once an alcoholic, he gave up smoking and drinking after his fourth marriage (2005).The make-up he wore to play The Elephant Man (1980) also inspired the appearance of Gothmog in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).He resided with Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot from 1967 until 1983, when she was killed in a riding accident in Oxfordshire. They were riding together when he witnessed the accident, in which she was thrown from her horse and landed on her head on the road.He trained to become a painter at Grimsby Art School in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England.He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama. He resided in Cromer, Norfolk, England.He was offered the role of Mohandas K. Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi (1982), but declined the offer. He felt that by the 1980s it had become inappropriate for a Caucasian European to portray a person of Asian descent. The role instead became a big break for another British classical actor, Ben Kingsley, who was of genuine Indian descent on his father's side.Hurt's elder sister became a school teacher in Australia. His brother, the eldest of the three siblings, converted to Roman Catholicism and became a monk, Brother Anselm, first at Downside (a Benedictine school in England) and later at Glenstal Abbey (County Limerick, Ireland), where he remains as of 2019, although, following allegations of abuse, he is banned from interacting with students and lives retired.He provided the voice of Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's film The Lord of the Rings (1978). Though not a financial success, it sparked enough interest in Tolkien's works that the BBC decided to air its own adaptation, and it was also what inspired Peter Jackson to make his live-action films. Both subsequent adaptations featured Ian Holm, with whom Hurt appeared in Alien (1979).He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Drama.Had appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: A Man for All Seasons (1966), Midnight Express (1978) and The Elephant Man (1980). The only one to win was A Man for All Seasons (1966).As Winston Smith in 1984 (1984), he portrayed a victim of a totalitarian society, with Big Brother as its head. In V for Vendetta (2005), he portrayed the Big Brother-type leader Chancellor Sutler.Had two sons with Jo Dalton: Nicolas Hurt and Alexander Hurt.Hurt was the 22nd Harry Potter film series cast member to die.On January 16, 2006, he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Hull, Yorkshire.He was offered the role of Dr. Wellington Yueh in David Lynch's Dune (1984), which went to Dean Stockwell.His sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) while he was filming The Proposition (2005).Hated the idea of being regarded as "a star." John Hurt always claimed that he had no idea what stardom meant.When his performance as John Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980) was premiered in October 1980, David Bowie was playing the same role on Broadway.He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England; he became an Associate Member.He was considered for the role of Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween (1978), which went to Donald Pleasence.He was the youngest of three children of Arnold Herbert Hurt and Phyllis Massey. His father was vicar of Shirebrook, Derbyshire and Vicar of St. John's parish in Sunderland, County Durham. His mother opened a school at his father's vicarage when he was five.He was the voice of Aragron in The Lord of the Rings (1978), which featured Norman Bird as Bilbo, Christopher Guard as Frodo, and William Squire as Gandalf. In other films, Hurt went on to work with two other Gandalfs, Bilbos and Frodos, and one other Sam Gamgee. Watership Down (1978) featured Michael Hordern, who played Gandalf for the BBC Radio adaptation. The Black Cauldron (1985) featured John Huston, who played Gandalf in The Hobbit (1977). Scandal (1989) featured Ian McKellen, who played the role in Peter Jackson's films. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), he appears with Bill Nighy, who played Sam in the BBC Radio version. In The Oxford Murders (2008), he works with Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Peter Jackson's films. In Pride (2004), he works with Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). In Alien (1979), he works with Ian Holm, who played Frodo on the radio, and Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).He was awarded the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Solo Performance for "Krapp's Last Tape", in a Gate Theatre Dublin production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, California.He worked with two Boromirs. In Ralph Bakshi's film The Lord of the Rings (1978), he provided the voice of "Aragorn", opposite Michael Graham Cox (as "Boromir") who went on to reprise the role for BBC radio. He later appeared in The Field (1990) with Sean Bean, who played the role in Peter Jackson's adaptation.Had two roles in common with Sylvester McCoy: (1) Hurt played the Fool in King Lear (1983) while McCoy played him in King Lear (2008) and (2) McCoy played the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) and Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) while Hurt played the War Doctor in Doctor Who (2005).He shared a role, apart from Aragorn, with three cast members of Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth films. In Immortals (2011) he plays the older version of Zeus, who is played as a young man by Luke Evans. In Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Zeus is played by Sean Bean.He played Lord Percival Graves in King Ralph (1991), which was loosely based on Emlyn Williams' novel "Headlong" (1980). Both Williams and Hurt played the Roman Emperor Caligula in adaptations of Robert Graves' novel "I, Claudius" (1934): Williams in the unfinished film I, Claudius (1937) and Hurt in I, Claudius (1976) between the ages of 16 (in 29 AD) and 28 (in 41 AD). Hurt's portrayal of Caligula is vastly considered an unparalleled interpretation of the role of all times, which, among others, was highly praised by Marlon Brando in his autobiography too, with whom Hurt also collaborated in the unfinished short comedy film Divine Rapture (1995).He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Alien (1979).There is a song by Alt-J: "The Gospel of John Hurt".Both he and William Hartnell, one of his predecessors as the Doctor, appeared in film adaptations of Graham Greene's 1938 novel "Brighton Rock": Hartnell played Dallow in Brighton Rock (1947) while Hurt played Phil Corkery in Brighton Rock (2010).When he appeared as the War Doctor in the 50th anniversary special, he was not the first actor to play an alternative incarnation of the Doctor. Michael Jayston had played the Valeyard in the original series, Doctor Who (1963), in 1986, who was an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations.He pulled out of a West End version of "The Entertainer" due to an intestinal complaint.John Hurt spent so long waiting around for something to do in Heavens Gate that he made The Elephant Man (1980), then came back to shoot more scenes for for Heavens Gate.He won the role of Kane in Alien (1979) following two incidents. First, he was banned from South Africa, where he was set to film Zulu Dawn (1979). This was because the country mistook him for John Heard, who strongly opposed apartheid (Hurt later admitted that he was also opposed to it, but he was lucky that he didn't get blacklisted). Second, Jon Finch, who was cast as Kane to replace hurt, got seriously ill from diabetes on the first day of filming. Director Ridley Scott then drove to Hurt's house and pitched him the script over the weekend. The next Monday, Hurt arrived on the set with very little sleep.In June 2016, Sir John, along with Helena Bonham Carter, Idris Elba, Keira Knightley and Cara Delevingne, announced his support for the vote to remain in the European Union (EU) for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. |
| Trademarks: |
Deep gravelly voice
Frequently played characters with positions of power.
Frequently played characters who suffer physical torment.
Frequently played characters who died. This happened on more than 40 times. |
| Quotes: |
I've done some stinkers in the cinema. You can't regret it; there are always reasons for doing something, even if it's just the location.
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<hr>
We are all racing towards death. No matter how many great, intellectual conclusions we draw during our lives, we know they're all only man-made, like God. I begin to wonder where it all leads. What can you do, except do what you can do as best you know how.
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<hr>
People like us, who turn ourselves inside out for a living, we get into an emotional tussle rather than a marriage. It's fire I'm playing with and it isn't surprising I'm not the ideal companion on a daily basis. But it takes two. I mean, Christ, I haven't forced anybody.
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St Michael's was one of those very rarefied, very Anglo-Catholic establishments where they rejoiced in more religious paraphernalia and theatricality than the entire Vatican. More incense-swinging, more crucifixes, more gold tassels, more rose petals, more holy mothers, more God knows what. Three times a day they played the Angelus. When you heard it, you had to stop whatever you were doing, do the Hail Marys in your head, and then return to what you were doing. Like it would come in the middle of a Latin class. I'm just conjugating the love verb, amo, amas, amat, and doingggg! you have to stand up, go through the whole Angelus, mother-of-God thing and then crack on with amamus, amatis, amant. Sir! Because, if you didn't, Whack! Cane. Belt. Education by fear. And the really funny thing was they wouldn't tolerate bullying between peers. Prefects could bash you with a slipper, but you weren't allowed to give each other a rough time. Like who do you think you are? You haven't yet earned the privilege of being violent.
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My parents' lot had literally crawled away from the second world war, taking with them two vital commodities by way of a survival mechanism: respectability and security. It was odd, coming from a Christian household, but the big thing was about not being what they called "common". I got all that, "Don't play with him, he's common". I had a friend called Grenville Barker who'd come round sometimes and play football on the lawn, but not very often. And I wasn't allowed to go to his home very often because they were working class. He was what my mother called a bad influence. Everything had to do with influence. My mother was desperate I should be properly influenced, have a proper, received accent, be sent away to school at eight. So all you can do is go into yourself, immerse yourself in your own life. |
| Salaries: |
A Man for All Seasons (1966) - ��3,000 |
| Job title: |
Actor,Soundtrack |
| Others works: |
TV commercial: "Enron" (voice only)
(1999) Narration for The Art of Noise album "The Seduction of Claude Debussy"
Voiceovers: Did voiceovers for a number of British public information films, most notably the earliest AIDS campaigns 1 |
| Spouse: |
Anwen Rees-Myers (March 2005 - January 25, 2017) (his death)Jo Dalton (January 24, 1990 - 1996) (divorced, 2 children)Donna Peacock (September 6, 1984 - 1990) (divorced)Annette Robertson (1962 - 1964) ( |
| Children: |
Alexander HurtNicolas Hurt |
| Parents: |
Phyllis Hurt (Massey)
Arnold Herbert Hurt |
| Relatives: |
Anselm Hurt (Sibling)
Monica Hurt (Sibling) |
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