Sir John Hurt's Biography

Sir John Hurt was born in Derbyshire, England on 22 January 1940.

John Hurt says of his school days at Lincoln School: "My parents didn't allow me to play with boys they considered to be common - they were the only ones I really liked!"

Hurt was an art student at St Martin's School before winning a scholarship to RADA.

Although John Hurt followed many of his contemporaries into the theatre appearing in plays like Wesker's Chips with Everything and Osborne's Inadmissable Evidence, it was in television that he really made his name.

John Hurt had appeared in films like A Man For All Seasons (1966) and as Timothy Evans in 10 Rillington Place (1970), but became famous with his television performance in the same year as Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant.

He was excellent as Crisp and also in his role as Caligula in the long-running television series of I Claudius (1976).

Notable screen appearances include Scandal and 1994, but his performances that won BAFTA awards and Oscar Nominations - Midnight Express and The Elephant Man - were stunning.

John Hurt was also nominated for a BAFTA for his role in Alien.

Hurt keeps busy with a few projects a year and tends to mix the mainstream with the fringe. Amongst his recent roles of note was his television appearances as Tory maverick, Alan Clark.

John Hurt is apparently a chain-smoker and a bit of a drinker. When he married his third wife he intended going on the wagon and drank mineral water at the wedding, but shortly afterwards was given a drink driving ban after crashing his car.

Recent John Hurt credits have included Captain Correlli's Mandolin and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, V For Vendetta, The Proposition and Shooting Dogs.

In 2008, John Hurt played Abner Ravenwood in the Indiana Jones film The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

He also played Warren Christopher in the HBO drama Recount.

In April 2008, the BBC reported that John Hurt was to reprise his role as Quentin Crisp in a sequel to The Naked Civil Servant, entitled An Englishman in New York.

In May 2010, John Hurt was nominated for a Bafta for the role of Quentin Crisp in An Englishman in New York. He had won the Bafta for playing Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant in 1976.

In October 2009, it was revealed that John Hurt was to be made a fellow of the British Film Institute (BFI) at a new awards ceremony.

In the New Year's Honours list for 2015, John Hurt received a knighthood for his services to drama.

In July 2016 it was reported that Sir John Hurt had pulled out of Sir Kenneth Branagh's production of The Entertainer following doctors' advice despite being "much improved and on the road to a full recovery" after being in hospital recently with an intestinal complaint.

On 25 January 2017, Sir John Hurt died aged 77, having recently starred as Father Richard McSorley in Jackie.

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