Actor John Hurt dies at 77

British actor Sir John Hurt poses after being awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II

(Image credit: WPA Pool/Getty Images)

published 28 January 2017

Oscar-nominated British actor John Hurt died Wednesday after a long bout of pancreatic cancer, his representative announced Saturday. He was 77 years old.

Perhaps best known for his role in 1980's The Elephant Man, Hurt's career spanned six decades and included roles in the Harry Potter movies as Mr. Ollivander, V for Vendetta, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Doctor Who as the War Doctor. He most recently appeared in Jackie, a biopic about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and completed filming on several projects that will be released posthumously.

"John was the most sublime of actors and the most gentlemanly of gentlemen with the greatest of hearts and the most generosity of spirit," Hurt's wife, Anwen, said in a statement. "He touched all our lives with joy and magic and it will be a strange world without him." Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted, "So very sad to hear that the immensely talented and deeply beloved John Hurt has died. My thoughts are with his family and friends."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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