John Hurt Biography

John Vincent Hurt, (born 22 January 1940) is an English actor. Among other honours, he has received two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award, and four BAFTA Awards, with the fourth being a Lifetime Achievement recognition.

Hurt is known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York, and Caligula in I, Claudius. Recognisable for his distinctive rich voice, he has also enjoyed a successful voice acting career, starring in films such as Watership Down, the animated The Lord of the Rings and Dogville, as well as the BBC television series Merlin. He portrayed an incarnation of the Doctor in the 2013 Doctor Who episodes "The Name of the Doctor" and "The Day of the Doctor".

Hurt initially came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, and has since appeared in films such as: Alien, Midnight Express, Rob Roy, V for Vendetta, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Harry Potter film series, the Hellboy films, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Hurt is one of Britain's best-known, most prolific and sought-after actors, and has had a versatile film career spanning six decades. He is also known for his many Shakespearean roles. His character's final scene in Alien is consistently named as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.

Early life

John Hurt was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of Shirebrook. He is the son of Phyllis (née Massey), an amateur actress and engineer, and Arnould Herbert Hurt, a mathematician who became an Anglican clergyman. Hurt has an older brother, Br. Anselm (born Michael), a Roman Catholic convert who became a monk and writer at Glenstal Abbey, to whose books his younger brother John has contributed. Hurt also has an adopted sister, Monica.

Hurt's father was a vicar at St John's Church in Sunderland. In 1937, he moved his family to Derbyshire, where he became Perpetual Curate of Holy Trinity Church. When Hurt was five, his father became the vicar of St Stephen's Church in Woodville, Derbyshire and remained there until 1952. In 1945, Hurt's father founded 1st Woodville (St Stephen's) Scout Group which is still going strong today.

Hurt had a strict upbringing: the family lived opposite a cinema, but he was not allowed to see films there. He was also not permitted to mix with local children because in his parents' view they were "too common." Hurt's mother died in 1975, and his father died in 1999 at the age of 95.

Education

At the age of eight, Hurt was sent to the Anglican St Michael's Preparatory School in Otford, Kent, where he eventually developed his passion for acting. He decided he wanted to become an actor, and his first role was that of a girl in a school production of The Bluebird (L'Oiseau Bleu) by Maurice Maeterlinck. While he was a pupil at the school, he was abused by Donald Cormack (now deceased), then Senior Master of the school and later Head Teacher (until his retirement in 1981). Hurt described how Cormack would remove his two false front teeth and put his tongue in the boys' mouths, and how he would rub their faces with his stubble. Hurt said that the experience affected him hugely.

Hurt's father moved to Old Clee Church in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. Hurt (then aged 12) became a boarder at Christ's Hospital School (then a grammar school) in Lincoln, because he had failed the entrance exam for admission to his brother's school. Hurt often accompanied his mother to Cleethorpes Repertory Theatre, but his parents disliked his acting ambitions and encouraged him to become an art teacher instead. His headmaster, Mr. Franklin, laughed when Hurt told him he wanted to be an actor, telling him that he "wouldn't stand a chance in the profession". Aged 17, Hurt enrolled in Grimsby Art School (now the East Coast School of Art & Design), where he studied art. In 1959, Hurt won a scholarship allowing him to study for an Art Teacher's Diploma (ATD) at Saint Martin's School of Art in Holborn. Despite the scholarship, paying for his studies was financially difficult, so he persuaded some of his friends to pose nude and sold the portraits. In 1960, he won a scholarship to RADA, where he trained for two years. He was then cast in small roles on TV.

Career

Hurt's first film was The Wild and the Willing (1962), but his first major role was as Richard Rich in A Man for All Seasons (1966). His portrayal of Quentin Crisp in the 1975 TV play The Naked Civil Servant gave prominence and earned him the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. The following year, Hurt played the Roman emperor Caligula in the BBC drama serial, I, Claudius. In 1978, he appeared in Midnight Express, for which he won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (the latter of which he lost to Christopher Walken for his performance in The Deer Hunter). Hurt played Hazel, the heroic rabbit leader of his warren in the film adaptation of Watership Down and later played the major villain, General Woundwort, in the animated television series version.

His roles at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s included Kane, the memorable first victim of the title creature in the film Alien (a role which he reprised as a parody in Spaceballs); would-be art school radical Scrawdyke in Little Malcolm; and "John" Merrick in the Joseph Merrick biography The Elephant Man, for which he won a BAFTA and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1978, he lent his voice to Ralph Bakshi's animated film adaptation of Lord of the Rings, playing the role of Aragorn. He also had a starring role in Sam Peckinpah's critically panned but moderately successful final film, The Osterman Weekend (1983). Also in 1983 he starred as the Fool opposite Laurence Olivier's King in King Lear. Hurt also appeared as Raskolnikov in the 1979 BBC TV mini-series adaptation of Crime and Punishment.

Hurt played Winston Smith in the 1984 adaptation of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 1985, he starred in Disney's The Black Cauldron, voicing the film's main antagonist, the Horned King. In 1986, Hurt provided the voiceover for AIDS: Iceberg / Tombstone, a public information film warning of the dangers of AIDS. In 1988 he played the title role, the on-screen narrator, in Jim Henson's The StoryTeller TV series. He had a memorable supporting role as "Bird" O'Donnell in Jim Sheridan's 1990 film The Field, which garnered him another BAFTA nomination. In 2001, he played Mr. Ollivander, the wand-maker, in the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He returned for the adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, though his scenes in that film were cut. He also returned for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1 and Part 2. In 1999, Hurt provided narration on the British musical group Art of Noise's concept album The Seduction of Claude Debussy. During this time, he narrated a four-part series on the Universe which was released on DVD in 1999. In the 2006 film V for Vendetta he played the role of Adam Sutler, leader of the Norsefire fascist dictatorship. In May 2008, he appeared in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as Harold Oxley. He is also the voice of The Great Dragon Kilgharrah, who aids the young warlock Merlin as he protects the future king Arthur, in the BBC television series Merlin.

In 2008, 33 years after The Naked Civil Servant, Hurt reprised the role of Quentin Crisp in An Englishman in New York. This film depicts Crisp's later years in New York.

In June 2009, Hurt played the on-screen Big Brother for Paper Zoo Theatre Company's production of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The theatre production premiered at the National Media Museum, in Bradford and will be touring during early 2010. Hurt said, "I think Paper Zoo thought it would be quite ironic to have the person who played Winston having risen in the party. From the Chestnut Tree Cafe, he's managed to get his wits together again, now understanding that [[2+2=5|2 and 2 make 5]], and becomes Big Brother. So it tickled my fancy, and of course I looked up Paper Zoo, and they seem to me to be the sort of company that's essential in the country as we know it, and doing a lot of really good stuff."

Hurt is due to appear alongside Ben Kingsley in a film entitled Broken Dream, to be directed by Neil Jordan. At the 65th British Academy Film Awards Hurt won the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.

In the 2013 Doctor Who episode "The Name of the Doctor", Hurt appeared as an unknown incarnation of the Doctor. Hurt will reprise the role in the show's 50th anniversary special later in the year.

Personal life

In 1962, Hurt's father left his parish in Cleethorpes to become headmaster of St Michael's College in the Central American country of British Honduras. In that same year, John Hurt first performed on the London stage and married actress Annette Robertson. The marriage ended in 1964. In 1967 he began his longest relationship, with French model Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot, sister of fashion photographer Jean-Claude Volpeliere-Pierrot. The couple had planned to get married after fifteen years, when events took a tragic turn on 26 January 1983: Hurt and Volpeliere-Pierrot went horse riding early in the morning near their house in Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire. Volpeliere-Pierrot was thrown off her horse and suffered a tragic fall. She went into a coma and died later that day.

Hurt married his old friend the Texan actress Donna Peacock at a local Register Office on 6 September 1984. The couple moved to Kenya. They divorced in early January 1990.

On 24 January 1990, Hurt married American production assistant Joan Dalton, whom he had met while filming Scandal. With her he had two sons: Sasha John Vincent Hurt (born 6 February 1990) and Nick Hurt (born 5 February 1993), who are currently residing in County Waterford, Ireland. Nick has gone to acting school in England and wishes to follow in his father's footsteps. This marriage ended in 1996 and was followed with a seven-year relationship with Dublin-born presenter and writer Sarah Owens. The couple moved to County Wicklow, where they settled close to their friends, director John Boorman, and Claddagh Records founder and Guinness heir The Hon Garech de Brún. In July 2002 the couple separated. In March 2005, Hurt married his fourth wife, advertising film producer Anwen Rees Meyers. He now lives near Cromer in Norfolk.

In 2004, Hurt was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

In January 2002, Hurt received an honorary degree from the University of Derby and in January 2006 received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Hull.

In 2007, Hurt took part in the BBC genealogical television series Who Do You Think You Are?, which investigated part of his family history. Prior to participating in the programme, Hurt had harboured a love of Ireland and was enamoured of a 'deeply beguiling' family legend that suggested his great-grandmother had been the illegitimate daughter of Irish nobleman the Marquess of Sligo. The genealogical evidence uncovered seemed to contradict the family legend, rendering the 'suggestion' doubtful. Coincidentally, the search revealed that his great-grandmother had previously lived in Grimsby at a location within a mile of the art college at which Hurt had once enrolled.

Since 2006, John Hurt has been a patron of Project Harar, a UK-based charity working in Ethiopia for children with facial disfigurements.

Since 2009, he has been patron of QUAD, an arts centre in Derby. On 25 September 2009, Hurt visited QUAD and took part in a Q&A directly preceding a screening of the film The Night Train as part of the festivities, celebrating the first birthday at QUAD (opened on 26 September 2008). The day after, 26 September, John Hurt was guest of honour at Derby County vs Bristol City and went on the pitch at Pride Park at half time to oversee a prize draw.

In 2012 he was appointed the first Provost of Norwich University College of the Arts.

On 23 January 2013, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of Lincoln, England at Lincoln Cathedral. Hurt has been announced as patron of Norwich Cinema City in March 2013.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	'	Phil
1964	This Is My Street	Charlie
1966	'	Richard Rich
1967	'	John
1969	In Search of Gregory	Daniel
1969	Sinful Davey	Davey Haggart
1969	Before Winter Comes	Lieutenant Pilkington
1971	Mr. Forbush and the Penguins	Richard Forbush
1971	10 Rillington Place	Timothy John Evans	Nominated " BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1972	'	Franz
1974	Little Malcolm	Malcolm Scrawdyke
1975	'	Tom Rawlings
1975	'	Chandler
1977	East of Elephant Rock	Nash
1977	Three Dangerous Ladies	Lt. Simmonds
1977	'	Atkinson
1978	Watership Down	Hazel	Voice role
1978	'	Anthony Fielding
1978	Midnight Express	Max	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated " Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1978	'	Aragorn	Voice role
1979	Alien	Kane	DVDX Award for Best Audio Commentary (New for DVD) Nominated " BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1980	'	John Merrick	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated " Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated " Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Drama
1980	Heaven's Gate	Billy Irvine
1981	Night Crossing	Peter Strelzyk
1981	History of the World, Part I	Jesus Christ
1982	Partners	Kerwin
1982	'	Snitter	Voice
1983	'	Lawrence Fassett
1984	Champions	Bob Champion	Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Actor
1984	Success Is the Best Revenge	Dino Montecurva
1984	'	Braddock	Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Actor Mystfest for Best Actor
1984	Nineteen Eighty-Four	Winston Smith	Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Actor Fantasporto for Best Actor Valladolid International Film Festival for Best Actor
1985	After Darkness	Peter Hunningford	Entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival
1985	'	The Horned King	Voice
1986	Jake Speed	Sid
1987	'	Narrator	Voice
1987	Rocinante	Bill
1987	From the Hip	Douglas Benoit
1987	Spaceballs	Kane	Cameo of his Alien (1979) character 'Kane', humorously self-parodied with the line: "Oh no... Not again!"
1987	Aria	The Actor	Segment "I pagliacci"
1987	Vincent	Narrator (Vincent van Gogh's Letters to his bother)	Voice
1987	White Mischief	Gilbert Colvile
1988	'	Lucien Metz
1989	Scandal	Stephen Ward
1989	Little Sweetheart	Robert Burger
1990	Romeo-Juliet	La Dame aux Chats Mercutio
1990	Windprints	Charles Rutherford
1990	The Field	Bird O'Donnell	Nominated " BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1990	Frankenstein Unbound	Dr. Joe Buchanan Narrator
1991	I Dreamt I Woke Up	John Boorman's Alter Ego
1991	King Ralph	Lord Percival Graves
1992	Lapse of Memory	Conrad Farmer
1993	Kölcsönkapott id"?	Sean
1993	L'Oeil qui ment	Anthony / Le Marquis
1993	Monolith	Villano
1993	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	The Countess
1994	Rabbit Ears: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp	Storyteller	Direct-to-video release
1994	Thumbelina	Mr. Mole	Voice only
1994	Second Best	Uncle Turpin
1995	Two Nudes Bathing	Marquis de Prey
1995	Saigon Baby	Jack Lee
1995	Rob Roy	John Graham, Marquis of Montrose
1995	Dead Man	John Scholfield
1995	Wild Bill	Charley Prince
1997	Tender Loving Care	Dr. Turner	Interactive CD-ROM film
1997	Love and Death on Long Island	Giles De'Ath	FIPRESCI Prize " Special Mention of Chicago International Film Festival Nominated " British Independent Film Awards for Best Performance by a British Actor in an Independent Film
1997	Contact	S.R. Hadden
1997	Bandyta	Babits
1998	The Commissioner	James Morton	Entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival
1998	Night Train	Michael Poole	Verona Love Screens Film Festival for Best Actor
1998	All the Little Animals	Mr. Summers
1999	'	Chuck Langer
1999	New Blood	Alan White
1999	'	Sebastian	English dub of French film Le Château des singes
1999	If... Dog... Rabbit...	Sean Cooper
1999	You're Dead...	Maitland
2000	'	Narrator	Voice
2000	Lost Souls	Father Lareaux
2001	Tabloid	Vince
2001	Captain Corelli's Mandolin	Dr. Iannis
2001	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Mr. Ollivander
2002	Miranda	Christian
2002	Crime and Punishment	Porfiry
2003	Owning Mahowny	Victor Foss
2003	Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill	Man from Maybury Hill
2003	Dogville	Narrator	Voice
2004	Hellboy	Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm
2004	Pride	Harry	Voice
2005	Short Order	Felix
2005	Valiant	Felix	Voice
2005	'	Jellon Lamb	Nominated " Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2005	Shooting Dogs	Christopher
2005	Manderlay	Narrator	Voice
2005	'	Ben Devereaux
2006	V for Vendetta	Adam Sutler
2006	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	Narrator	Voice
2007	Boxes	Le père de Fanny
2008	Outlander	Rothgar
2008	'	Arthur Seldom
2008	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	Dr. Harold Oxley
2008	Hellboy II: The Golden Army	Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm	Cameo
2008	Lecture 21	Mondrian Kilroy
2009	'	Guitar
2009	New York, I Love You	Waiter
2009	44 Inch Chest	Old Man Peanut	Nominated " London Film Critics' Circle for Best British Supporting Actor
2010	Lou	Doyle
2010	Ultramarines: The Movie	Carnak	Voice
2010	Brighton Rock	Phil Corkery
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1	Mr. Ollivander
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 2	Mr. Ollivander
2011	In Love with Alma Cogan	Master of Ceremonies
2011	Melancholia	Dexter
2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Control	Nominated "? Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated "? International Chinephile Society Award for Best Cast
2011	Immortals	Old Zeus
2012	Jayne Mansfield's Car	Kingsley Bedford
2013	The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman	Narrator	Voice
2013	Only Lovers Left Alive	Marlowe
2013	Snowpiercer	Gilliam
2013	More Than Honey	Narrator	Voice; documentary
2013	Benjamin Britten " Peace and Conflict	Narrator	post-production
2014	The Absinthe Drinkers	Antonio Argenti	filming
2014	Hercules: The Thracian Wars		filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Drama 61"67	Private Briggs	Episode 1.16: "Drama '61: Local Incident"
1962	Z-Cars	James Hogan	Episode 1.29: "Assault"
1963	First Night	Garry	Episode 1.12: "Menace"
1964	Armchair Theatre	Unknown	Episode 4.102: "A Jug of Bread"
1964	Thursday Theatre	Orpheus	Episode 1.11: "Point of Departure"
1964"1965	ITV Play of the Week	Various characters	Appeared in three episodes
1965	Gideon's Way	Freddy Tinsdale	Episode 1.14: "The Tin God"
1973	Wessex Tales	Joshua Harlborough	Episode 1.3: "A Tragedy of Two Ambitions"
1974	'	Christopher "Christy" Mahon	television film
1975	'	Quentin Crisp	television film British Academy Television Award for Best Actor; #4 in BFI TV 100
1976	Shades of Greene	Fred	Episode 2.6: "A Drive in the Country"
1976	Play for Today	Alec Cassell	Episode 6.22: "The Peddler"
1976	'	Tony Grey	Episode 3.4: "Tomorrow Man"
1976	I, Claudius	Caligula	TV mini-series
1977	Spectre	Mitri Cyon	television film
1979	Crime and Punishment	Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov	TV mini-series
1983	King Lear	The Fool	television film
1988	Deadline	Granville Jones	television film
1988	'	The Storyteller	Appeared in all nine first series episodes
1990	'	Chris Mullin	television film
1991	Journey to Knock	Alfred	television film
1991	Red Fox	Archie Carpenter	TV mini-series
1992	Six Characters in Search of an Author	The Father	television film
1993	Great Moments in Aviation	Rex Goodyear
1995	Prisoners in Time	Eric Lomax
1999"2000	Watership Down	General Woundwort	Multiple episodes; voice
2001	Beckett on Film " Krapp's Last Tape	Krapp	television film
2002	Bait	Jack Blake
2004	'	Alan Clark	TV serial
2004	Pride	Harry	television film; voice
2005	Hiroshima	Narrator	Voice
2007	Hellboy: Blood and Iron	Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm	television film; voice
2007	Masters of Science Fiction	Samswope	Episode 1.4: "The Discarded"
2008	Recount	Warren Christopher	television film
2008"2012	Merlin (Seasons 1-5)	The Great Dragon, Killgarrah	Voice; does not appear in every episode, yet is credited in the opening title sequence for each episode. Also provides the narrative voice at the start of the title sequence.
2009	'	The Owl	Television film (children's), voice
2009	'	Himself	Penultimate episode
2009	'	Quentin Crisp	television film Berlin International Film Festival " Teddy Award Nominated " British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2010	Whistle and I'll Come to You	James Parkin	television film
2010	Human Planet	Narrator	Documentary
2011	Harry's Arctic Heroes	Narrator	Documentary
2011	Planet Dinosaur	Narrator	Documentary
2011	'	The Owl	Television film (children's), voice
2012	Labyrinth	Audric Baillard	TV miniseries
2012	'	Himself	One episode
2012		The Chorus	Television film
2012	Playhouse Presents	The Ministry	Voice; one episode
2013	Doctor Who	The Doctor	Episodes "The Name of the Doctor" and "The Day of the Doctor"
2014	The Strain	Professor Abraham Setrakian	Pilot

Video games

• Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996) " Joe the Bartender
• Tender Loving Care (1998) " Dr. Turner

Other projects and contributions

• When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) " "Sonnet 145"
  ("Those lips that Love's own hand did make")
• Hurt performs in drag for the promotional video for Attitude by the music group Suede.
• Hurt is seen as the 'Brian Epstein' esque mogul in Paul McCartney's 1982 video for his song "Take It Away". McCartney explains in the video commentary section of The McCartney Years DVD (for the song 'Take it Away') that Hurt himself was a friend of the Beatles and Brian Epstein, and that the Beatles had watched Hurt act in the mid-'60s and thought him a fine actor.
• Hurt is the narrator of the 1995 Discovery Channel documentary On Jupiter.
• Hurt is the narrator on the album The Seduction of Claude Debussy by the band Art of Noise (1999).
• John Hurt is the narrator of the 4 part series released in 1999 on The Universe for Channel 4 International, available on DVD.
• Hurt co-starred alongside Kiefer Sutherland in the 10 part web series The Confession.
• Hurt can also be heard during the BBC's introduction to the 2012 British Grand Prix Qualifying Show
• A line from the movie Nineteen Eighty Four, featuring the voice of Hurt can be heard as the introduction to the Manic Street Preachers song "Faster"
• In two volumes of a documentary called Life in the Animal Kingdom: Untamed Africa, filmed in the Maasai Mara Game Preserve in Kenya (the two volumes being called Hunter and Hunted and Survival on the Serengeti), Hurt served as the narrator.
• Benjamin Britten " Peace and Conflict, a British feature film written and directed by Tony Britten - narrator.