“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Passing of John Hurt…

Posted on January 28, 2017 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

“`John Hurt was a prolific character actor, and for his efforts, was   a two-time Academy Award nominee. His work included roles in epic motion pictures, such as A Man For All Seasons, Midnight Express, The Elephant Man, Alien, and Heaven’s Gate. Hurt worked with the great directors, including Fred Zinnemann, John Huston, Sam Peckinpah, and even Mel Brooks.  JOHN HURT –>

“`The Brit import remained busy in movies and on television. He appeared in 100 screen productions, and 50 docudramas on both sides of the pond. Remarkably, Hurt kept working on productions every single year since his initial movie appearance in 1961. John even mocked his own demise in Alien during a disturbingly funny scene in Spaceballs. Blessed with a rich baritone speaking voice, Hurt did narration on Watership Down, The Lord of the Rings, The Tigger Movie and Dogville. He was due to appear with Ben Kingsley in Broken Dream, later this year.

“`More recently, in the Harry Potter films, Hurt played the wand-maker. And, he was perfectly cast in the lead in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Just this year, he portrayed a priest in the bio-pic Jackie, opposite Oscar nominee Natalie Portman, who played the widowed First Lady.

“`Other award-winning performances include BAFTA consideration for 10 Rillington Place, The Field, and the aforementioned, Alien and  The Elephant Man. He received the BAFTA and the Golden Globe for his role in Midnight Express. Ironically, Hurt starred in the Best British Film of the Year in 1984, based on George Orwell’s dystopian novel. It was entitled..  Well, I think you can figure this out!

“`In 2004, Hurt was made a  Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to Drama.  He attended an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, receiving the accolade from Queen Elizabeth II. Hurt was one of the British cultural icons chosen by artist Peter Blake to appear in his updated version of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover — to celebrate British cultural figures of his life that he most admired. Hurt received the Will Award presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company, along with Stacey Keach and Dame Diana Rigg.

“`Opened in 2016, The John Hurt Centre is an education and exhibition space located in  Cinema City, Norwich. He was a patron of the Proteus Syndrome Foundation in the United Kingdom and the United States. Proteus Syndrome is the condition Joseph Merrick, whom he played (renamed as John Merrick) in  The Elephant Man, is believed to have suffered from. Hurt was also a patron of Project Harar, a UK-based charity in Ethiopia, for children afflicted with facial disfigurements.

“`A stint at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art launched his long stage and screen career. The magnificent John Hurt was 77.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2017 at 2:05 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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