Legends are never forgotten, and Sir John Hurt was a legend. The star of classic films like Alien, The Elephant Man and Harry Potter was one of the hardest working actors in show business, amassing over 200 credits on IMDb during the course of his 55 year career, including several films that have yet to be released, which he starred in after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2005.
And now, sadly, Sir John Hurt has passed on. The actor died earlier today at the age of 77, leaving behind a legacy of some of the finest performances, in some of the finest films and television shows. It will be hard for future generations to look back on cinema from the last few decades and not become intimately familiar with John Hurt’s work. And although we mourn a great actor’s passing we cannot help but also admire him for making the sort of impact that many of us could only dream of having upon the world, and within our chosen professions.
Picking only a few of Sir John Hurt’s performances to highlight is a fool’s errand, but we have put together a short retrospective of our personal favorite roles, as our way of paying tribute to the man, the legend.
Rest in peace, sir. Oh, how you will be missed.
11 Unforgettable Performances By John Hurt:
Top Photo: Lionsgate
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
11 John Hurt Performances We'll Never Forget
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The Lord of the Rings (1978)
John Hurt had been acting for many years before some of us noticed, in film and television roles big and small. For us he first became legendary in Ralph Bakshi's stylish and underrated animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, giving Aragorn strength and charisma years before Viggo Mortensen's acting career even began.
Photo: United Artists
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Alien (1979)
John Hurt became the center of one of cinema's most iconic and terrifying moments when a xenomorph burst out of his stomach in Ridley Scott's Alien. Don't ever downplay his contribution to this classic film: he gave an unthinkable situation the dramatic weight it would have if occurred in real life.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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The Elephant Man (1980)
"I am not an animal! I am a man!" were the words John Hurt screamed to an angry mob in David Lynch's emotional drama The Elephant Man, playing the famously deformed, and famously kindhearted subject of medical scrutiny and public derision Jospeh Merrick (whose name was changed, for some reason, to "John Merrick" for the movie).
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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Spaceballs (1987)
It may be the funniest cameo ever filmed. John Hurt, playing more-or-less himself, appears in an outer space diner in Mel Brooks' classic comedy, reliving his horrifying Alien experience all over again. Don't order the special!
Photo: MGM
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Contact (1997)
Robert Zemeckis's adaptation of Carl Sagan's sci-fi novel, about what could realistically happen if intelligent life contacted humanity, was spiked with a glorious supporting performance by John Hurt as a shifty billionaire who inserts himself into the political charged crisis, and may have the best intentions or may be planning a very long con.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
In another of John Hurt's finest performances he plays author Giles DeAth, who accidentally stumbles into a romantic fixation with a teen heartthrob in his twilight years, and transforms his increasingly stalker-ish obsession into a brand new reason to live. Love and Death on Long Island isn't one of John Hurt's most famous performances but it's one of his most subtle and tender.
Photo: Lionsgate
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Harry Potter (2001-2011)
The Harry Potter movies were an all-star cavalcade of great British performers, and John Hurt made the most of his small role as Ollivander, the wizard who bestows Harry Potter with his first wand and - we later learn - had a significant part to play in this sweeping saga of good vs. evil.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Hellboy (2004)
John Hurt played, essentially, the adopted father of a demon in Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy, but his innate goodness helped transform what could have been a harbinger of destruction into mankind's salvation. And because he was played by John Hurt, we totally believed it.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Rich and complicated, Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of John Le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy gave many of its cast members their best roles in years, not the last of which was John Hurt as the leader of a spy organization that's falling secretly to ruin.
Photo: Focus Features
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Snowpiercer (2013)
Bong Joon Ho's sci-fi parable, about all of human civilization shoved together on a train, divided out of greed and (arguably) necessity, features an incredible supporting performance by John Hurt as a man who helps start the revolution, but perhaps not for the reasons that everyone assumed.
Photo: CJ Entertainment
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Doctor Who (2013)
John Hurt became an icon once again as The War Doctor, a hitherto unknown but controversial incarnation of Doctor Who's central hero, who performed an unforgivable act to save the universe from destruction. Conflicted and surprising in every way, he became an indelible part of the Doctor Who storyline that will never be forgotten by the show's fans.
Photo: BBC
