John Hurt

John Vincent Hurt
Biographical information
Birth name	John Vincent Hurt
Born	22 January, 1940 Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England, UK
Died	25 January, 2017
Nationality	British
Gender	Male
Height	5'9"
Career
In Harry Potter	Garrick Ollivander
Other roles	John Merrick Winston Smith
Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor nomination: Midnight Express, 1978 Best Actor nomination: The Elephant Man, 1980)

John Hurt, born John Vincent Hurt, (22 January, 1940- 25 January, 2017) was a British character actor and Academy Award-nominee who portrayed Mr Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and returned to the same role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He was originally set to appear in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but the character was ultimately cut from that film.

At the age of 9, he decided to become an actor. After a stint in art school, Hurt returned his focus to acting as a member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He transitioned from stage to television—a well-received performance in The Naked Civil Servant landed him the memorable role of Caligula in I, Claudius and began his trend of playing unusual or morally ambiguous characters.

For fans of science fiction/fantasy films, Hurt is best known as the unfortunate first victim of the titular monster in Alien and as Winston Smith in the 1984 adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. He had been heard on television as the voice of the dragon on the BBC Wales TV series Merlin. In the 2005 film, V for Vendetta, he portrayed High Chancellor Adam Sutler, the film’s central antagonist. In 2013, he appeared as the hidden incarnation of The Doctor, called The War Doctor, most notably in the fiftieth anniversary episode along with David Tennant and Matt Smith.

In addition to his Sci-Fi/Fantasy work, Hurt has also taken part in projects aimed at children and families. He starred as Hazel in the 1978 movie, Watership Down, voiced General Woundwort in the 1999-2001 TV series of the same name, and starred as Snitter in the 1982 movie, The Plague Dogs; all three of which are adapted from two novels of the same names by Richard Adams. Hurt also narrated the 2000 Disney movie, The Tigger Movie, based on A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories. In 2015, he voiced the character of Sailor John in the Thomas & Friends special, Sodor’s Legend Of the Lost Treasure, as part of the franchise’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

Filmography

• A Man for All Seasons (1966)
• The Naked Civil Servant (1975) (TV)
• I, Claudius (1977) (miniseries)
• Watership Down (1978) (voice)
• Midnight Express (1978)
• The Lord of the Rings (1978) (voice)
• Alien (1979)
• The Elephant Man (1980)
• Heaven's Gate (1980)
• History of the World: Part I (1981)
• Night Crossing (1981)
• The Plague Dogs (1982) (voice)
• Partners (1982)
• The Osterman Weekend (1983)
• King Lear (1984) (TV)
• The Hit (1984)
• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
• Champions (1984)
• The Black Cauldron (1985) (voice)
• Aria (1986)
• White Mischief (1987)
• Spaceballs (1987)
• The Jim Henson Hour (1989) (TV series)
• Scandal (1989)
• Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
• The Field (1990)
• King Ralph (1991)
• Six Characters in Search of an Author (1992) (TV)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
• Thumbelina (1994)
• Felidae (1994) (English dub)
• Second Best (1994)
• Rob Roy (1995)
• Dead Man (1995)
• Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
• Contact (1997)
• All the Little Animals (1998)
• The Climb (1998)
• Watership Down (1999-2000) (TV, voice)
• The Tigger Movie (2000) (voice)
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
• Crime and Punishment (2002)
• Owning Mahowny (2003)
• Dogville (2003) (voice)
• The Alan Clark Diaries (2004)
• Hellboy (2004)
• Pride (2004) (TV) (voice)
• Valiant (2005) (voice)
• Manderlay (2005) (TV)
• The Proposition (2005)
• The Skeleton Key (2005)
• Shooting Dogs (2005)
• BBC Merlin (2005-2012) (voice) (TV) as Kilgharrah aka. The Great Dragon
• V for Vendetta (2006)
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
• The Oxford Murders (2007)
• Outlander (2007)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
• Ultramarines (2010)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010 - 2011)
• Melancholia (2011)
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
• Immortals (2011)
• Doctor Who (2013) (TV)
• Hercules (2014)
• Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure (2015)
• Jackie (2016)

Trivia

• Hurt, Jamie Campbell Bower, Rob Rackstraw and Eddie Redmayne have appeared in the same Thomas and Friends special.
• Hurt, David Tennant and David Bradley have appeared as the Doctor on Doctor Who. Roger Lloyd-Pack, Timothy Bateson and Michael Gambon have also made appearances on the show.

External links

• John Hurt at the Internet Movie Database
• John Hurt on Wikipedia