John Hurt
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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
Credits
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
as Mr Ollivander
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
as Ollivander
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
as Ollivander
Alien (1979)
as Kane
V for Vendetta (2006)
as Adam Sutler
Hercules (2014)
as Cotys
Contact (1997)
as S. R. Hadden
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
as Professor Harold Oxley
Spaceballs (1987)
as John Hurt
Snowpiercer (2013)
as Gilliam
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
as Narrator (voice)
Immortals (2011)
as Old Zeus
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
as Trevor Bruttenholm
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
as Control
Thumbelina (1994)
as Mr. Mole (voice)
The Elephant Man (1980)
as John Merrick
The Black Cauldron (1985)
as The Horned King (voice)
Hellboy (2004)
as Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Dogville (2003)
as Narrator (voice)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
as Winston Smith
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
as Aragorn (voice)
The Skeleton Key (2005)
as Ben Devereaux
New York, I Love You (2008)
as Bellhop
The Tigger Movie (2000)
as Narrator (voice)
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
as Christopher Marlowe
Outlander (2008)
as Rothgar
Midnight Express (1978)
as Max
Dead Man (1995)
as John Scholfield
Melancholia (2011)
as Dexter
Valiant (2005)
as Felix (voice)
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures (2010)
as Grandpa Sammy (voice)
Heaven's Gate (1980)
as Billy Irvine
Rob Roy (1995)
as John Graham
Jackie (2016)
as The Priest
The Oxford Murders (2008)
as Arthur Seldom
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
as Dr. Iannis
The Gruffalo (2009)
as Owl (voice)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
as Richard Rich
The Proposition (2005)
as Jellon Lamb
Watership Down (1978)
as Hazel (voice)
King Ralph (1991)
as Graves
Owning Mahowny (2003)
as Victor Foss
The Gruffalo's Child (2011)
as The Owl (voice)
Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron (2007)
as Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (voice)
Manderlay (2005)
as Narrator (voice)
The Limits of Control (2009)
as Guitar
The Hit (1984)
as Braddock
Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)
as The Horned King (voice) (archive footage)
Wild Bill (1995)
as Charley Prince
The Osterman Weekend (1983)
as Lawrence Fassett
Lost Souls (2000)
as Father Lareaux
White Mischief (1987)
as Gilbert Colville
Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie (2010)
as Carnak
Night Crossing (1982)
as Peter Strelzyk
Scandal (1989)
as Stephen Ward
Sightseers (2012)
as Jerusalem Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
as The War Doctor
44 Inch Chest (2009)
as Old Man Peanut
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song (2015)
as The Doctor (War) (picture) (uncredited)
Damascus Cover (2017)
as Miki
The Plague Dogs (1982)
as Snitter (voice)
Shooting Dogs (2006)
as Christopher
Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
as Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)
Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie (2015)
as Sailor John (voice)
10 Rillington Place (1971)
as Timothy Evans
The Naked Civil Servant (1975)
as Quentin Crisp
Aria (1987)
as The Actor
History of the World: Part I (1981)
as Jesus - The Roman Empire
Muse of Fire (2013)
as Self
Live Aid (1985)
as Self
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)
as The Countess
Jayne Mansfield's Car (2013)
as Kingsley Bedford
The Shout (1978)
as Anthony Fielding
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film (2003)
as Self / Self - Krapp ("Krapp's Last Tape")
The Field (1990)
as Bird' O'Donnell
Jake Speed (1986)
as Syd
The Disappearance (1977)
as Atkinson
Miranda (2002)
as Christian
Recount (2008)
as Warren Christopher
Short Order (2005)
as Felix
Second Best (1994)
as Uncle Turpin
Romeo.Juliet (1990)
as La Dame aux Chats / Mercutio (voice)
Once Upon a Halloween (2005)
as The Horned King (voice) (archive sound)
Crime and Punishment (2002)
as Porfiry, chief investigator
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima (1985)
as Narrator (voice)
The Journey (2017)
as Harry Patterson
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas (2007)
as Self
The Pied Piper (1972)
as Franz
The World of Jim Henson (1994)
as The Storyteller (archive footage)
Doctor Who at the Proms (2024)
as The Doctor (War) (archive footage)
New Blood (1999)
as Alan White
Brighton Rock (2010)
as Phil Corkery
Pride (2004)
as Harry (voice)
Verity Lambert: Drama Queen (2008)
Actor
All the Little Animals (1999)
as Mr. Summers
Krapp's Last Tape (2000)
as Krapp
Monolith (1993)
as Villano
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
More Than Honey (2012)
as Narrator (english voice)
David Macaulay: Pyramid (1989)
as Khufu / Second French Explorer (voice)
Tender Loving Care (1996)
as Dr. Turner
Hiroshima (2005)
as Narrator (voice)
Thames Film (1986)
as Narrator
The Bengali Night (1988)
as Lucien Metz
Saigon Baby (1995)
as Jack Lee
Tabloid (2001)
as Vince
If... Dog... Rabbit (1999)
as Sean Cooper
The Island (1976)
as Captain Simmonds
Sinful Davey (1969)
as Davey Haggart
Brute (1997)
as Babits
Poison Candy (1989)
as Robert Burger
Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974)
as Malcolm Scrawdyke
V for Vendetta: Unmasked (2006)
as Adam Sutler
Partners (1982)
as Kerwin
The Confession (2011)
as Priest
Ballybrando (2009)
as Self
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013)
as The War Doctor (archive voice)
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War (2025)
as The Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Love and Death on Long Island (1998)
as Giles De'Ath
Bait (2002)
as Jack Blake
The Peddler (1976)
as Alec Cassell
Whaledreamers (2006)
as Self
Picture Windows: Two Nudes Bathing (1995)
as Marquis de Prey
From the Hip (1987)
as Douglas Benoit
Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor (2013)
as The War Doctor
The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967)
as John
The Wild and the Willing (1962)
as Phil Corbett
On Jupiter (1995)
as Narrator (voice)
The Snipist (2012)
as The Ministry
Before Winter Comes (1969)
as Lieutenant Pilkington
King Lear (1983)
as The Fool
The Commissioner (1998)
as James morton
Boxes (2007)
as Fanny's father
Henry Fonda for President (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
The Climb (1998)
as Chuck Langer
Dark at Noon (1992)
as Anthony / Le Marquis
Ayamé (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971)
as Richard Forbush
Behind Jim Jarmusch (2010)
as Self
Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty (2013)
as Self
You're Dead... (1999)
as Maitland
The Alien Saga (2002)
as Narrator (voice)
The Beast Within: Making Alien (2003)
as Self
An Englishman in New York (2009)
as Quentin Crisp
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World (2009)
as Self (archive footage)
Champions (1984)
as Bob Champion
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch (1990)
as Self
The Storyteller: The Soldier and Death (1988)
as The Storyteller
My Name Is Lenny (2017)
as Leslie Salmon
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation (2004)
as Self
The Ghoul (1975)
as Tom Rawlings
Three Dangerous Ladies (1977)
as Lt. George Simmonds
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film (2014)
as Self
Lou (2010)
as Doyle
Lapse of Memory (1991)
as Conrad Farmer
Remembrance (2009)
as Bellhop
Iceberg (1987)
as Narrator (voice)
Success Is the Best Revenge (1984)
as Dino Montecurva
Monolith (1987)
as Narrator (voice)
Red Fox (1991)
as Archie Carpenter
Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre (2013)
as The Voice of the Winter Palace / Self
Vincent (1987)
as (voice)
I Dreamt I Woke Up (1991)
as Boorman's Alter Ego
Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers (2012)
as Narrator (voice)
On Borrowed Time (2011)
as Self
The Storyteller: The Heartless Giant (1988)
as The Storyteller
Great Moments in Aviation (1994)
as Rex Goodyear
Windprints (1990)
as Charles Rutherford
Alpha to Omega: Exposing 'The Osterman Weekend' (2004)
as Self
Hello: A Portrait Of Leslie Phillips (2013)
as Self / Stephen Ward
Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill (2003)
as Man from Maybury Hill
Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990)
as Chris Mullin
The Day of the Doctor: Cinema Intro (2013)
as The War Doctor
Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool (1990)
as Narrator (voice)
The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets (2016)
as Siegfried Sassoon
Spectre (1977)
as Mitri Cyon
The Storyteller: A Story Short (1988)
as The Storyteller
The Storyteller: Hans My Hedgehog (1988)
as The Storyteller
Green Julia (1971)
as Bob
The Final Reel (2016)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
ChickLit (2016)
as Francis Bonar
The Hunting of the Snark (1987)
as The Narrator
Lecture 21 (2008)
as Mondrian Kilroy
Resident Alien (1990)
as Self - Actor
Rabbit Ears - Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (1994)
as Narrator (voice)
The Storyteller: The Luck Child (1988)
as The Storyteller
Night Train (1998)
as Michael Poole
Love at First Sight (2010)
as Arthur
The Storyteller: The True Bride (1988)
as The Storyteller
The Storyteller: Sapsorrow (1988)
as The Storyteller
That Good Night (2017)
as Ralph
After Darkness (1985)
as Peter Hunningford
The Plot Against Harold Wilson (2006)
as Narrator (voice)
In Love with Alma Cogan (2011)
as MC
This Is My Street (1964)
as Charlie
Six Characters in Search of An Author (1992)
as The Father
I, Claudius: A Television Epic (2002)
as Self
Shadowing the Third Man (2004)
as Narrator (voice)
The Journey – Stories from the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (2011)
as Narrator
The Playboy of the Western World (1974)
as Christopher Mahon (Christy Mahon)
A Dinner of Herbs (1988)
as Verse Reader
Sunset People (1984)
as Self
Deadline (1988)
as Granville Jones
A.K.A Nadia (2015)
as 347
Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010)
as James Parkin
The Alchemist's Letter (2015)
as The Alchemist (voice)
Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (2013)
as Narrator (voice)
23 Degrees, 5 Minutes (2011)
as Professor Orit
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed (2001)
as Self
Rocinante (1986)
as Bill
Wimbledon The Official Film 2014 (2014)
as Narrator
The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm (2001)
as Narrator (voice)
Stream Line (1976)
as Chandler
The Storyteller: Fearnot (1988)
as The Storyteller
Sailcloth (2011)
as Man
In Search of Gregory (1969)
as Daniel
Journey to Knock (1991)
as Alfred
Dmitri Shostakovich: A Man of Many Faces (2015)
as Narator
Interview with John Hurt (2007)
as Self
East of Elephant Rock (1977)
as Nash
Shaolin: Wheel of Life (2001)
as Narrator (voice)
The Twilight Hour: Visions of Ireland's Haunted Past (2002)
as Self
An Evening with Quentin Crisp (1980)
as Host
Back to Utopia (2016)
as Professor Peter Panludic (voice)
Centenary: The BP Story (2009)
as Narrator (voice)
Paul McCartney - Take It Away (1982)
as Self
Frightmares (1987)
Actor
Break (2015)
as Jack