Actor John Hurt dies

Risingbd Desk: John Hurt, known for his roles in "Elephant Man" and "Harry Potter", has died aged 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, reports said Saturday citing his agent.

Hurt was a cult actor of many faces, often playing supporting roles which went down in the annals of cinema history.

Whether as the first victim in "Alien", the sensitive monster in the "Elephant Man" or the transvestite writer in "the Naked Civil Servant", Hurt slipped seamlessly into any role.

"I'm open to any genre - that is who I am. Essentially I am an actor for hire," he once said.

Knighted by Queen Elizabeth last year for services to drama, Hurt was born on January 22, 1940 near Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

His mother, who herself was an amateur actress, forbade him from going to the cinema, which she thought was too common for the son of a pastor.

He discovered theatre at school, but it was towards painting that the great admirer of Edvard Munch first turned, securing a grant to become teacher of drawing at Saint Martin's School of Art in London.

In 1960 his passion for the stage caught up with him and he entered the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) from which he graduated two years later.

In parallel with the stage he also made his debut in television, where he made his mark in Britain portraying transvestite writer Quentin Crisp, and then the Roman emperor Caligula.
His role model was Alec Guinness in David Lean's Oliver Twist.

"It was the first time on film I'd seen an actor practise the theatrical tradition of taking himself to the part, rather than the other way round - something that remains a lasting influence on my work to this day," he told the Guardian newspaper in 2011.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Jan 28, 2017/Mukul