11 Quotes & Sayings By John Hurt

John Hurt is an English actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Hurt has been nominated for four Academy Awards for acting, with one win. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the film "The Elephant Man" (1980). He was also known for his television roles as John Merrick in "The Elephant Man" (1980), Robert Swann in "Swann in Love" (1984), Doctor Who's The Doctor in "Doctor Who" (1996) and Villiers in "Vanity Fair" (1998). He has also appeared on stage, notably as Cassio in Shakespeare's Othello with Ian McKellen, Royal Shakespeare Company. Hurt has also directed two feature films: the Oscar-winning "Midnight Express" (1978) and another acclaimed film, "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) Read more

Hurt's other film credits include: the action thriller "The Hit" (1977), the romantic comedy "Deathline" (1982), and the biographical drama "Chariots of Fire" (1981). He also co-wrote the screenplay to one of his most commercially successful films, "A Man Could Get Killed" (1986). Hurt has won two Emmy Awards and received three Golden Globe nominations.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave him a BAFTA Fellowship Award. The American Film Institute named him one of the top ten male stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Hurt was born 24 January 1932 in Coulsdon, Surrey, England to Muriel Evelyn Hurt and John Alfred Hurt. His father was an English schoolmaster who later taught Old Norse at the University of Oxford and Old English at Exeter College, Oxford; he was also a scholar of medieval literature.

His mother was from a German family that had emigrated from Austria and Russia; she was a vivacious woman who loved music and dancing. She died when Hurt was very young and he and his brother were raised by their mother's unmarried sister Olive Hurt in Wimbledon, South London. As a child he attended Rose Hill Primary School in Wimbledon, followed by Wimbledon High School from 5 October 1941 until 25 June 1945.

In October 1946 he took up residence at Winfrith Hall School in Newquay in Cornwall where his aunt taught drama to save money to go to university. Here he became interested in drama playing music hall songs with a group called 'Billy Cotton Band' on BBC Radio's entertainment

1
You can see areas where maybe you got a bit lazy, perhaps, or you see when you were really on form. I think an actor is very like a sportsman in that respect. You have periods where you're in terrific form. Everything you touch seems to work and come right. And other times, when you're working really hard, it's okay, but it isn't scintillating. John Hurt
2
I've never changed the way I live. I still walk the streets I don't give a damn. And everyone's very nice to me. But this new idea of being famous for no reason at all? I can't actually get my head round it. John Hurt
3
I think people should be protected from being made to feel that they want to know what somebody famous had for breakfast. John Hurt
4
We're all just passing time and occupy our chair very briefly. John Hurt
5
I turn up in Los Angeles every now and then, so I can get some big money films in order to finance my smaller money films. John Hurt
6
I like the physical activity of gardening. It's kind of thrilling. I do a lot of weeding. John Hurt
7
I'm essentially the result of other people's imagination. And that's fine. Because of other people's imagination, I've played parts I would never have thought I could do. Still, I've never had a hankering or an ambition for any particular role. John Hurt
8
Acting is an imaginative exercise. It would be odd if you didn't try to identify with the roles you play, but I think I can differentiate between where my imagination is leading me and where I actually am. John Hurt
9
The difference between anger and deep remorse - remorse is much fatter. It's a deeper feeling altogether. Anger is too easy an escape for my money. John Hurt
10
I've never felt that anger is a very powerful emotion. John Hurt