John Hurt Dies At 77

Acclaimed British thespian of stage and screen John Hurt passed away this Friday in London. He was 77.

The two-time Academy Award nominated actor ("Midnight Express," "The Elephant Man") announced in June of 2015 he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

In a career spanning over six decades, the actor played heroes and villains in such films and television series as A Man for All Seasons, The Ghoul, I, Claudius, Watership Down, Alien, 1984, Dead Man, The Black Cauldron, Rob Roy, Harry Potter, Hellboy, Doctor Who, V For Vendetta, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Snowpiercer.

Hurt's first Oscar nomination came in 1979, for his supporting role as Max in Alan Parker's Midnight Express.

"I loved making Midnight Express," he said in 2014. "We were making commercial films then that really did have cracking scenes in them, as well as plenty to say, you know?"

The next time Hurt would be nominated for an Academy Award arrived in 1981 for his leading performance as John Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man.

"It never occurred to me it would take eight hours for them to apply the full thing — virtually a working day in itself. There were 16 different pieces to that mask," Hurt said of his extensive makeup process. "With all that makeup on, I couldn’t be sure what I was doing. I had to rely totally on [Lynch]."

Before his passing, Hurt finished filming Eric Styles' ("Dreaming of Joseph Lees") The Good Night, and Ron Scalpello's ("Offender") My Name Is Lenny. The actor was also attached to star in Joe Wright's upcoming drama Darkest Hour.

Born John Vincent Hurt on Jan. 22, 1940, in Chesterfield, England, Hurt studied art, earning an art teacher’s diploma. Disenchanted of his future occupation, Hurt moved to London, where he won an acting scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He studied there for two years, securing bit parts in TV shows.

"I wanted to act very early. I didn’t know how to become an actor, as such, nor did I know that it was possible to be a professional actor, but I first decided that I wanted to act when I was 9," he told The Guardian in 2000. "I was effused with a feeling of complete and total enjoyment, and I felt that’s where I should be."

In 1962, Hurt made his stage and film debut with Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger, and The Wild and the Willing, respectively, but it was in 1966 with his role as the duplicitous baron Richard Rich in the Oscar nominated film A Man for All Seasons that Hurt became more widely known in the U.S.

In 2012, Hurt was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, then was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2015.

Hurt his survived by his fourth wife Anwen Rees-Myers, and sons Alexander and Nicholas.

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