John Hurt (born John Vincent Hurt on 22 January, 1940) is a legendary British character actor and Academy Award-nominee who portrayed Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and will return to the same role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. At the age of 9, he decided to become an actor. After a stint in art school, Hurt returned his focus to acting as a member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He transitioned from stage to television—a well-received performance in The Naked Civil Servant landed him the memorable role of Caligula in I, Claudius and began his trend of playing unusual or morally ambiguous characters.
For fans of science fiction/fantasy films, Hurt is best known as the unfortunate first victim of the titular monster in Alien and as Winston Smith in the 1984 adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Most recently, he has been heard on television as the voice of the dragon on the BBC Wales TV series Merlin.
Filmography
- A Man for All Seasons (1966)
- The Naked Civil Servant (1975) (TV)
- I, Claudius (1977) (miniseries)
- Watership Down (1978) (voice)
- Midnight Express (1978)
- The Lord of the Rings (1978) (voice)
- Alien (1979)
- The Elephant Man (1980)
- Heaven's Gate (1980)
- History of the World: Part I (1981)
- Night Crossing (1981)
- The Plague Dogs (1982) (voice)
- Partners (1982)
- The Osterman Weekend (1983)
- King Lear (1984) (TV)
- The Hit (1984)
- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
- Champions (1984)
- The Black Cauldron (1985) (voice)
- Aria (1986)
- White Mischief (1987)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- The Jim Henson Hour (1989) (TV series)
- Scandal (1989)
- Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
- The Field (1990)
- King Ralph (1991)
- Six Characters in Search of an Author (1992) (TV)
- Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
- Thumbelina (1994)
- Second Best (1994)
- Rob Roy (1995)
- Dead Man (1995)
- Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
- Contact (1997)
- All the Little Animals (1998)
- The Climb (1998)
- The Tigger Movie (2000) (voice)
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (2001)
- Crime and Punishment (2002)
- Owning Mahowny (2003)
- Dogville (2003) (voice)
- The Alan Clark Diaries (2004)
- Hellboy (2004)
- Pride (2004) (TV) (voice)
- Valiant (2005) (voice)
- Manderlay (2005) (TV)
- The Proposition (2005)
- The Skeleton Key (2005)
- Shooting Dogs (2005)
- Merlin (2005-2011) (voice) (TV)
- V for Vendetta (2006)
- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
- The Oxford Murders (2007)
- Outlander (2007)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010 - 2011)
External links
John Hurt at the Internet Movie Database- John Hurt on Wikipedia