Harry Potter, Midnight Express, Elephant Man Actor, John Hurt DIES

John Hurt, the actor of stage and screen who received an Academy Award nomination for ‘Midnight Express,’ ‘Alien,’ three Harry Potter films and ‘Doctor Who,’ has died. He was 77.

Hurt, a British actor, was perhaps best known for playing, John Merrick, in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man.

The two-time Oscar nominee’s six-decade career also included turns on the BBC’s Doctor Who and in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Midnight Express (1978) and three Harry Potter films. He announced in June 2015 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On screens big and small, Hurt died what seemed a thousand deaths. “I think I’ve got the record,” he once said. “It got to a point where my children wouldn’t ask me if I died, but rather how do you die?” h/t hr

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Hurt’s family and friends at this difficult time.