Acting legend John Hurt — best known for his roles in “The Elephant Man,” “Alien” and the “Harry Potter” series — died on Friday after a battle with cancer.
The 77-year-old British screen star is survived by his wife of 12 years, movie producer Anwen Rees-Myers.
While a cause of death was not immediately given, Hurt had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, which he first revealed having in June 2015.
In his very last interview before his death, Hurt unabashedly contemplated his demise as he struggled fighting the disease.
“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,” Hurt told the UK’s Radio Times in August 2015.
“We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly,” he said. “But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic.”
Throughout his storied acting career — which spanned more than six decades — Hurt won several BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe and was twice nominated for an Oscar.
His first Academy Award nomination was for Best Supporting Actor in 1978 for his role as a drug addict in “Midnight Express,” and the second was for Best Actor in 1981 for “The Elephant Man.”
The latter is considered by some to be the best performance of Hurt’s career. The versatile Brit also received critical acclaim for his lead role in the dystopian drama, “1984.”
For more than sixty years, Hurt captivated movie and television fans with his distinct voice and chameleon-like performances — many of which he was unrecognizable for.
In Elephant Man, director David Lynch had Hurt spend seven to eight hours in the makeup chair — applying pounds and pounds of latex to his face and body daily as he submerged himself into the role of Joseph Merrick.
In “V for Vendetta,” he played a crazed British dictator who often shouted and threw fits to get what he wanted.
But while Hurt was known to transform into his characters, it was his very own, melancholic attitude and resonant speaking tone that helped win him hearts over the years — as well as his tendency to die on screen.
“I think I’ve got the record,” Hurt once said in an interview with The Talks. “It got to a point where my children wouldn’t ask me if I died, but rather how do you die?”
Hurt has died so many times, in fact, there’s even a famous video on Youtube that shows him biting the dust in at least 40 films. One of his most memorable deaths came in 1979 when he played Kane in Ridley Scott’s “Alien.”
“That’s certainly one of the most unusual!” Hurt said of the infamous “chestburster” scene. “Trying to produce the death gurgle is never easy.”
In addition to his earlier roles, the acting legend also saw success towards the end of his career — landing spots in big-name movies such as “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and the Harry Potter saga, in which he played wand master Mr. Ollivander.
He more recently starred as a priest in the Oscar nominated movie, “Jackie,” and was set to star in a film about Winston Churchill called “Darkest Hour,” according to IMDB.
Scores of people took to social media on Friday night to pay their respects to the veteran.
“It was terribly sad today to learn of John Hurt’s passing. He was a truly magnificent talent,” tweeted Mel Brooks, who was executive producer of “The Elephant Man.”
“John Hurt was one of the most powerful, giving, and effortlessly real actors I’ve ever worked with. Remarkable human being. U will be missed,” added actor Chris Evans, who starred alongside him in the 2013 film “Snowpiercer.”
With Post Wires