John Hurt

John Hurt

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Birthday: 
22 January 1940, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
Birth Name: 
John Vincent Hurt
Height: 
175 cm
This transatlantic talent was born on January 22, 1940 in Shirebrook, a coal mining village near the busy market town of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England. He is the son of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician. The youngest of three children, he spent much of his ch... Show more »
This transatlantic talent was born on January 22, 1940 in Shirebrook, a coal mining village near the busy market town of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England. He is the son of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician. The youngest of three children, he spent much of his childhood in solitude. Demonstrating little initiative, he was guided into art as a possible direction. The family moved to Grimsby when he turned twelve and, despite an active early passion in acting, his parents thought less of it and enrolled him at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art where he showed some flourish. When he couldn't manage to get another scholarship to art school, his focus invariably turned to acting.Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, John made his stage debut in 1962 and remained there in typically offbeat form such plays as "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger". An odd, somber, pasty-looking fellow with an aquiline nose (injured while playing sports) and a mass of Irish freckles, he was hardly leading man material. His earlier focus as a painter, however, triggered a keen skill in the art of observation and it certainly advanced his talent for getting into the skin of his characters. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the ill-received British "angry young man" drama The Wild and the Willing (1962).Appearing in various mediums, John increased his profile (and respect) appearing in such theatre plays as "Inadmissible Evidence" (1965), "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" (1966), a role he later took to film as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974), "Macbeth" (as Malcolm) (1967) and "Man and Superman" (1969), while finding prime parts in such films as A Man for All Seasons (1966), a role he was given after director Fred Zinnemann saw his stellar work in "Little Malcolm." He continued on the stage as an unlikely Romeo in 1973, and went on to garner great applause in Pinter's "The Caretaker" and "The Dumb Waiter", as well as "Travesties" (1974).It was TV, however, that displayed the full magnitude and fearless range of his acting instrument. In the mid-70s he gained widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark TV play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Way, way ahead of its time, Hurt's bold and unabashed take on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the Emmy and the British TV Awards. Far and away one of the most marvelous creations ever captured on the small screen, he was altogether unsettling, unappetizing and unforgettable. Audiences cringed but were mesmerized at the same time -- like a car wreck. He WAS Quentin Crisp.Doors immediately opened for John. He was handed the best parts film and TV had to offer. Once again he was strikingly disturbing as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic TV masterpiece I, Claudius (1976). The chameleon in him then displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and when he morphed into the role of a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978), he was barely recognizable. The last two films earned Hurt Oscar nominations. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). Who can forget the film's most notorious scene as the creature explodes from Hurt's stomach and scurries away into the bowels of the spaceship?Along with fame, of course, came a few misguided ventures generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with 'Ryan O'Neal (I)' in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. But those were very few and far between.As for the past couple of decades, the craggy-faced actor continues to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).His rich tones have also been tapped into frequently with a number of animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. Presently married to his fourth wife, genius is often accompanied by a darker, more self-destructive side and Hurt was no exception with alcohol being his choice of poison. He has since recovered. He has two children from his third wife. Show less «

John Hurt's FILMOGRAPHY

The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 21

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 20

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 20

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Doctor Who - Season 14

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Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 19

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 19

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Doctor Who - Season 13

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 18

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 17

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 18

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Doctor Who - Season 12

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 17

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 16

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 16

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Memory: The Origins of Alien

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 15

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 14

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 15

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The Jonathan Ross Show - Season 13

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Doctor Who - Season 11

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Who Do You Think You Are - Season 14

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The 89th Annual Academy Awards

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John Hurt'S roles

Duke of Montrose
Duke of Montrose
Dr. Iannis
Dr. Iannis
Control
Control
Mr. Ollivander
Mr. Ollivander
Billy Irvine
Billy Irvine
Arthur Seldom
Arthur Seldom
Hazel
Hazel
John Merrick
John Merrick
Lord Cotys
Lord Cotys
The Mole
The Mole
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Lawrence Fassett
Lawrence Fassett
Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Phil Corkery
Phil Corkery
Jellon Lamb
Jellon Lamb
Gilliam
Gilliam
The Horned King
The Horned King
Richard Rich
Richard Rich
Professor Oxley
Professor Oxley
S.R. Hadden
S.R. Hadden
Winston Smith
Winston Smith
Adam Sutler
Adam Sutler
King Hrothgar
King Hrothgar
Kane
Kane
Max
Max
Timothy Evans
Timothy Evans
Dexter
Dexter
John Scholfield
John Scholfield
Old Man
Old Man
Felix
Felix
Aragorn
Aragorn
Lord Percival Graves
Lord Percival Graves
The Dragon
The Dragon