Howard Remembers ‘Great Actor’ John Hurt
The 77-Year-Old Star of “Alien” and “The Elephant Man” died Wednesday
January 30, 2017
On Monday, Howard remembered acclaimed British actor John Hurt, who died Wednesday at his home in Norfolk, England at the age of 77.
“Great actor, John Hurt … He’s been in show business for 50 years, but what I remember him for was … a movie called ‘Elephant Man,'” Howard told listeners on Monday’s Stern Show. “He was really good.”
Hurt earned an Oscar nomination for playing the severely deformed 19th century Englishman John Merrick in David Lynch’s “The Elephant Man,” despite being nearly unrecognizable under the makeup.
@sternshow #RIP John Hurt . Without him @HowardStern will had given me a worse #wackpack name
— Fred Schreiber (@RealElephantboy) January 30, 2017
He appeared in over 120 films throughout his career, earning a reputation for fully immersing himself in a variety of different types of roles. In addition to “The Elephant Man,” some of Hurt’s more oft-remembered roles include “Midnight Express”—for which he won a Golden Globe for playing a heroin addict—”Alien,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “Watership Down,” and “1984.” More recently, he starred in “V for Vendetta,” “Snowpiercer,” and several of the “Harry Potter” films.
Hurt was also known for enduring violent, unusual deaths on the big and small screens. A 2014 Nerdist article from Kyle Hill noted the actor had died 43 different times on screen, including deaths by alien parasite (“Alien” and “Spaceballs”), death by interplanetary collision (“Melancholia”), and his tragic, four-minute long demise in David Lynch’s “Elephant Man.”
Watch the clip below.
