Picture your favorite big budget, blockbuster movie. Got it in your head? Well, Sir John Hurt was in it. Don’t believe us? During his lifetime, the late great English actor appeared in Alien (1979), V for Vendetta (2006), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), The Legend of Tarzan (2016), both Hellboy films (2004, 2008), and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter movies (2001-2011). Of course, the esteemed thespian also lent his talents to prestigious productions. After attending Saint Martin’s School of Art and training at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, John rose to prominence on the British boob tube thanks to his portrayals of the toga-donning Roman emperor Caligula in the miniseries I, Claudius (1976) and the gay icon Quentin Crisp in the televised play The Naked Civil Servant (1975). The latter earned Hurt the British Academy Television Award. BAFTAs for Midnight Express (1978) and David Lynch’s The Elephant Man (1980) followed. Through the years, the Golden Globe winner could be seen (Crime and Punishment, Dead Man, Dr. Who, Heaven’s Gate, History of the World: Part I, Melancholia) and heard (Watership Down, The Lord of the Rings, Dogville, Merlin) on both the big and small screens. We especially appreciate John’s revealing role in the skinematic adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). Although the film is frightening, watching it doesn’t hurt since Hurt flashes his bare back and butt for us. Considering the nude dude’s lean body, it looks like 2 + 2 = a Perfect 10!
