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Sir John Vincent Hurt CBE (January 22, 1940 – January 25, 2017) was an Academy Award-nominated English actor who played Kane in the 1979 film Alien, replacing Jon Finch. He also narrated the 2002 documentary The Alien Saga. Other notable films Hurt appeared in include The Elephant Man (1980), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Hellboy (2004), An Englishman in New York (2009), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and several films in the Harry Potter series. Owing to his distinctive rich voice, he also enjoyed a successful voice acting career in films and television.

Hurt was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Actor for The Elephant Man, Best Supporting Actor for Midnight Express), and won a Golden Globe and four BAFTAs. His demise in Alien has consistently been named as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.[1] For his role in the film, he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, Hurt was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his "services to drama".

Hurt passed away on January 25, 2017 from pancreatic cancer, three days after his 77th birthday.

Awards and Nominations[]

Year Film Notes
1979 Alien Nominated — BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor

Filmography[]

Year Title Notes
1962 The Wild and the Willing
1964 This Is My Street
1966 A Man for All Seasons
1967 The Sailor from Gibraltar
1969 In Search of Gregory
Sinful Davey
Before Winter Comes
1971 Mr. Forbush and the Penguins
10 Rillington Place
1972 The Pied Piper
1974 Little Malcolm
1975 The Ghoul
La Linea del Fiume
1977 East of Elephant Rock
Three Dangerous Ladies
The Disappearance
1978 Watership Down
The Shout
Midnight Express
The Lord of the Rings
1979 Alien
1980 The Elephant Man
Heaven's Gate With William H. Burton, Jr. and Brad Dourif
1981 Night Crossing
History of the World, Part I
1982 Partners With James Remar
The Plague Dogs With Percy Edwards
1983 The Osterman Weekend
1984 Champions
Success Is the Best Revenge
The Hit
Nineteen Eighty-Four
1985 After Darkness
The Black Cauldron
1986 Jake Speed
1987 The Hunting of the Snark
Rocinante
From the Hip
Spaceballs
Aria
Vincent
White Mischief With Charles Dance
1988 The Bengali Night
1989 Scandal With Ralph Brown and Leon Herbert
Little Sweetheart
1990 Romeo-Juliet
Windprints
The Field
Frankenstein Unbound With Nick Gillard
1991 I Dreamt I Woke Up
King Ralph
1992 Lapse of Memory
1993 Kölcsönkapott idő
L'Oeil qui Ment
Monolith With John Cann, Bill Paxton and David St. James
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
1994 Rabbit Ears: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Thumbelina
Second Best
1995 Two Nudes Bathing
Saigon Baby
Rob Roy With Nick Gillard and Trevor Steedman
Dead Man With Lance Henriksen and Michael Wincott
Wild Bill With Michael Papajohn and James Remar
1997 Tender Loving Care
Love and Death on Long Island With Danny Webb
Contact With Jake Busey, David St. James and Tom Skerritt
Bandyta With Pete Postlethwaite
1998 The Commissioner
Night Train
All the Little Animals
1999 The Climb
New Blood
A Monkey's Tale
If... Dog... Rabbit...
You're Dead...
2000 The Tigger Movie With Peter Cullen
Lost Souls With Winona Ryder
2001 Tabloid
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2002 Crime and Punishment With Ron Perlman
The Alien Saga
Miranda
2003 Owning Mahowny
Meeting Che Guevera & the Man from Maybury Hill
Dogville
2004 Hellboy With Pavel Bezdek, Corey Johnson, Ron Perlman and Brian Steele
Pride
2005 Short Order
Valiant
The Proposition With Guy Pearce
Shooting Dogs
Manderlay With Clive Curtis and Danny Glover
The Skeleton Key
2006 V for Vendetta With Joseph Rye
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
2007 Boxes
2008 Outlander With Ron Perlman
The Oxford Murders With Dominique Pinon
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Hellboy II: The Golden Army With Ron Perlman and Brian Steele
Lecture 21
2009 The Limits of Control
New York, I Love You
44 Inch Chest
2010 Lou
Ultramarines: The Movie
Brighton Rock With Phil Davis and Sean Harris
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 With C. C. Smiff and Ian Whyte
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 With Clive Curtis and C. C. Smiff
In Love with Alma Cogan
Melancholia
Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy
Immortals
2012 Jayne Mansfield's Car
Sightseers Uncredited
2013 Charlie Countryman
Only Lovers Left Alive
Snowpiercer With Ewen Bremner
More Than Honey
Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict
2014 Hercules With Christopher Fairbank, Vladimir "Furdo" Furdik and Ian Whyte
2015 The Absinthe Drinkers
2016 Jackie

Documentary Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Over the course of his career, Hurt has worked with at least one cast member from every film in the combined Alien, Predator and Alien vs. Predator franchises; he is the only cast member from the series to achieve this feat.
  • Hurt is the only actor from Alien not to reprise his role in Alien: Isolation or its DLC in any form; Ash actor Ian Holm lent his likeness to the game but not his voice, which was instead provided by Dave B. Mitchell.

External Links[]

References[]

  1. Sources that refer to the final scene of Hurt's character in Alien being consistently named as one of the most memorable in cinematic history include:
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