 John Hurt is an immensely bold RADA-trained actor, recognised internationally for his richly varied characterisations of outsiders, such as the defiant homosexual Quentin Crisp in TV's The Naked Civil Servant (Thames, 1975), or Winston Smith, the government functionary who illegally falls in love in 1984 (d. Michael Radford, 1984).
Other roles represent something physically strange, like Kane, impregnated by an otherworldly parasite in Alien (UK/US, d. Ridley Scott, 1979), or the disfigured John Merrick in David Lynch's dark masterpiece, The Elephant Man (UK/US, 1980).
Hurt has also taken on characters who are psychologically unhinged, most vividly his outrageously camp Caligula in TV's I, Claudius (BBC, 1976). His trademark deep, rasping voice has garnered him occasional parts in animated features and work as the narrator of TV specials and documentaries.
He divides his acting time between the UK and the US.
Melinda Hildebrandt, Encyclopedia of British Film
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