British actor John Hurt has died aged 77 from Pancreatic Cancer.
Hurt was a genuine A List thesp. He had more than 200 movie credits to his name in a screen career spread over six decades.
It was in 1979 that he became internationally known, in "Alien" when his character met a gory end as a parasitic alien burst through his chest. That scene has topped a number of polls down the years as the scariest moment in movie history. Some people even think it was his acting debut..!!
But he was well known to British audiences long before that. His first significant movie role was alongside Paul Schofield in "A Man For All Seasons". He starred as Caligula in the BBC drama "I Claudius", as the colourful Quentin Crisp in "The Naked Civil Servant" a particularly controversial part because he portrayed a man who was flamboyantly homosexual at a time when being gay was still a crime in Britain. Friends advised him not to take the role, saying that if he did he would never work again. They were wrong. He was Oscar Nominated for what many consider his best ever role, that of John Merrick in "The Elephant Man".
He seemed to specialise in playing the part of victim. As Timothy Evans in "10 Rillington Place", Winston Smith in "1984" and heroin addict Max in "Midnight Express".... all roles that he played with consummate skill and for which he gained a lot of praise.
He didn't take himself so seriously though that he considered himself above popular culture. He had roles in Dr Who, in children's TV (Merlin) and he voiced the part of Hazel in "Watership Down". He played the part of wand maker Ollivander in the Harry Potter movie franchise.
John Hurt loved to work. He loved to act. He loved the sheer doing of it and no matter what the role or part he always made it look as if the part was made for him, rather than him working his butt off to make himself fit the part.
There is a gaping hole in the British acting canon today. His will be big shoes for somebody to fill and we will miss him for the parts he played, the pleasure he gave and for the sheer volume, not to mention quality, of his output.
Rest in peace, John Hurt.