John Hurt
Biography
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.
Movies (212)
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
2025
Henry Fonda for President
2025
Doctor Who at the Proms
2024
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021
Ayamé
2018
Damascus Cover
2017
That Good Night
2017
My Name Is Lenny
2017
The Journey
2017
Jackie
2016
Back to Utopia
2016
The Final Reel
2016
ChickLit
2016
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
2015
Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie
2015
A.K.A Nadia
2015
Break
2015
The Alchemist's Letter
2015
Dmitri Shostakovich: A Man of Many Faces
2015
Wimbledon The Official Film 2014
2014
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film
2014
Hercules
2014
Only Lovers Left Alive
2013
Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty
2013
The Day of the Doctor: Cinema Intro
2013
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
2013
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
2013
Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor
2013
Hello: A Portrait Of Leslie Phillips
2013
Muse of Fire
2013
Snowpiercer
2013
Jayne Mansfield's Car
2013
Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre
2013
Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict
2013
Sightseers
2012
Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers
2012
More Than Honey
2012
The Snipist
2012
The Gruffalo's Child
2011
Immortals
2011
On Borrowed Time
2011
In Love with Alma Cogan
2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
23 Degrees, 5 Minutes
2011
The Journey – Stories from the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
2011
Melancholia
2011
The Confession
2011
Sailcloth
2011
Whistle and I'll Come to You
2010
Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie
2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
Love at First Sight
2010
Brighton Rock
2010
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures
2010
Lou
2010
The Gruffalo
2009
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World
2009
Ballybrando
2009
44 Inch Chest
2009
Waking Sleeping Beauty
2009
The Limits of Control
2009
An Englishman in New York
2009
Centenary: The BP Story
2009
Lecture 21
2008
New York, I Love You
2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2008
Recount
2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2008
Outlander
2008
Verity Lambert: Drama Queen
2008
The Oxford Murders
2008
Boxes
2007
Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron
2007
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
Interview with John Hurt
2007
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
2006
Whaledreamers
2006
The Plot Against Harold Wilson
2006
'V for Vendetta' Unmasked
2006
Shooting Dogs
2006
V for Vendetta
2006
The Proposition
2005
Once Upon a Halloween
2005
Hiroshima
2005
The Skeleton Key
2005
Manderlay
2005
Valiant
2005
Short Order
2005
Shadowing the Third Man
2004
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation
2004
Pride
2004
Hellboy
2004
Alpha to Omega: Exposing 'The Osterman Weekend'
2004
The Beast Within: Making Alien
2003
Dogville
2003
Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill
2003
Owning Mahowny
2003
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
2003
The Alien Saga
2002
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
2002
Crime and Punishment
2002
Bait
2002
Miranda
2002
Shaolin: Wheel of Life
2001
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed
2001
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2001
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
2001
The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm
2001
Tabloid
2001
Lost Souls
2000
Krapp's Last Tape
2000
The Tigger Movie
2000
New Blood
1999
You're Dead...
1999
If... Dog... Rabbit
1999
All the Little Animals
1999
Love and Death on Long Island
1998
The Climb
1998
The Commissioner
1998
Night Train
1998
Brute
1997
Contact
1997
Tender Loving Care
1996
Dead Man
1995
Wild Bill
1995
Rob Roy
1995
Picture Windows: Two Nudes Bathing
1995
The World of Jim Henson
1994
Second Best
1994
Rabbit Ears - Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
1994
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
1994
Great Moments in Aviation
1994
Thumbelina
1994
Monolith
1993
Six Characters in Search of An Author
1992
Dark at Noon
1992
Red Fox
1991
I Dreamt I Woke Up
1991
Lapse of Memory
1991
King Ralph
1991
Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool
1990
Frankenstein Unbound
1990
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
1990
The Field
1990
Resident Alien
1990
Windprints
1990
Who Bombed Birmingham?
1990
Romeo.Juliet
1990
Little Sweetheart
1989
Scandal
1989
David Macaulay: Pyramid
1989
The Bengali Night
1988
The Storyteller: The True Bride
1988
The Storyteller: The Heartless Giant
1988
The Storyteller: Hans My Hedgehog
1988
The Storyteller: A Story Short
1988
The Storyteller: The Luck Child
1988
The Storyteller: Fearnot
1988
The Storyteller: The Soldier and Death
1988
Deadline
1988
White Mischief
1987
Vincent
1987
Spaceballs
1987
Aria
1987
From the Hip
1987
Monolith
1987
Iceberg
1987
Thames Film
1986
Jake Speed
1986
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima
1985
The Black Cauldron
1985
Live Aid
1985
After Darkness
1985
Nineteen Eighty-Four
1984
The Hit
1984
Success Is the Best Revenge
1984
Champions
1984
Sunset People
1984
The Osterman Weekend
1983
King Lear
1983
The Plague Dogs
1982
Partners
1982
Night Crossing
1982
History of the World: Part I
1981
Heaven's Gate
1980
The Elephant Man
1980
Alien
1979
The Lord of the Rings
1978
Watership Down
1978
Midnight Express
1978
The Shout
1978
The Disappearance
1977
East of Elephant Rock
1977
Three Dangerous Ladies
1977
Spectre
1977
Stream Line
1976
The Peddler
1976
The Naked Civil Servant
1975
The Ghoul
1975
Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs
1974
The Pied Piper
1972
Mr. Forbush and the Penguins
1971
10 Rillington Place
1971
In Search of Gregory
1969
Sinful Davey
1969
Before Winter Comes
1969
The Sailor from Gibraltar
1967
A Man for All Seasons
1966
This Is My Street
1964
The Wild and the Willing
1962
The Storyteller: Sapsorrow
TV Shows (37)
The Last Panthers
2015
Labyrinth
2012
The Hollow Crown
2012
Playhouse Presents
2012
Planet Dinosaur
2011
The Confession
2011
Human Planet
2011
Merlin
2008
Masters of Science Fiction
2007
Doctor Who
2005
Who Do You Think You Are?
2004
The Alan Clark Diaries
2004
Edge of the Universe
2002
Watership Down
1999
Parkinson
1998
Picture Windows
1995
Inside the Actors Studio
1994
GMTV
1993
Performance
1991
The Jim Henson Hour
1989
The Storyteller
1988
Natural World
1983
Crime and Punishment
1979
The Hollywood Greats
1977
I, Claudius
1976
Saturday Night Live
1975
The Sweeney
1975
NOVA
1974
Wessex Tales
1973
A Ghost Story for Christmas
1971
Great Performances
1971
Play for Today
1970
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
ITV Playhouse
1967
Gideon's Way
1965
Armchair Theatre
1956
Golden Globe Awards
1944