John Hurt



Sir John Vincent Hurt, CBE was an English actor and voice actor. Hurt initially came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, and has since had a career as a lead and supporting actor of many popular motion pictures.

His filmography includes but is not limited to: Watership Down, Midnight Express, Alien, The Elephant Man (in the title role, no less), Caligula in I, Claudius, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Rob Roy, Contact, Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, V for Vendetta, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Professor Bruttenholm in the Hellboy film series. He also voiced Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings and Brother Carnak in the Warhammer 40,000 CG-animated movie Ultramarines.

Hurt was one of England's best-known, most prolific and sought-after actors, and has had a versatile film career spanning six decades. He was also known for his many Shakespearean roles. Hurt received multiple awards and honours throughout his career including four BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe, as well as two Academy Award nominations. He was knighted in 2015 for his services to drama.

On 16 June 2015, Hurt publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with early-stage pancreatic cancer. Following treatment, Hurt stated that his cancer was in remission on 12 October 2015. Hurt died on 25 January 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.


 * Awesome, Dear Boy: When the production team of Merlin offered him the role of the Great Dragon, they didn't actually expect him to agree to be part of a small show with a cast of unknowns.  His response to the offer, though, has been paraphrased as "hell, yeah, I want to be a dragon."
 * One-Scene Wonder: His character's demise in Alien (by way of Chest Burster) is generally regarded as one of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history.