Sir John Vincent Hurt was born Jan. 22, 1940. At the age of 22, the actor had acquired his first role in the film The Wild and the Willing (1962) and by age 26, Hurt played his first major role in A Man for All Seasons (1966). Hurt’s acting career continued to expand for six decades.
Hurt received two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award and four BAFTA Awards. He received the Will Award presented by the Shakespeare Theater Company in 2014. Hurt was knighted in the 2015 New Year’s Honours for services to drama. He received the accolade from Queen Elizabeth II in July 2015. Hurt died Jan. 25, 2017 after a two year battle with cancer. Before he died, Hurt was working on several films, one of which, That Good Night, was completed and is set to be released in 2017.
John Hurt was known for his talent of shape-shifting. He is well known for being able to play a variety of different characters. Hurt has had parts in more than 129 films and had dozens of television roles. While there are too many great projects to name them all, here is a list of Hurt’s top ten most iconic roles.