John Hurt
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jan 22, 1940
- Died
- Jan 25, 2017 (aged 77)
- Place of birth
- Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
- Credits
- 277
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
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2001Movie
Mr Ollivander
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011Movie
Ollivander
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010Movie
Ollivander
Alien
1979Movie
Kane
V for Vendetta
2006Movie
Adam Sutler
Snowpiercer
2013Movie
Gilliam
Filmography
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
2025Movie
The Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Henry Fonda for President
2025Movie
Self (archive footage)
Doctor Who at the Proms
2024Movie
The Doctor (War) (archive footage)
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021Movie
Self (archive footage)
Ayamé
2018Movie
Narrator (voice)
Damascus Cover
2017Movie
Miki
That Good Night
2017Movie
Ralph
My Name Is Lenny
2017Movie
Leslie Salmon
The Journey
2017Movie
Harry Patterson
Jackie
2016Movie
The Priest
The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets
2016Movie
Siegfried Sassoon
Back to Utopia
2016Movie
Professor Peter Panludic (voice)
The Final Reel
2016Movie
Self - Narrator (voice)
ChickLit
2016Movie
Francis Bonar
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
2015Movie
The Doctor (War) (picture) (uncredited)
The Last Panthers
2015TV
Tom
Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie
2015Movie
Sailor John (voice)
A.K.A Nadia
2015Movie
347
Break
2015Movie
Jack
The Alchemist's Letter
2015Movie
The Alchemist (voice)
Dmitri Shostakovich: A Man of Many Faces
2015Movie
Narator
Wimbledon The Official Film 2014
2014Movie
Narrator
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film
2014Movie
Self
Hercules
2014Movie
Cotys
Only Lovers Left Alive
2013Movie
Christopher Marlowe
Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty
2013Movie
Self
The Day of the Doctor: Cinema Intro
2013Movie
The War Doctor
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
2013Movie
The War Doctor
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
2013Movie
The War Doctor (archive voice)
Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor
2013Movie
The War Doctor
Hello: A Portrait Of Leslie Phillips
2013Movie
Self / Stephen Ward
Muse of Fire
2013Movie
Self
Doctor Who at the Proms
2013Movie
The War Doctor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Snowpiercer
2013Movie
Gilliam
Jayne Mansfield's Car
2013Movie
Kingsley Bedford
Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre
2013Movie
The Voice of the Winter Palace / Self
Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict
2013Movie
Narrator (voice)
Sightseers
2012Movie
Jerusalem Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Labyrinth
2012TV
Audric Baillard
Planet Dinosaur: Ultimate Killers
2012Movie
Narrator (voice)
More Than Honey
2012Movie
Narrator (english voice)
The Hollow Crown
2012TV
The Chorus
The Snipist
2012Movie
The Ministry
Playhouse Presents
2012TV
The Ministry (voice)
The Gruffalo's Child
2011Movie
The Owl (voice)
Immortals
2011Movie
Old Zeus
On Borrowed Time
2011Movie
Self
In Love with Alma Cogan
2011Movie
MC
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2011Movie
Control
Planet Dinosaur
2011TV
Narrator
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011Movie
Ollivander
23 Degrees, 5 Minutes
2011Movie
Professor Orit
The Journey – Stories from the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
2011Movie
Narrator
The Confession
2011Movie
Priest
The Confession
2011TV
Priest
Melancholia
2011Movie
Dexter
Human Planet
2011TV
Narrator (voice)
Sailcloth
2011Movie
Man
Whistle and I'll Come to You
2010Movie
James Parkin
Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie
2010Movie
Carnak
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010Movie
Ollivander
Love at First Sight
2010Movie
Arthur
Brighton Rock
2010Movie
Phil Corkery
Behind Jim Jarmusch
2010Movie
Self
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures
2010Movie
Grandpa Sammy (voice)
Lou
2010Movie
Doyle
Waking Sleeping Beauty
2010Movie
The Horned King (voice) (archive footage)
The Gruffalo
2009Movie
Owl (voice)
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World
2009Movie
Self (archive footage)
Ballybrando
2009Movie
Self
44 Inch Chest
2009Movie
Old Man Peanut
Remembrance
2009Movie
Bellhop
The Limits of Control
2009Movie
Guitar
An Englishman in New York
2009Movie
Quentin Crisp
Centenary: The BP Story
2009Movie
Narrator (voice)
Lecture 21
2008Movie
Mondrian Kilroy
Merlin
2008TV
Kilgharrah (voice)
New York, I Love You
2008Movie
Bellhop
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2008Movie
Trevor Bruttenholm
Recount
2008Movie
Warren Christopher
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2008Movie
Professor Harold Oxley
Outlander
2008Movie
Rothgar
Verity Lambert: Drama Queen
2008Movie
The Oxford Murders
2008Movie
Arthur Seldom
Masters of Science Fiction
2007TV
Samswope
Boxes
2007Movie
Fanny's father
Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron
2007Movie
Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (voice)
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007Movie
Self
Interview with John Hurt
2007Movie
Self
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
2006Movie
Narrator (voice)
Whaledreamers
2006Movie
Self
The Plot Against Harold Wilson
2006Movie
Narrator (voice)
V for Vendetta: Unmasked
2006Movie
Adam Sutler
Shooting Dogs
2006Movie
Christopher
V for Vendetta
2006Movie
Adam Sutler
The Proposition
2005Movie
Jellon Lamb
Once Upon a Halloween
2005Movie
The Horned King (voice) (archive sound)
Hiroshima
2005Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Skeleton Key
2005Movie
Ben Devereaux
Manderlay
2005Movie
Narrator (voice)
Hiroshima: The First Weapon of Mass Destruction
2005TV
Narrator
Doctor Who
2005TV
The Doctor
Valiant
2005Movie
Felix (voice)
Short Order
2005Movie
Felix
Who Do You Think You Are?
2004TV
Self
Shadowing the Third Man
2004Movie
Narrator (voice)
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation
2004Movie
Self
Pride
2004Movie
Harry (voice)
Hellboy
2004Movie
Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Alpha to Omega: Exposing 'The Osterman Weekend'
2004Movie
Self
The Alan Clark Diaries
2004TV
Alan Clark
The Beast Within: Making Alien
2003Movie
Self
Dogville
2003Movie
Narrator (voice)
Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill
2003Movie
Man from Maybury Hill
Owning Mahowny
2003Movie
Victor Foss
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
2003Movie
Self / Self - Krapp ("Krapp's Last Tape")
The Alien Saga
2002Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Twilight Hour: Visions of Ireland's Haunted Past
2002Movie
Self
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
2002Movie
Self
Crime and Punishment
2002Movie
Porfiry, chief investigator
HypaSpace
2002TV
Self
Bait
2002Movie
Jack Blake
Miranda
2002Movie
Christian
Edge of the Universe
2002TV
Narrator (voice)
Shaolin: Wheel of Life
2001Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed
2001Movie
Self
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2001Movie
Mr Ollivander
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
2001Movie
Dr. Iannis
The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm
2001Movie
Narrator (voice)
Tabloid
2001Movie
Vince
Lost Souls
2000Movie
Father Lareaux
Krapp's Last Tape
2000Movie
Krapp
The Tigger Movie
2000Movie
Narrator (voice)
New Blood
1999Movie
Alan White
You're Dead...
1999Movie
Maitland
If... Dog... Rabbit
1999Movie
Sean Cooper
Watership Down
1999TV
General Woundwort (voice)
All the Little Animals
1999Movie
Mr. Summers
The Climb
1998Movie
Chuck Langer
Love and Death on Long Island
1998Movie
Giles De'Ath
The Commissioner
1998Movie
James morton
Parkinson
1998TV
Self
Night Train
1998Movie
Michael Poole
Brute
1997Movie
Babits
Contact
1997Movie
S. R. Hadden
Tender Loving Care
1996Movie
Dr. Turner
Dead Man
1995Movie
John Scholfield
Saigon Baby
1995Movie
Jack Lee
Wild Bill
1995Movie
Charley Prince
Picture Windows
1995TV
Marquis de Prey
On Jupiter
1995Movie
Narrator (voice)
Rob Roy
1995Movie
John Graham
Picture Windows: Two Nudes Bathing
1995Movie
Marquis de Prey
The World of Jim Henson
1994Movie
The Storyteller (archive footage)
Second Best
1994Movie
Uncle Turpin
Rabbit Ears - Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
1994Movie
Narrator (voice)
Inside the Actors Studio
1994TV
Self
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
1994Movie
The Countess
Great Moments in Aviation
1994Movie
Rex Goodyear
Thumbelina
1994Movie
Mr. Mole (voice)
Monolith
1993Movie
Villano
GMTV
1993TV
Self
Six Characters in Search of An Author
1992Movie
The Father
Dark at Noon
1992Movie
Anthony / Le Marquis
Red Fox
1991Movie
Archie Carpenter
I Dreamt I Woke Up
1991Movie
Boorman's Alter Ego
Performance
1991TV
The Father
Journey to Knock
1991Movie
Alfred
Lapse of Memory
1991Movie
Conrad Farmer
King Ralph
1991Movie
Graves
Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool
1990Movie
Narrator (voice)
Frankenstein Unbound
1990Movie
Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
1990Movie
Self
The Field
1990Movie
Bird' O'Donnell
Resident Alien
1990Movie
Self - Actor
Windprints
1990Movie
Charles Rutherford
Who Bombed Birmingham?
1990Movie
Chris Mullin
Romeo.Juliet
1990Movie
La Dame aux Chats / Mercutio (voice)
Poison Candy
1989Movie
Robert Burger
The Jim Henson Hour
1989TV
The Storyteller (archive footage)
Scandal
1989Movie
Stephen Ward
David Macaulay: Pyramid
1989Movie
Khufu / Second French Explorer (voice)
The Bengali Night
1988Movie
Lucien Metz
A Dinner of Herbs
1988Movie
Verse Reader
The Storyteller: The True Bride
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: Sapsorrow
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: The Three Ravens
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: Hans My Hedgehog
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: A Story Short
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: The Luck Child
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller: Fearnot
1988Movie
The Storyteller
The Storyteller
1988TV
The Storyteller
Deadline
1988Movie
Granville Jones
White Mischief
1987Movie
Gilbert Colville
Vincent
1987Movie
Vincent Van Gogh (voice)
Spaceballs
1987Movie
John Hurt
Aria
1987Movie
The Actor
The Hunting of the Snark
1987Movie
The Narrator
From the Hip
1987Movie
Douglas Benoit
Iceberg
1987Movie
Narrator (voice)
Monolith
1987Movie
Narrator (voice)
Frightmares
1987Movie
Rocinante
1986Movie
Bill
Thames Film
1986Movie
Narrator
ScreenPlay
1986TV
Alfred
Jake Speed
1986Movie
Syd
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima
1985Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Black Cauldron
1985Movie
The Horned King (voice)
Live Aid
1985Movie
Self
After Darkness
1985Movie
Peter Hunningford
Screen Two
1985TV
Rex Goodyear, Jack Lee
Nineteen Eighty-Four
1984Movie
Winston Smith
The Hit
1984Movie
Braddock
Success Is the Best Revenge
1984Movie
Dino Montecurva
Champions
1984Movie
Bob Champion
Sunset People
1984Movie
Self
Natural World
1983TV
Narrator
The Osterman Weekend
1983Movie
Lawrence Fassett
King Lear
1983Movie
The Fool
The Plague Dogs
1982Movie
Snitter (voice)
Paul McCartney - Take It Away
1982Movie
Self
Partners
1982Movie
Kerwin
Night Crossing
1982Movie
Peter Strelzyk
History of the World: Part I
1981Movie
Jesus - The Roman Empire
Heaven's Gate
1980Movie
Billy Irvine
The Elephant Man
1980Movie
John Merrick
An Evening with Quentin Crisp
1980Movie
Host
Alien
1979Movie
Kane
Crime and Punishment
1979TV
Rodion Raskolnikov
The Lord of the Rings
1978Movie
Aragorn (voice)
Watership Down
1978Movie
Hazel (voice)
Midnight Express
1978Movie
Max
The Shout
1978Movie
Anthony Fielding
The Disappearance
1977Movie
Atkinson
East of Elephant Rock
1977Movie
Nash
The Hollywood Greats
1977TV
Three Dangerous Ladies
1977Movie
Lt. George Simmonds
The Sunday Drama
1977TV
Dave
Spectre
1977Movie
Mitri Cyon
I, Claudius
1976TV
Caligula
The Island
1976Movie
Captain Simmonds
Stream Line
1976Movie
Chandler
The Peddler
1976Movie
Alec Cassell
The Naked Civil Servant
1975Movie
Quentin Crisp
Saturday Night Live
1975TV
March Hare
Shades of Greene
1975TV
Fred
Ten from the Twenties
1975TV
Philip Repton
The Ghoul
1975Movie
Tom Rawlings
The Sweeney
1975TV
Tony Grey
Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs
1974Movie
Malcolm Scrawdyke
NOVA
1974TV
Narrator
The Playboy of the Western World
1974Movie
Christopher Mahon (Christy Mahon)
Wessex Tales
1973TV
Joshua Harlborough
The Pied Piper
1972Movie
Franz
A Ghost Story for Christmas
1971TV
James Parkin
Film '72
1971TV
Self
Green Julia
1971Movie
Bob
Mr. Forbush and the Penguins
1971Movie
Richard Forbush
10 Rillington Place
1971Movie
Timothy Evans
Great Performances
1971TV
Narrator
Play for Today
1970TV
Alec Cassell
In Search of Gregory
1969Movie
Daniel
Sinful Davey
1969Movie
Davey Haggart
Before Winter Comes
1969Movie
Lieutenant Pilkington
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969TV
Bob
ITV Playhouse
1967TV
Guy Beresford
The Sailor from Gibraltar
1967Movie
John
A Man for All Seasons
1966Movie
Richard Rich
NET Playhouse
1966TV
Peter Heywood
Gideon's Way
1965TV
Freddy Tisdale
Thursday Theatre
1964TV
Orpheus
This Is My Street
1964Movie
Charlie
First Night
1963TV
Garry
The Wild and the Willing
1962Movie
Phil Corbett
Drama 61-67
1961TV
Private Briggs, Tom
Armchair Theatre
1956TV
Joe
Golden Globe Awards
1944TV
Self - Nominee