Rest in Peace John Hurt

[K'Tesh]

Just got word that Actor Sir John Hurt CBE passed away from cancer today.

I enjoyed a number of his movies through the years, and will miss seeing him in new ones.

His role as Joseph Merrick was touching in the humanity that he gave to the role (and one of two (that I know of) Mel Brooks movies he was in).

He's known for probably the most recognized death scene in all of cinema, as Kane, the unfortunate first victim seen in the Alien franchise. A role he parodied in Spaceballs. He's also "died" in space at least one other time in Contact, the only movie I ever went to watch a second time (paying full admission, and not sneaking in snacks).

Rest In Peace John

 

[Rex R]

R.I.P. also played the role as the 'war doctor' (doctor who, 2013). died onscreen some 40 times.
Rex

 

[BuiltFromTrash]

He will be missed. Whovians the world over will miss him.

 

[rharshberger]

Looks like Ollivanders Wands is closed for good, since he played Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter series, RIP.

 

[Steven]

I don't think there was a movie I didn't like him in, from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein to the Hell Boy movies, he always had that distinctive Brit aura that lent well to his many characters.

 

[degreaser]

RIP

 

[Tim51]

I don't think there was a movie I didn't like him in

+ 1. He was one of those presences that just gave a film quality and integrity, like some actors do. It wasn't just the actual death scene in Alien - his 'hangover from hell' body language in the preceding scenes convincingly portrayed what it might be like to wake up from interstellar hibernation. I'd never seen anyone smoking on a starship flight deck before!

Four other lesser known gems from his career that testify to his range:

The young naive Brit army officer in a post WW2 displaced persons camp, Before Winter Comes (1969)

Caligula in the BBC's 1970s I, Claudius (excuse the cardboard sets, his acting is chilling)

As the wrongly hanged Timothy Evans playing opposite Richard Attenborough in 10 Rillington Place (based on the true story of the Christie murders)
As Stephen Ward, a socialite and 'fixer' suddenly frozen out by the establishment in Scandal (1989), (based on the true story of the Profumo scandal)

 

[Steve Shannon]

I enjoyed him in "The Osterman Weekend", but almost nobody else did.


Steve Shannon

 

[Winston]

R.I.P. also played the role as the 'war doctor' (doctor who, 2013). died onscreen some 40 times.
Rex

I believe his biggest role was as Winston Smith in Richard Burton's last film, 1984 (1984), but everyone remembers his short role in Alien, of course.

 

[Steven]

I believe his biggest role was as Winston Smith in Richard Burton's last film, 1984 (1984), but everyone remembers his short role in Alien, of course.

Alien was just an eye opening vision of what alien life could be interpreted through metamorphosis and the whole nine yards. By far I think the point in the movie viewer's mind was the table scene which truly created or raised the standards of the alien concept in general. Who would have thought that there could be internal gestation of an alien life form at the time? Well, that fell to Geiger.

 

[dhbarr]

Alien was just an eye opening vision of what alien life could be interpreted through metamorphosis and the whole nine yards. By far I think the point in the movie viewer's mind was the table scene which truly created or raised the standards of the alien concept in general. Who would have thought that there could be internal gestation of an alien life form at the time? Well, that fell to Geiger.

For movies, sure. Book aliens have been -way- bizarre for a very long time. Radial symmetry, silicon body chemistry, hive minds, sentient nebulae, stuff that lives too fast or slow or big or small for us to notice, etc.

 

[Steven]

For movies, sure. Book aliens have been -way- bizarre for a very long time. Radial symmetry, silicon body chemistry, hive minds, sentient nebulae, stuff that lives too fast or slow or big or small for us to notice, etc.

Are you referring to the Dark Horse comics?

 

[dhbarr]

Are you referring to the Dark Horse comics?

Just fictional entities in general. Alien(s) was a breakthrough for cinema, and there's no question we owe Geiger ( & Hurt ) a debt for killing off guy-with-mask aliens.

 

[Steven]

Just fictional entities in general. Alien(s) was a breakthrough for cinema, and there's no question we owe Geiger ( & Hurt ) a debt for killing off guy-with-mask aliens.

There are some clips on YouTube explaining the entire process in regards to how they actually pulled off the table scene using what was described as "string and rubber band" technology. Very interesting how very basic and with NO CGI they had managed to pull off the effects using 'caveman' thinking. It worked!

 

[Bat-mite]

Wow, major bummer. Guy was great. "1984" comes to mind.