• Name: John Hurt
  • Date of Birth: January 22, 1940
  • Place of Birth: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
Mini-bio: 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 slightl... read morey 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, Rovi
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Replace this image with an actor photoJohn Hurt mini-bio: Britain's superbly eccentric import John Hurt's magnetic, often bedeviled portraits have touched the souls of filmgoers internationally for over four decades, and there seems to be no end to the depth of this man's talent. Stretching the boundaries every which way but loose, he continues to be a definitive textbook in in the art of acting metamorphosis. Transitioning between stage, TV and film, he increased his respect with such plays as "Inadmissible Evidence" (1965), "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" (1966), a role he later took to film as Little Malcolm (1974), "Macbeth" (as Malcolm) (1967) and "Man and Superman" (1969), as well as 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", and in "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). 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 British TV Awards. In film, he earned Oscar nominations for his memorable characters in The Elephant Man (1980) and Midnight Express (1978).

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John Hurt Trivia

  • Who portrays John Merrick in "The Elephant Man"?  Answer »
  • Which actor played the character John Meyrick ?  Answer »
  • Which iconic film released in 1984 starring John Hurt and Richard Burton was based on a novel about a totalitarian society ?   Answer »
  • V for Vendetta stars Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving and John Hurt. Its topic is  Answer »

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