Hurt, John

Hurt, John (Sir John Vincent Hurt), 1940–2017, English actor, b. Chesterfield, Derbyshire, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1962). Known for his sympathetic portrayal of unusual, often unappealing characters, he received a BAFTA Award for his role as a drug addict in a Turkish prison in Midnight Express (1978) and for that of the disfigured John Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980). His other well-known roles include that of Quentin Crisp in the British television film Naked Civil Servant (1975), Caligula in the BBC series I, Claudius (1977) and Mr. Ollivander in several Harry Potter films. On television (2001) and several times on stage he played the title character in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape. Hurt was knighted in 2015.

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