Sir John Hurt, CBE, was an English actor, whose career spanned for more than 50 years. For Disney, he voiced the Horned King in The Black Cauldron, voiced Mr. Narrator in The Tigger Movie, played Peter Strezylk in Night Crossing, and voiced Felix in Valiant.
Many of his most recognized roles include Richard Rich in A Man for All Seasons, Caligula in I, Claudius, Max in Midnight Express, Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man, Prof. Boom in Hellboy media, Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter film series, Sailor John in Thomas and Friends: Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure and Harold Oxley in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
He is also famous for his role as Kane in Alien, being the first person on film to be killed by the Xenomorph, via a Chestburster. His image would be reused years later in one of the film's many sequels Alien: Romulus.
He also played the War Doctor, a canonical incarnation of the Doctor in the popular long-running BBC Sci-Fi series, Doctor Who, for the series' 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor; though it was the only incarnation not to be parodied in The Muppets Take the 02. He reprised his role as the War Doctor for Big Finish Productions from 2015 until 2017 in a series of audio adventures titled Doctor Who: The War Doctor, with the last set of installments released posthumously little under a month after his death. Additionally, he voiced Hazel in the 1978 animated film Watership Down and General Woundwort in the animated series version.
He passed away 3 days after his 77th birthday.
Filmography[]
- Horned King in The Black Cauldron
- Narrator in The Tigger Movie
- Peter Strezylk in Night Crossing
- Felix in Valiant
Roles[]
Trivia[]
- Hurt was at one point considered for the role of Jafar in Aladdin, along with several other actors that were also considered. But the role was eventually given to Jonathan Freeman.[1]
