Entertainer of the Month: John Hurt

I have designated these past few moths of 2008 "The Summer of Hurt" and specifically July as the month of Hurt—John Hurt—as he is the Entertainment News Entertainer of month. This honor, comes not only after a long distinguished film career, but also after a summer of appearances in blockbuster sequels. If you weren't paying attention, you might have missed him in both Indiana Jones IV as Professor Harold "Ox" Oxley and Hellboy II as Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm. Professor Ox Broom also appeared in V for Vendetta, Contact, King Ralph, and Lord of the Rings, sort of. He was the voice of Aragorn the 1978 animated version. Another movie you might recognize him from is Alien. He was the guy that had the alien burst out of his stomach, a scene he recreated a few years later in Space Balls. A movie you probably won't recognize him from is 1980's The Elephant Man in which he played the famous John Merrick. His versatility is best summed up by his gushing, obviously fan-written biography from IMDb.com: Britain's superbly eccentric import John Hurt is a perfect example of how huge, wondrous gifts can come in small, unadorned packages. His magnetic, often bedeviled portraits have touched the souls of filmgoers internationally for over four decades, and there seems to be no end to the depth of this man's talent. Stretching the boundaries every which way but loose, he continues to be a definitive textbook in in the art of acting metamorphosis. Wow. Despite all that, to me John Hurt will always be the wand maker from Harry Potter. Allow me to explain. One talent (or curse, depending on how you look at it) I have is the ability to see an actor in a movie, TV show, or even a commercial and know almost immediately where I have seen him before. I'm sure my wife hates watching TV with me because I constantly recognize actors and point out where she has seen them, which is the other half of the game I play. It's not merely enough to know an actor's name. To win, I have to be able to provide a viable reference point for those around me. Which brings us to John Hurt. When we were first dating, Sherstin and I were watch A Man for All Seasons from 1966. It tells the courageous story of Sir Thomas More and how he opposed Henry VIII and his quest for a divorce. It also features a young John Hurt whom I recognized immediately. I said "That's the wand maker from Harry Potter." She was partially impressed and partially horrified that I would be able to connect the two. So to this day, anytime we're watching something with John Hurt I'm quick to point out that he's the wand maker from Harry Potter.