The first time I ever encountered John Hurt, I was a five year old, quivering behind the settee in my parents' friends' lounge room in 1980/81 as they watched Alien on a video cassette. I wasn't supposed to be watching it...I'd snuck in. The scene, which came to define the franchise and redefine Sci Fi films with their grimy, realistic truckers-in-space setting, will forever be indelibly scored in my memory banks. For many, many years...well, at least until 1986 when Aliens came out and I was 10 years old...I had no idea that Alien wasn't real. I remember seeing posters of it in the video store - IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM - and not putting two and two together. However, it is cinematic glory now, never to be forgotten, even parodied here in SPACEBALLS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxlbLVcpqI
Yet John Hurt didn't stop there. He was Winston Smith in 1984's film of George Orwell's NINETY RIGHTY-FOUR. Here, he was a casualty of Doublespeak and Thoughtcrime. The totalitarian regime supreme; the terror of Room 101. There is no sadder moment in literature and film, where Winston etches 2 + 2 = 5 in to the dust...evidence that the regime has quashed his soul, his essence...and garnered his total obedience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjDg3lQGmRs
Of course there was also The Elephant Man. I AM NOT AN ANIMAL!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF19L00KbAI
In later years, John leant films a degree of gravitas. Appearing in films such as Harry Potter as Mr Olivander in the wand shop (
), Hellboy, Capt Corelli's Mandolin, V For Vendetta, Indiana Jones 4, Snowpiercer and Outlander.
However, it was 2013's star turn in Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary special event as the War Doctor that later day pop culturalists came across John Hurt. Burdened by the guilt the Doctor had carried forth since his return as the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), the War Doctor was the Doctor incarnation needed to end the Gallifrey / Dalek War. It was his decision to chose their fate, and he committed the act that would weigh him down. It was the nice twist along with the 10th and 11th Doctors (David Tennant and Matt Smith) and Clara Oswald that they are able to change events. That the role of the curmudgeonly doomsday Doctor (originally written for Eccleston) was taken and performed with such relish by Hurt, it really made the 'character' fizz and develop. It turned serious subject matter in to something fun and adventurous and a Doctor Who event not to be missed nor forgotten.
So it was with much sadness that I learned of John Hurt's passing at the age of 77. When many actors spend their life looking for the one role that defines them, or the public will recall, John Hurt's entire career will be littered with magnificent performances. His voice, presence and skill were second to none. In small or large parts, he always stole the scene. The word legend gets thrown around way, way too much, however, John Hurt was a true legend in the acting game. I for one, shall miss him.
