John Hurt

John Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, as the youngest of three children of Arnold Herbert Hurt, a mathematician and Anglican clergyman, and Phyllis Massey Hurt, an engineer and former actress. He attended Lincoln School and later studied art at Saint Martin’s School of Art and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in 1962 and his film debut in Young and Willing (1962). He gained recognition for his roles in A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Naked Civil Servant (1975), I, Claudius (1976), Midnight Express (1978), Alien (1979), The Elephant Man (1980), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), The Hit (1984), Scandal (1989), The Field (1990) and Rob Roy (1995). He received two Academy Award nominations, four BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performances. Hurt also had a prolific career as a voice actor, lending his distinctive voice to animated films such as Watership Down (1978), The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Black Cauldron (1985), The Plague Dogs (1982) and The Gruffalo’s Child (2011). He also narrated documentaries, audiobooks and commercials. He was known for his roles in popular franchises such as Harry Potter, where he played wandmaker Garrick Ollivander; Hellboy, where he played Professor Trevor Bruttenholm; Indiana Jones, where he played Professor Harold Oxley; Merlin, where he voiced the dragon Kilgharrah; and Doctor Who, where he played the War Doctor. Hurt was married four times and had two sons from his third marriage. He was also involved in several long-term relationships with Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot, who died in a horse riding accident in 1983; Sarah Owens, who left him in 2002; and Anwen Rees-Myers, whom he married in 2005. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015 but continued to work until his death on January 25, 2017 at the age of 77. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015 for his services to drama. He was widely regarded as one of Britain’s finest actors and one of the most distinctive voices in cinema.