| |
The death of John Hurt from cancer was announced today, bringing to the end the career of one of the most prolific and distinctive actors Britain has ever produced. With his hoarse but smooth voice, he brought a touch of class to anything he turned his talents to, be it stage, television or film. His first major role was in A Man for All Seasons, and he went on to make impressions in 10 Rillington Place, Mr Forbush and the Penguins, The Pied Piper and The Ghoul until his breakout role on TV in The Naked Civil Servant, superb as Quentin Crisp.
Caligula in the classic serial I, Claudius followed, and Hurt never looked back: Midnight Express, The Shout, Watership Down, Alien (with one of the most iconic death scenes in all of horror), The Elephant Man (heartbreaking in the title role), The Plague Dogs, Peckinpah's last The Osterman Weekend, The Hit, a great Winston in 1984, White Mischief, the best thing about Scandal, Jarmusch's Dead Man, Contact, The Proposition, V for Vendetta, both Hellboy movies, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Snowpiercer, as the missing Doctor in Doctor Who, Jackie and many more. A great body of work from a star who will be missed. |
 |
