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John Hurt

John Hurt
John Hurt
Born: Jan 22, 1940 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England, UK
Occupation: Actor
Active: '70s-2000s
Major Genres: Drama, Thriller
Career Highlights: I, Claudius, The Naked Civil Servant, Love and Death on Long Island
First Major Screen Credit: Young and Willing (1962)
49 Videos for John Hurt
The Limits of Control (2009) Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) Scandal (1989)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) Little Sweetheart (1988)
Lecture 21 (2008) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) Aria (1987)
New York, I Love You (2008) Lost Souls (2000) Spaceballs (1987)
Outlander (2008) New Blood (1999) Vincent: The Life & Death of Vincent Van Gogh (1987)
Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007) All The Little Animals (1998) White Mischief (1987)
whaledreamers (2007) Contact (1997) From the Hip (1986)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) Love and Death on Long Island (1997) 1984 (1984)
V for Vendetta (2006) Rob Roy (1995) Success is the Best Revenge (1984)
Beyond the Gates (2005) Wild Bill (1995) The Osterman Weekend (1983)
Manderlay (2005) Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994) The Elephant Man (1980)
The Proposition (2005) Second Best (1994) Alien (1979)
Valiant (2005) Thumbelina (1994) Midnight Express (1978)
Hellboy (2004) Monolith (1993) The Shout (1978)
Pride (2004) King Ralph (1991) I, Claudius (1975)
Dogville (2003) The Field (1990) A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Owning Mahowny (2003)
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Biography:

Considered one of Great Britain's most consistently brilliant players, John Hurt is at his best when playing victims forced to suffer mental, physical, or spiritual anguish. A small man with a slightly sinister countenance and a tenor voice that never completed the transition between early adolescence and manhood, Hurt is generally cast in supporting or leading roles as eccentric characters in offbeat films.

The son of a clergyman, Hurt was training to be a painter at St. Martin's School of the Arts when he became enamored with acting and enrolled in London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art instead. He made his theatrical and film debuts in 1962 (The Wild and the Willing). Though he frequently appears on-stage, Hurt, unlike his many colleagues, is primarily a film and television actor.

He gave one of his strongest early performances playing Richard Rich in Fred Zinnemann's A Man for All Seasons (1966). His subsequent work remained high quality through the '70s. On television, Hurt made his name in the telemovie The Naked Civil Servant and furthered his growing reputation as the twisted Caligula on the internationally acclaimed BBC miniseries I, Claudius (1976).

He received his first Oscar nomination for playing a supporting role in the harrowing Midnight Express and a second nomination for his sensitive portrayal of the horribly deformed John Merrick -- but for his voice, Hurt was unrecognizable beneath pounds of latex and makeup. In 1984, Hurt was the definitive Winston Smith in Michael Radford's version of Orwell's 1984.

Other memorable roles include a man who finds himself hosting a terrifying critter in Alien (1979), his parody of that role in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs (1987), an Irish idiot in The Field (1990), and in Rob Roy (1995). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide.