John Hurt (1940-2017)
Friends and fellow movie buffs, it is with sorrow that I bring you the news that English actor Sir John Hurt died of pancreatic cancer on 25 January 2017 at age 77. He was a widely known actor who was notable for his smooth, distinctive voice and his film roles in "Alien", "The Elephant Man", "V for Vendetta", and series like "Hellboy" and "Harry Potter". His acting profession spanned more than five decades, starting in 1962 with his first movie, "The Wild and the Willing". Four years later, Hurt got cast in his first role in a big-screen adaptation of "A Man for All Seasons", and in 1971, he played a neighbour accused of murder in "10 Rillington Place", starring opposite Richard Attenborough. His role in the film eventually earned him a nomination for a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. While continuing his film career, Hunt starred in television dramas, such as portraying Quentin Crisp in the play "The Naked Civil Servant". It won him his first British Academy Television Award and made him a prominent actor. Hurt had another acclaimed performance in a BBC adaptation of "I, Claudius" as Roman Emperor Caligula the following year.
Not until 1978 was John Hurt recognised as the best character actor at the cinema when he starred in "Midnight Express", which earned him a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Academy Award nomination. During that same time, Hurt would do voice-overs in two animated films. Such roles include Aragon in Ralph Bakshi's interpretation of "The Lord of the Rings" and Hazel in "Watership Down". His talent and fame would spread the word to director Ridley Scott, who cast him as the first victim of an extraterrestrial threat in a movie that proved terrifying space horror - that no one could hear anyone scream. The feature was entitled "Alien", and it featured the character's death placed as the iconic scene of film history, and he would later reprise his role in a 1987 sci-fi parody "Spaceballs". After "Alien", Hurt starred in what was to be a hit and heart-wrenching biography from up-and-coming Director David Lynch about a hideously deformed figure who was the title character of the movie known as "The Elephant Man".
Other roles that Hurt portrayed in movies and television include Winston Smith in "Nineteen Eighty Four", the demonic Horned King in "The Black Cauldron", "Bird" O'Donnell in "The Field" (again nominated for a BAFTA award), the wandmaker Olivander in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (which he then reprised his role in "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" and "Part 2"), Professor Broom in "Hellboy" (while also reprised the role in "The Golden Army"), a leader of a dictatorship in "V for Vendetta", Harold Oxley in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and the War Doctor in "Doctor Who". In 2004, Hurt was appointed a commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was honoured with a BAFTA award for his outstanding contribution to the cinema in 2012. In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him as Sir John Hurt for his services.
Before his death, Hurt recently played a priest in "Jackie", and two of his final movies were "That Good Night" and "Darkest Hour", due to be released soon. My condolences go to his family, and may you rest in peace, John Hurt.
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