John Hurt

Born

January 22, 1940

Died

January 25, 2017 (77 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK

IMDb

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

7.9

V for Vendetta

Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War

The Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)

3.6

2025

Doctor Who at the Proms

The Doctor (War) (archive footage)

7.0

2024

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

Self (archive footage)

4.5

2021

Ayamé

Narrator (voice)

0.0

2018

Damascus Cover

Miki

5.6

2017

That Good Night

Ralph

6.9

2017

My Name Is Lenny

Leslie Salmon

5.8

2017

The Journey

Harry Patterson

6.3

2017

Jackie

6.8

2015

Dmitri Shostakovich: A Man of Many Faces

Narator

0.0

2015

Wimbledon The Official Film 2014

Narrator

10.0

2014

Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film

Self

4.8

2014

Hercules

Cotys

5.8

2014

Only Lovers Left Alive

Christopher Marlowe

7.2

2013

Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty

Self

9.0

2013

The Day of the Doctor: Cinema Intro

The War Doctor

0.0

2013

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

The War Doctor

8.2

2013

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

The War Doctor (archive voice)

7.9

2013

Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor

The War Doctor

8.0

2013

Hello: A Portrait Of Leslie Phillips

Self / Stephen Ward

8.3

2013

Muse of Fire

Self

6.5

2013

Snowpiercer

Gilliam

6.9

2013

Jayne Mansfield's Car

Kingsley Bedford

5.8

2013

Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre

The Voice of the Winter Palace / Self

0.0

2013

Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict

Narrator (voice)

5.5

2013

Sightseers

Jerusalem Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

6.3

2012

Labyrinth

Audric Baillard · (2 episodes)

5.6

2012

Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers

Narrator (voice)

8.1

2012

More Than Honey

Narrator (english voice)

7.2

2012

The Hollow Crown

The Chorus · (1 episode)

7.3

2012

The Snipist

The Ministry

9.0

2012

The Gruffalo's Child

The Owl (voice)

6.9

2011

Immortals

Old Zeus

6.0

2011

On Borrowed Time

Self

5.3

2011

In Love with Alma Cogan

7.0

2011

Brighton Rock

2008

The Oxford Murders

Arthur Seldom

6.0

2008

Masters of Science Fiction

Samswope · (1 episode)

6.2

2007

Boxes

Fanny's father

5.3

2007

Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron

Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (voice)

6.4

2007

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

Self

0.0

2007

Interview with John Hurt

Self

9.0

2007

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Narrator (voice)

7.4

2006

The One Show

Self - Guest · (1 episode)

4.5

2006

Whaledreamers

Self

5.8

2006

The Plot Against Harold Wilson

Narrator (voice)

0.0

2006

Shooting Dogs

Christopher

7.4

2006

V for Vendetta

Adam Sutler

7.9

2006

The Proposition

Jellon Lamb

7.0

2005

Once Upon a Halloween

The Horned King

6.2

2005

Hiroshima

Narrator (voice)

7.1

2005

The Skeleton Key

Ben Devereaux

6.6

2005

Manderlay

Narrator (voice)

6.9

2005

Doctor Who

The Doctor · (1 episode)

7.6

2005

Valiant

Felix (voice)

5.5

2005

Short Order

4.4

2005

The Twilight Hour: Visions of Ireland's Haunted Past

Self

0.0

2002

I, Claudius: A Television Epic

Self

7.0

2002

Crime and Punishment

Porfiry, chief investigator

5.0

2002

HypaSpace

Self · (1 episode)

4.0

2002

Bait

Jack Blake

7.0

2002

Miranda

Christian

5.4

2002

Edge of the Universe

Narrator (voice) · (3 episodes)

0.0

2002

Shaolin: Wheel of Life

Narrator (voice)

7.0

2001

The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed

Self

6.0

2001

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Mr. Ollivander

7.9

2001

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Dr. Iannis

6.0

2001

The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

Narrator (voice)

7.5

2001

Tabloid

Vince

4.7

2001

Lost Souls

Father Lareaux

5.0

2000

Krapp's Last Tape

Krapp

7.4

2000

The Tigger Movie

Narrator (voice)

6.6

2000

New Blood

Alan White

5.2

1999

You're Dead...

Maitland

6.4

1999

If... Dog... Rabbit

Sean Cooper

3.9

1999

Watership Down

General Woundwort · (39 episodes)

7.3

1999

All the Little Animals

Mr. Summers

6.0

1999

Love and Death on Long Island

Giles De'Ath

6.4

1998

The Climb

Chuck Langer

6.9

1998

The Commissioner

James morton

5.7

1998

Parkinson

Self · (1 episode)

0.0

1998

Night Train

Michael Poole

7.0

1998

Bandyta

Babits

Marquis de Prey

2.0

1995

The World of Jim Henson

The Storyteller (archive footage)

7.3

1994

Second Best

Uncle Turpin

6.7

1994

Rabbit Ears - Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Narrator (voice)

0.0

1994

Inside the Actors Studio

Self · (1 episode)

7.5

1994

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

The Countess

4.4

1994

Great Moments in Aviation

Rex Goodyear

5.3

1994

Thumbelina

Mr. Mole (voice)

6.4

1994

Monolith

Villano

4.3

1993

GMTV

Self · (1 episode)

5.6

1993

Six Characters in Search of An Author

The Father

1.0

1992

Dark at Noon

Anthony / Le Marquis

6.4

1992

Red Fox

Archie Carpenter

5.0

1991

I Dreamt I Woke Up

Boorman's Alter Ego

6.0

1991

Performance

The Father · (1 episode)

6.0

1991

Journey to Knock

Alfred

0.0

1991

Lapse of Memory

Conrad Farmer

6.5

1991

King Ralph

Lord Percival Graves

5.4

1991

Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool

Narrator (voice)

0.0

1990

Frankenstein Unbound

Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)

5.7

1990

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch

Self

5.0

1990

The Field

Bird' O'Donnell

7.1

1990

Resident Alien

Self - Actor

5.3

1990

Windprints

Charles Rutherford

6.1

1990

Who Bombed Birmingham?

Chris Mullin

7.0

1990

Romeo.Juliet

La Dame aux Chats / Mercutio (voice)

5.0

1990

Little Sweetheart

Robert Burger

5.4

1989

The Jim Henson Hour

(12 episodes)

8.9

1989

Scandal

Stephen Ward

5.9

1989

David Macaulay: Pyramid

Khufu / Second French Explorer (voice)

0.0

1989

The Bengali Night

Lucien Metz

5.8

1988

The Storyteller

The Storyteller · (9 episodes)

8.2

1988

Deadline

Granville Jones

5.8

1988

White Mischief

Gilbert Colville

6.0

1987

Vincent

(voice)

6.4

1987

Spaceballs

John Hurt

6.8

1987

Aria

The Actor

5.6

1987

The Hunting of the Snark

The Narrator (voice)

8.0

1987

From the Hip

Douglas Benoit

5.9

1987

Monolith

Narrator (voice)

0.0

1987

Iceberg

Narrator (voice)

0.0

1987

Frightmares

0.0

1987

Rocinante

Bill

0.0

1986

Thames Film

0.0

1986

Jake Speed

Syd

4.4

1986

The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima

Narrator (voice)

4.3

1985

The Black Cauldron

The Horned King (voice)

6.4

1985

Live Aid

Self

7.9

1985

After Darkness

Peter Hunningford

4.4

1985

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Winston Smith

6.8

1984

The Hit

Braddock

6.4

1984

Success Is the Best Revenge

Dino Montecurva

6.0

1984

Champions

Bob Champion

6.8

1984

Sunset People

Self

0.0

1984

Natural World

Narrator · (2 episodes)

7.1

1983

The Osterman Weekend

Lawrence Fassett

5.7

1983

King Lear

The Fool

6.5

1983

The Plague Dogs

Snitter (voice)

7.9

1982

Paul McCartney - Take It Away

0.0

1982

Partners

Kerwin

5.3

1982

Night Crossing

Peter Strelzyk

6.1

1982

History of the World: Part I

Jesus - The Roman Empire

6.8

1981

Heaven's Gate

Billy Irvine

6.8

1980

The Elephant Man

John Merrick

8.1

1980

An Evening with Quentin Crisp

Host

10.0

1980

Alien

Kane

8.2

1979

Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov · (3 episodes)

7.3

1979

The Lord of the Rings

Aragorn (voice)

6.6

1978

Watership Down

Hazel (voice)

7.2

1978

Midnight Express

Max

7.5

1978

The Shout

Anthony Fielding

5.9

1978

The Disappearance

Atkinson

5.6

1977

East of Elephant Rock

Nash

3.5

1977

The Hollywood Greats

(1 episode)

3.5

1977

Three Dangerous Ladies

Lt. George Simmonds

5.0

1977

Spectre

Mitri Cyon

6.2

1977

Stream Line

Chandler

0.0

1976

The Peddler

Alec Cassell

0.0

1976

The Playboy of the Western World

Christopher Mahon (Christy Mahon)

0.0

1974

The StoryTeller

The Storyteller

10.0

I, Claudius

(4 episodes)

7.8

1976

I, Claudius

Caligula · (12 episodes)

7.8

1976

The Naked Civil Servant

Quentin Crisp

6.8

1975

The Ghoul

Tom Rawlings

5.0

1975

The Sweeney

Tony Grey · (1 episode)

7.7

1975

Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs

Malcolm Scrawdyke

6.1

1974

NOVA

Narrator · (1 episode)

7.0

1974

Wessex Tales

Joshua Harlborough · (1 episode)

6.0

1973

The Pied Piper

Franz

5.9

1972

A Ghost Story for Christmas

James Parkin · (1 episode)

7.5

1971

Mr. Forbush and the Penguins

Richard Forbush

5.5

1971

10 Rillington Place

Timothy Evans

7.3

1971

Great Performances

Narrator · (1 episode)

5.3

1971

Play for Today

Alec Cassell · (1 episode)

6.3

1970

In Search of Gregory

Daniel

4.8

1969

Sinful Davey

Davey Haggart

5.5

1969

Before Winter Comes

Lieutenant Pilkington

5.9

1969

The Sailor from Gibraltar

John

5.7

1967

A Man for All Seasons

Richard Rich

7.3

1966

Gideon's Way

Freddy Tisdale · (1 episode)

6.8

1965

This Is My Street

Charlie

6.1

1964

The Wild and the Willing

Phil Corbett

5.8

1962

Armchair Theatre

Joe · (1 episode)

5.8

1956

Golden Globe Awards

Self - Nominee · (1 episode)

7.2

1944