John Hurt

Highest Rated: 100% Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day Of The Doctor (2013)

Lowest Rated: 0% ChickLit (2016)

Birthday: Jan 22, 1940

Birthplace: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK

Considered one of Great Britain's most consistently brilliant players, John Hurt was 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 was 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 appeared on-stage, Hurt, unlike his many colleagues, was 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).In 1997, Hurt played the lead role of Giles De'ath (pronounced day-ath) for the comedy drama Love and Death on Long Island. The film, which follows a widower (Hurt) who forms an unlikely obsession with a teen heartthrob who lives in Long Island and occasionally stars in low-brow films. Love and Death was praised for its unlikely, yet poignant portrait of unrequited love. The same year, Hurt took on the role of a multi-millionaire willing to fund a scientist's (Jodie Foster) efforts to communicate with alien life in Contact. Hurt took a voice role in the animated series Journey to Watership Down and its sequel, Escape to Watership Down in 1999, and again for The Tigger Story in 2000. In 2001, Hurt joined the cast of Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone to play the small but vital role of wand merchant Mr. Ollivander, and narrated Lars von Trier's experimental drama Dogville. Later, Hurt played an American professor in Hellboy (2004), and won praise for his portrayal of a bounty hunter in The Proposition, a gritty Western from director John Hillcoat. Hurt continued to work in small but meaty supporting roles throughout the next several years, most notably in the drama Beyond the Gates (2005), for which he played a missionary who arrived in Rwanda just before genocide erupted, and as the tyrannical Chancellor Sutler in director James McTiegue's adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta (2006). In 2010, Hurt reprised his role of Mr. Ollivander for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, and for its sequel in 2011. The actor co-starred with Charlotte Rampling in Melancholia (2011), Lars von Trier's meditation on depression, and played the Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service in the multi-Academy Award nominated spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy the same year. In 2013, Hurt appeared in the futuristic sci-fi movie Snowpiercer and later played the War Doctor in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who. The following year, Hurt played the King of Thrace in Hercules. Hurt died in 2017, just days after his 77th birthday.

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Highest Rated Movies

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day Of The Doctor
100%
More Than Honey
100%
Second Best
100%
Alien
97%

Filmography

MOVIES

		CREDIT
14%	Damascus Cover	Miki	2018
69%	The Journey	Harry Patterson	2017
No Score Yet	My Name Is Lenny	Leslie Salmon	2017
56%	That Good Night	Actor	2017
87%	Jackie	The Priest	2016
No Score Yet	The Twilight Hour: Visions of Ireland's Haunted Past	Actor	2016
0%	ChickLit	Francis Bonar	2016
No Score Yet	A.K.A Nadia	Actor	2015
80%	Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure	Actor	2015
57%	Hercules	Lord Cotys	2014
95%	Snowpiercer	Gilliam	2014
84%	Only Lovers Left Alive	Marlowe	2014
100%	Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day Of The Doctor	Actor	2013
29%	Charlie Countryman	Narrator	2013
36%	Jayne Mansfield's Car	Kingsley Bedford	2013
100%	More Than Honey	Narrator	2013
43%	Benjamin Britten: Peace And Conflict	Narrator	2013
No Score Yet	The Gruffalo's Child	Owl	2012
No Score Yet	Shadows (Hellgate)	Actor	2012
No Score Yet	Kidtoons: The Gruffalo, Pocoyo & The Wiggles	Actor	2012
83%	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Control	2011
37%	Immortals	Old Man	2011
79%	Melancholia	Dexter	2011
51%	Brighton Rock	Phil Corkery	2011
96%	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2	Mr. Ollivander	2011
No Score Yet	Lou	Doyle	2011
No Score Yet	Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie	Actor	2011
78%	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1	Mr. Ollivander	2010
9%	The Oxford Murders	Arthur Seldom	2010
41%	44 Inch Chest	Old Man Peanut	2010
No Score Yet	The Gruffalo	Owl	2009
37%	New York, I Love You	Bellhop (Shekhar Kapur segment)	2009
43%	The Limits of Control	Guitar	2009
67%	An Englishman in New York	Quentin Crisp	2009
37%	Outlander	Rothgar	2009
50%	Whaledreamers	Actor	2008
No Score Yet	Lezione 21 (Lecture 21) (Lesson 21)	Actor	2008
86%	Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2)	Actor	2008
77%	Recount	Warren Christopher	2008
78%	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	Prof. Oxley	2008
0%	Short Order	Felix	2008
No Score Yet	The Dolphin's Gift	Actor	2008
No Score Yet	Hellboy: Blood and Iron	Actor	2007
No Score Yet	Shooting Dogs (Beyond the Gates)	Christopher	2007
No Score Yet	Joel Files	Actor	2007
No Score Yet	Masters of Science Fiction	Samswope	2007
58%	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	Narrator	2006
73%	V for Vendetta	Chancellor Adam Sutler	2006
49%	Manderlay	Narrator	2006
84%	Beyond the Gates	Christopher	2005
32%	Valiant	Felix	2005
37%	The Skeleton Key	Ben Devereaux	2005
85%	The Proposition	Jellon Lamb	2005
No Score Yet	Pride	Harry	2004
81%	Hellboy	Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm	2004
No Score Yet	Tabloid	Actor	2004
79%	Owning Mahowny	Victor Foss	2003
70%	Dogville	Narrator	2003
No Score Yet	D-Day In Color	Narrator	2003
94%	Alien: The Director's Cut	Narrator Kane	2003
No Score Yet	Crime and Punishment	Porfiry	2002
No Score Yet	Bait	Jack Blake	2002
44%	Miranda	Christian	2002
No Score Yet	The 'Alien' Saga	Narrator	2002
81%	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	Mr. Ollivander	2001
28%	Captain Corelli's Mandolin	Dr. Iannis	2001
No Score Yet	Hidden Wars of Desert Storm	Narrator	2001
No Score Yet	Monkey's Tale	Sebastian	2001
7%	Lost Souls	Father Lareaux	2000
No Score Yet	New Blood	Alan White	2000
62%	The Tigger Movie	Narrator	2000
No Score Yet	Winter In Watership Down	Actor	1999
No Score Yet	Escape to Watership Down	Woundwort	1999
65%	All the Little Animals	Mr. Summers	1999
No Score Yet	The Climb	Chuck Langer	1999
No Score Yet	Journey to Watership Down	Actor	1999
No Score Yet	NOVA	Actor	1999
No Score Yet	You're Dead...	Actor	1999
No Score Yet	Bandyta (Brute)	Actor	1998
No Score Yet	Tender Loving Care	Dr. Turner	1998
86%	Love and Death on Long Island	Giles De'Ath	1998
No Score Yet	The Commissioner	James Morton	1998
No Score Yet	If... Dog... Rabbit	Actor	1998
No Score Yet	Shades of Fear	Rex Goodyear	1997
63%	Contact	S.R. Hadden	1997
39%	Wild Bill	Charley Prince	1995
70%	Dead Man	John Scholfield	1995
73%	Rob Roy	Montrose	1995
100%	Second Best	Uncle Turpin	1994
19%	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	The Countess	1994
33%	Thumbelina	Mr. Mole	1994
No Score Yet	Betrayal (Forraderi)	Narrator	1994
52%	Mr. Wonderful	Actor	1993
No Score Yet	L'Oeil qui ment (Dark at Noon, or Eyes and Lies)	Anthony/The Marquis	1993
No Score Yet	Rabbit Ears: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp	Narrator	1993
No Score Yet	Monolith	Villano	1993
No Score Yet	Lapse of Memory	Conrad Farmer	1992
No Score Yet	Resident Alien	Actor	1991
20%	King Ralph	Lord Graves	1991
44%	Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound	Dr. Joe Buchanan	1990
No Score Yet	Little Sweetheart	Robert Burger	1990
No Score Yet	The Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing	Chris Mullin	1990
43%	The Field	Bird	1990
91%	Scandal	Stephen Ward	1989
No Score Yet	Bengali Night	Lucien Metz	1988
No Score Yet	Night Train	Michael Poole	1988
80%	White Mischief	Gilbert Colvile	1988
50%	Aria	The Actor	1988
No Score Yet	Deadline	Actor	1988
No Score Yet	Witness in the War Zone	Actor	1987
58%	Spaceballs	John Hurt	1987
22%	From the Hip	Douglas Benoit	1987
No Score Yet	The Hunting Of The Snark	Actor	1987
No Score Yet	Jake Speed	Sid	1986
No Score Yet	Success Is The Best Revenge	Dino Montecurva	1985
57%	The Black Cauldron	Horned King	1985
No Score Yet	After Darkness	Peter Huninger	1985
82%	1984	Winston Smith	1984
85%	The Hit	Braddock	1984
57%	Terror in the Aisles	Actor	1984
No Score Yet	Champions	Bob Champion	1984
60%	The Plague Dogs	Snitter	1983
40%	The Osterman Weekend	Lawrence Fassett	1983
No Score Yet	King Lear	The Fool	1983
No Score Yet	Partners	Kerwin	1982
No Score Yet	Night Crossing	Peter Strelzyks	1982
No Score Yet	Cry of the Penguins	Actor	1981
62%	History of the World---Part I	Jesus	1981
57%	Heaven's Gate	Billy Irvine	1980
91%	The Elephant Man	John Merrick	1980
82%	The Shout	Anthony Fielding	1979
No Score Yet	It's a Steal?	Actor	1979
97%	Alien	Kane	1979
No Score Yet	Law Rules OK!?	Actor	1979
No Score Yet	Crime and Punishment	Actor	1979
52%	The Lord of the Rings	Aragorn	1978
82%	Watership Down	Hazel	1978
96%	Midnight Express	Max	1978
No Score Yet	East of Elephant Rock	Actor	1976
No Score Yet	The Naked Civil Servant	Quentin Crisp	1975
No Score Yet	The Ghoul (The Thing in the Attic)	Tom	1975
No Score Yet	Little Malcolm (Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs)	Malcolm Scrawdyke	1974
50%	The Pied Piper	Franz	1972
58%	10 Rillington Place	Timothy John Evans	1971
No Score Yet	Cry of the Penguins	Forbush	1971
No Score Yet	In Search of Gregory	Daniel	1970
43%	Sinful Davey	Davey Haggart	1969
No Score Yet	Before Winter Comes	Lt. Francis Pilkington	1969
82%	A Man for All Seasons	Rich	1966
No Score Yet	Krapp's Last Tape	Actor

TV

		CREDIT
88%	The Last Panthers 2016	Tom	2016
64%	Labyrinth 2012	Audric	2014
No Score Yet	Planet Earth: Human Planet 2014	Narrator	2014
93%	Doctor Who 2006	War Doctor The Doctor	2013
No Score Yet	Great Performances 2000	The Chorus	2013
82%	Merlin 2009-2012	Kilgharrah the Dragon The Dragon Voice	2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
100%	The Hollow Crown 2012-2016		2012
No Score Yet	NOVA 1974	Narrator	1999
No Score Yet	I, Claudius 1976	Caligula	1978 1977
No Score Yet	The Jim Henson Hour 1989	Narrator

QUOTES FROM John Hurt CHARACTERS

John Merrick

My life is full because I know I am loved.

S.R. Hadden

I was one hell of an engineer.

Lord Cotys	Excuse me, that was my moment.
Hercules	You're welcome.

Lord Cotys

Kingdoms are won by armies, but empires are built with alliances.

Bob Champion	I'm gonna win the grand national on this horse
Bob Champion	I'm gonna win the grand national on this horse.

Kingsley Bedford	We all have a crash of some sort awaiting us.
Jim Caldwell	Yeh. I put pieces together all the time, but they all fall apart.

Winston Smith	Does Big Brother exist?
O'Brien	Of course.
Winston Smith	The same way as me?
O'Brien	You do not exist.

Winston Smith

We are the dead.

Winston Smith

Everything fades into mist. The past is erased, the eraser forgotten. The lie becomes truth, and then becomes a lie again.

Winston Smith	I want you.
Julia	I want you, too.

Winston Smith

If there is hope, it lies in the proles. If they could become conscious of their own strength, they would have no need to conspire. History does not matter to them.

Winston Smith

Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death, thoughtcrime is death. I have committed, even before setting pen to paper, the essential crime that contains all others in itself.

Prof. Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm	In medieval stories, there is often a young knight who is inexperienced, but pure of heart.
Agent John Myers	Oh, come on. I am not pure of heart.
Abe Sapien	Yes, you are.

Prof. Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm

What is it that makes a man a man? Is it his origins — the way things start? Or is it something else, something harder to describe?

Jimmy Booth	The second way out, I need you guy's help, and that's under.
Billy Hayes	You mean tunnel? Are you serious?
Max	This is Shagmahr prison, not Stalag 17.
Jimmy Booth	Well that's where you're wrong fuckface, 'cause it's already built!

Max	The best thing to do is to get your ass out of here. Best way that you can.
Billy Hayes	Yeah, but how?
Max	Catch the midnight express.
Billy Hayes	What's that?
Max	Well, it's not a train. It's a prison word for... escape. But it doesn't stop around here.
Max	Well, it's not a train. It's a prison word for escape. But it doesn't stop around here.

Jellon Lamb

I came to this forsaken land and the God in me just evaporated.

Indiana Jones	Why don't you stick around, Junior?
Mutt Williams	[chuckles] I don't know. Why didn't you, Dad?
Mutt Williams	I don't know. Why didn't you, Dad?
Professor Oxley	Dad! [gives Indy a questioning look] Dad?
Professor Oxley	Dad! Dad?
Indiana Jones	Somewhere your grandpa is laughing.

Erich	Lawyers?
Max	Oh, yeah. There's no straight lawyers in Turkey. They're all bent. Bent as hairpins.

Jellon Lamb

(singing) Oh, Danny boy, the flies, the flies are crawling.

John Merrick

I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I ... am ... a ... man!

Narrator

Grace paused. And while she did, the clouds scattered and let the moonlight through and Dogville underwent another of those little changes of light. It was if the light, previously so merciful and faint, finally refused to cover up for the town any longer.

Mr. Ollivander	He's after you, Mr. Potter. You really don't stand a chance.
Harry Potter	I suppose I'll have to kill him before he finds me, then.

Victor Foss

We are fitting you for a barrel right now, sir.

Prof. Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm

In the absence of light, darkness prevails. There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back.

John Merrick	Doctor, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time.
Dr. Frederick Treves	Yes, what is that?
John Merrick	Can you...cure me?
Dr. Frederick Treves	No, I'm afraid not.
John Merrick	I thought as much....

John Merrick

Hello. My name is John Merrick.

Montrose	(To Cunningham)" "One must never underestimate the healing power of hatred."
Montrose	[to Cunningham] One must never underestimate the healing power of hatred.

Mutt Williams	What are they? Spacemen?
Professor Oxley	Inter-dimensional beings as a point of fact.
Indiana Jones	Welcome back, Ox.

John Merrick	It's just that I-I'm not used to being treated so well by a beautiful woman... (said after John cries)
John Merrick	It's just that I-I'm not used to being treated so well by a beautiful woman... [after John cries]

Adam Sutler	To fail is to invite doubt into everything we believe; everything that we have fought for. Doubt will plunge this country back into chaos and I will not let that happen
Adam Sutler	To fail is to invite doubt into everything we believe; everything that we have fought for. Doubt will plunge this country back into chaos and I will not let that happen.
Adam Sutler	England prevails
Adam Sutler	England prevails.

Horned King

No! You'll not have me! My power cannot die! Curse you! No! GAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

Kane	Brett "Jonesy... here Jonesy"
Brett	Jonesy... here Jonesy.

Hazel

Rabbits will always need tricks!

Hazel

Is it dangerous?

Hazel	We help you.
Kehaar	Piss off!

Old Man

[voice over] When this world was still young, long before man or beast roamed these lands, there was a war in the heavens. Immortals, once thoughts incapable of death, discovered they had the power to kill one another. Lost in this war was a weapon of unimaginable power, the Epirus bow. The victors declared themselves Gods, while the vanquished were renamed Titans and forever imprisoned within the bowels of Mount Tartarus. Eons passed, mankind flourished and the great war receded from memory. But the evil that once was has reemerged.

John Merrick	People are frightened by what they don't understand
John Merrick	People are frightened by what they don't understand.

Aragorn

And who are they going to trust? A fat innkeeper who only remembers his name because people shout it at him all day?

S.R. Hadden	[over video feed from Mir space station] I wanna show you something. [shows satellite feed to Ellie] Hokkaido Island.
Ellie Arroway	The systems integration site.
S.R. Hadden	Look closer. [zooms satellite feed to reveal second machine] First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price? Only, this one can be kept secret. Controlled by Americans, built by the Japanese subcontractors. Who, also, happen to be, recently acquired, wholly-owned subsidiaries...
Ellie Arroway	[speaks with Hadden] ... of Hadden industries.
S.R. Hadden	They still want an American to go, Doctor. Wanna take a ride?

S.R. Hadden

[to Arroway in the tone of Hannibal Lecter] Clever girl.

Indiana Jones	For God's sake man, go get help!
Professor Oxley	Help.
Indiana Jones	HELP!
Professor Oxley	HELP!
Indiana Jones	HELP! Go!

Old Man Peanut	Absolutely brilliant.Should have got an award!
Old Man Peanut	Absolutely brilliant. Should have got an award!

Control

There's a mole right at the top of British Intelligence. He's been there for years... and all I require from you is one codename...

Professor Oxley	...seems weÂ´ve reached an age when life stops giving you things and started taking them away
Professor Oxley	...seems we've reached an age when life stops giving you things and started taking them away.
Dean Charles Stanforth	...seems we've reached an age when life stops giving you things and started taking them away.

John Merrick

I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!

Harry Potter	What do you know about the Deathly Hallows?
Mr. Ollivander	It is rumored there are three. The elder wand, the cloak of invisibility, to hide you from your enemies, and the resurrection stone, to bring back loved ones from the dead. Togheter, they make one the master of death.
Mr. Ollivander	But few truty believe that such objects exists.
Harry Potter	Do you? Do you believe they exist sir?
Mr. Ollivander	Well... I see no reason to put stock into an old wives' tale.
Harry Potter	You're lying! You know one exists. You told him about it. Yout told him about the elder wand and where he could go looking for it.
Mr. Ollivander	He tortured me. Besides... I only conveyed rumors.
Mr. Ollivander	There's... There's no telling wheter he will find it.
Harry Potter	He has founded it, sir. We'll let you rest.
Mr. Ollivander	He's after you, Mr. Potter. If it's true, what you say, and he has the elder wand, I'm afraid, you really don't stand a chance.
Harry Potter	Well, I suppose I'll have to kill him, before he finds me, then.

Horned King

Get up you fools! Kill!

Professor Oxley	the bad guys still cant shoot straight
Professor Oxley	The bad guys still can't shoot straight.

Pinkie Brown	What's your name?
Rose	[clears throat] Rose.
Phil Corkery	Your like me, old fashioned. You're the kind of girl I like.

Mr. Ollivander

He's after you, Mr. Potter. And you really don't stand a chance.

Arthur Seldom	the butterfly that flutters it's wings and causes a hurricane on the other side of the world..
Arthur Seldom	The butterfly that flutters it's wings and causes a hurricane on the other side of the world.

Professor Oxley

Three times it drops.

Professor Oxley	Henry.... Jones... Jr.
Professor Oxley	Henry Jones Jr.

Quentin Crisp

Persistence is your greatest weapon. It is in the nature of barriers that they fall. Do not seek to become like your opponents. You have the burden and the great joy of being outsiders. Every day you live as a kind of triumph. This you should cling onto. You should make no effort to try and join society. Stay right where you are. Give your name and serial number and wait for society to form itself around you. Because it will most certainly will. Neither look forward where there is doubt nor backward where this is regret. Look inward and ask not if there is anything outside that you want but whether there is anything inside that you have not yet unpacked.

Narrator

He still had enough perfume left to enslave the whole world if he so chose. He could walk to Versailles and have the king kiss his feet. He could write the pope a perfumed letter and reveal himself as the new Messiah. He could do all this, and more, if he wanted to. He possessed a power stronger than the power of money, or terror, or death - the invincible power to command the love of man kind. There was only one thing the perfume could not do. It could not turn him into a person who could love and be loved like everyone else. So, to hell with it he thought. To hell with the world. With the perfume. With himself.

John Merrick

I am not an animal! I am a human being. I am a man.