John Hurt, 1940-2017

John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)

The death has been announced of British actor John Hurt, after a long battle with cancer. He was 77.

Hurt's career spanned well over 50 years, starting on stage and with small roles on British TV. I'd like to think his breakout performance on film was as Richard Rich in A Man For All Seasons; you can see him with his back to the camera as this was a scene for lead actor Paul Scofield. But, in reality, Hurt had to work hard for another decade until he really became a star, which led to big Hollywood movies like Midnight Express and Alien, and then the Oscar-nominated role in The Elephant Man.

Hurt continued to work, both in regular acting as well as providing a range of voices in a variety of films, animated and narrating live action. IMDb lists him as participating in several movies still in production, although I'd have no idea if he finished all his work. He did also appear in a small part in last autumns Jackie.