John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt, CBE (born 22 January 1940) is an English actor. Among other honours, he has received two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award, and four BAFTA Awards, with the fourth being a Lifetime Achievement recognition. Hurt is known for his leading roles as deformed man John Merrick in David Lynch's biopic The Elephant Man (1980), Winston Smith in the dystopian drama Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Mr. Braddock in the Stephen Frears drama The Hit (1984), Stephen Ward in the drama depicting the Profumo affair, Scandal (1989), Quentin Crisp in the TV film The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and the biographical drama An Englishman in New York (2009), and Caligula in the TV series I, Claudius (1976). Recognisable for his distinctive rich voice, he has also enjoyed a successful voice acting career in films such as Watership Down (1978), the animated The Lord of the Rings (1978), and Dogville, as well as the BBC television series Merlin. He portrayed the War Doctor in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", following brief appearances in previous episodes. Hurt initially came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, and has since appeared in films such as the prison drama Midnight Express (1978), the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), the adventure film Rob Roy (1995), the political thriller V for Vendetta (2006), the sci-fi adventure film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), the Harry Potter film series (2001-2011), the Hellboy films (2004 and 2008), and the Cold War espionage film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Hurt is one of Britain's best-known and most prolific actors, and has had a versatile career spanning six decades. He is also known for his many Shakespearean roles. His character's final scene in Alien has been named by a number of publications as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.