Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot (1967–1983; her death)
Sarah Owens (1995–2002)
Children
2
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation and described as having the "most distinctive voice in Britain",[1][2] he was referred to byDavid Lynch as "simply the greatest actor in the world".[3][4] In acareer spanning more than five decades, he received numerous accolades, including fourBAFTAs and aGolden Globe in addition to nominations for twoAcademy Awards. He wasknighted in 2015 for his services to drama.
John Vincent Hurt was born on 22 January 1940, inChesterfield, Derbyshire,[8][9] the son of Arnould Herbert Hurt (1904–1999) and Phyllis (née Massey; 1907–1975). His father had been a mathematician, but became aChurch of England clergyman and served asvicar ofHoly Trinity Church inShirebrook, Derbyshire; his mother, a one-time actress, became "the first female draughtsman" atMetropolitan-Vickers in Manchester.[10][11][12] In 1937, Hurt's father moved his family to Derbyshire, where he became Perpetual Curate of Holy Trinity Church. When Hurt was five, his father became the vicar of St Stephen's Church inWoodville, Derbyshire, and remained there until 1953.[13]
At the age of eight, Hurt was sent to the AnglicanSt Michael's Preparatory School inOtford, Kent,[14] where he eventually developed his passion for acting. He decided he wanted to become an actor after his first role as a girl in a school production ofThe Blue Bird byMaurice Maeterlinck.[15] Hurt stated that a senior master at the school would abuse him and others by removing his two false front teeth and putting his tongue in the boys' mouths, as well as rubbing their faces with his stubble, and that the experience affected him hugely.[16] Hurt, aged 12, became a boarder atLincoln School (then a grammar school) because he had failed the entrance examination for admission to his brother's school. His headmaster at Lincoln School laughed when Hurt told him he wanted to be an actor, telling him, "Well, you may be alright in school plays but you wouldn't stand a chance in the profession."[17]
Hurt's father moved to St Aidan's Church inCleethorpes, Lincolnshire. In aGuardian interview Hurt states the family lived in a vicarage opposite a cinema, but he was not allowed to go there, as films were "frowned upon." However, watching theatre was considered "fine" and encouraged particularly by his mother, who took him regularly to therepertory theatre in Cleethorpes. His parents disliked his later acting ambitions and encouraged him to become an art teacher instead.[17] Aged 17, Hurt enrolled inGrimsby Art School (now the East Coast School of Art and Design), where he studied art. In 1959, he won a scholarship allowing him to study for an Art Teacher's Diploma atSaint Martin's School of Art in London.[18] Despite the scholarship, paying his tuition fees and living expenses was difficult, so he persuaded some of his friends to pose naked and sold the portraits. In 1960, he won a scholarship toRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he trained for two years,[16] graduating in 1962 with an Acting (RADA Diploma).[19]
He won further acclaim for his bravura performance as theRoman emperorCaligula in theBBC drama serialI, Claudius (1976). In a much later documentary about the series,I Claudius: A Television Epic (2002), Hurt revealed that he had originally declined the role when it was first offered to him, but that series directorHerbert Wise had invited him to a special pre-production party, hoping Hurt would change his mind, and that he was so impressed by meeting the rest of the cast and crew that he reversed his decision and took the role.[22]
He voiced the Great Dragon Kilgharrah, who aids the young warlockMerlin as he protects the future King Arthur, in the BBC television seriesMerlin (also 2008).[29] In 2011, he narrated the BBC documentaryPlanet Dinosaur, a dinosaur-centered documentary completely shown throughCGI.[30]
More than thirty years afterThe Naked Civil Servant, Hurt reprised the role of Quentin Crisp in the 2009 filmAn Englishman in New York. This television film depicts Crisp's later years in New York.[31] He returned to Orwell'sNineteen Eighty-Four, playing the on-screenBig Brother for the Paper Zoo Theatre Company's stage adaptation of the novel in June 2009. The theatre production premiered at theNational Media Museum, inBradford and toured in 2010. Hurt said, "I think Paper Zoo thought it would be quite ironic to have the person who played Winston having risen in the party. From the Chestnut Tree Cafe, he's managed to get his wits together again, now understanding that2 and 2 make 5, and becomes Big Brother. So it tickled my fancy, and of course, I looked up Paper Zoo, and they seem to me to be the sort of company that's essential in the country as we know it, and doing a lot of really good stuff."[32]
Hurt had an older brother, Brother Anselm (born Michael Hurt in 1932[43][44]), aRoman Catholic convert who became amonk and writer atGlenstal Abbey after moving there in 1996;[45] Hurt contributed to his brother's books.[46] In early 2012, Anselm, now retired, was arrested over child abuse allegations that took place in the late 1960s while he was working at a boarding school inBath, Somerset.[45][47][48][49] Anselm died in 2023.[43]
Hurt also had an adopted sister, Monica. In 1962, Hurt's father left his parish inCleethorpes to become headmaster of St Michael's College in the Central American country ofBritish Honduras. Hurt's mother died in 1975, and his father died in 1999 at the age of 95.
In 1962, Hurt married actressAnnette Robertson. The marriage ended in 1964. In 1967, he began his longest relationship with Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot, a French model. The couple had planned to get married after 15 years together. On 26 January 1983, Hurt and Volpeliere-Pierrot went horse riding early in the morning near their house inAscott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire; Volpeliere-Pierrot was thrown from her horse. She went into a coma and died later that day.[50]
In September 1984, Hurt married his old friend, Donna Peacock, an American actress, at a localRegister Office. The couple moved toKenya but divorced in January 1990.[citation needed]
On 24 January 1990, Hurt married Joan Dalton, an American production assistant,[23] whom he had met while filmingScandal. With her, he had two sons. This marriage ended in 1996 and was followed by a seven-year relationship with Sarah Owens, a Dublin-born presenter and writer. The couple moved toCounty Wicklow, where they settled close to their friends, directorJohn Boorman andCladdagh Records founder and Guinness heirGarech Browne. In July 2002, the couple separated. In March 2005, Hurt married his fourth wife, Anwen Rees-Meyers, an advertising film producer. He gave up smoking and drinking during his fourth marriage.[51] He lived inCromer, Norfolk.[52]
In 2007, Hurt took part in theBBCgenealogical television seriesWho Do You Think You Are?, which investigated part of his family history. Prior to the programme, Hurt had harboured a love of Ireland and was enamoured of a "deeply beguiling" family legend that suggested his great-grandmother had been the illegitimate daughter of aMarquess of Sligo. The genealogical evidence uncovered seemed to contradict the family legend, rendering the suggestion doubtful. The search revealed that his great-grandmother had previously lived inGrimsby, at a location within a mile of the art college at which Hurt had been a student.[53]
On 16 June 2015, Hurt publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with early-stagepancreatic cancer.[55] He confirmed that he would continue to work while undergoing treatment and said that both he and the medical team treating him were "more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome."[56] Following treatment, he stated that his cancer was inremission on 12 October 2015.[57] Hurt died at his home inCromer,Norfolk, on 25 January 2017.[58][59]
Since 2003, Hurt was a patron of the Proteus Syndrome Foundation, both in the United Kingdom and in the US.[74]Proteus syndrome is the condition thatJoseph Merrick, who Hurt played (renamed as John Merrick) inThe Elephant Man, is thought to have suffered from, although Merrick's exact condition is still not known with certainty.[75][76][77][78]
From 2006, Hurt had been apatron of Project Harar, a UK-based charity working inEthiopia for children with facial disfigurements.[79] Hurt was announced as patron ofNorwich Cinema City in March 2013.[80]
^abRayner, Gordon (3 July 2013)."Doctor Who's new adversary".The Daily Telegraph. London.Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved4 July 2013.
^Spiring, Paul R. (June 2001)."The Improbable Elephant Man".The Biologist (London, England).48 (3). Institute of Biology (UK): 104.PMID11399837. Retrieved1 January 2015.
