John Hurt, a British actor who was famous for roles in films such as Alien, V for Vendetta and The Elephant Man, has died at the age of 77.
Charles McDonald, his agent, confirmed his death to the Press Association, The Telegraph reported.
In 2015, the actor revealed that he was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, and that he was “continuing to focus on my professional commitments.”
Four months later, Hurt said he had his final scan for the cancer and that “it’s all gone brilliantly,” The Guardian reported.
READ MORE: Actor John Hurt battling pancreatic cancer
Hurt was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England on Jan. 22, 1940.
His parents didn’t allow him to go to the movies as a child, though he did attend the theatre and act in plays early on his life, according to Biography.com.
Initially encouraged by his parents to study painting, he studied at Grimsby Art School and Central Saint Martin’s College before pursuing an acting career, starting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1962.
His big break as a screen actor came in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons. He subsequently starred in the 1978 crime drama Midnight Express, a film for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did, however, win a Golden Globe for the role.
Hurt would play one of his most recognizable roles the following year, in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Alien. In that film he played Kane, a crew member aboard a spaceship who is attacked by a parasite that plants an alien in his chest.
The alien subsequently bursts out of his chest in one of the most memorable scenes in sci-fi film history.
Hurt would play another Oscar-calibre role in 1980, when he starred in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man as Joseph Merrick, a disfigured man who comes under the care of a London surgeon.
READ MORE: Derek Jacobi replaces ailing John Hurt in Montreal-shot ‘The History of Love’
Hurt continued to act in popular films in recent years. He starred in the Harry Potter series as Mr. Ollivander, who worked at the shop where Harry received his first magic wand in Diagon Alley.
He also starred in 2004’s Hellboy as a kindly occult expert who becomes a father figure to a demon who travels to Earth through a portal in the Second World War.
Hurt later appeared in 2006’s V for Vendetta as Chancellor Adam Sutler, the dictator of a tyrannical future Britain.
In 2012 he a BAFTA Film Award, the equivalent of Britain’s Oscars, for “Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.”
Many celebrities paid tribute to Hurt on social media.
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