Among a sea of memorials to John Hurt, I am but another wholly taken in by his magnetism, and his ability to transcend the physical — to simply become another person. Whether portraying one gender or another made no difference to Hurt and of his many affecting roles, his physicality was often masked by wigs or make-up, sometimes hampered by effects, but there was no missing exactly who was underneath. For all who first discovered the incredible trio of his late 70s to 1980 performances (Midnight Express, Alien, The Elephant Man), he immediately cemented a spot atop our personal lists and a hunger for more. From the War Doctor to the Wand Maker, with each role, and every line that marked his impossibly morphing countenance, he only became more beautiful … more watchable. Hurt’s gift to play everything — high comedy, drama, thriller, fiends and beloved friends — each character left its mark forever etched across that magical face, and in our hearts and minds.
“… I played a lot of girls, but that’s beside the point; the fact is that I was pretending to be somebody else”.
A sampling of John Hurt’s ever-changing visage:
Young and Willing aka The Wild and the Willing, 1962
A Man for All Seasons, 1966
Hurt at King’s Head Theater, 1970s
Photo by Colin O’Brien
10 Rillington Place, 1971, BAFTA nominated
The Naked Civil Servant, 1971, won British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
I, Claudius, 1976
Midnight Express, 1978, BAFTA Best Actor, Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award nominated
Alien, 1979, BAFTA nominated
The Elephant Man, 1980, BAFTA Best Actor, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominated
History of the World Part 1, 1981
The Osterman Weekend, 1983
Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1984, Evening Standard British Film Award Best Actor
Spaceballs, 1987
The Field, 1990, BAFTA nominated
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, 1993
Love and Death on Long Island, 1997, British Independent Film Best Actor nominated
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone, 2001
Hellboy, 2004
The Proposition, 2005, Australian Film Institute Award Best Supporting Actor nominated
V for Vendetta, 2005
An Englishman in New York, 2009, Berlin International Film Festival Teddy Award, British Academy Television Award Best Actor nominated
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2, 2010 & 2011
Melancholia, 2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011
Only Lovers Left Alive, 2013
Snowpiercer, 2013
Doctor Who, 2013
The Last Panthers, 2015
Jackie, 2016
That Good Night, to be released 2017
Damascus Cover, to be released 2017
My Name Is Lenny, to be released 2017
The Absinthe Drinkers, unreleased
