The entertainment world has lost another legend.
John Hurt, a veteran big screen star best known for his lead role in The Elephant Man, died on Friday night after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was 77 years old.
After TMZ shared the strong rumor late yesterday, this tragic piece of news was confirmed by Hurt’s very good friend, Richard E. Grant, on Twitter.
“So so sad to have lost such an extraordinary talent and friend. Sir John Hurt. R. I. P.,” wrote Grant.
Hurt was a two-time Academy Awards nominee whose career spanned six decades.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 and his Oscar nods were earned for for 1978’s Midnight Express; and for playing the title role of John Merrick in David Lynch’s e 1980 biopic, The Elephant Man.
But you may also recognize Hurt from his roles in the following films:
- Alien
- V for Vendetta
- Harry Potter
- Dr. Who
- 1984
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Snowpiercer
- Jackie
The beloved actor is survived by his wife of 12 years, Anwen Rees-Myer, along with two sons.
She spoke to The Daily Mail shortly after Hurt passed and told the newspaper of her late husband:
“John was the most sublime of actors and the most gentlemanly of gentlemen with the greatest of hearts and the most generosity of spirit. He touched all our lives with joy and magic and it will be a strange world without him.”
Hurt portrayed wand merchant Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter film franchise, giving author JK Rowling a chance to get to know him.
“So very sad to hear that the immensely talented and deeply beloved John Hurt has died. My thoughts are with his family and friends,” Rowling Tweeted several hours ago.
Hurt had filmed a trio of movies prior to his death.
Down the line, he will be seen in That Good Night, My Name Is Lenny and Darkest Hour, playing Neville Chamberlain.
In 2012, Hurt was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Speaking about his pancreatic cancer diagnosis to People Magazine in the summer of 2015, Hurt said the following:
“I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.”
It was believed that the cancer had gone away some time that fall, but all indications at the moment point to complications related to the disease as the cause of Hurt’s death.
“I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it,” he told The Radio Times later in life. “We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly.”
Hurt did the most he possibly could with his time in that chair, however.
May he rest in peace.
