HE MADE WICKLOW W HIS HOME
THE LATE English actor John Hurt’s love affair with Wicklow resulted in the Academy Award nominee living close to Lough Dan in Roundwood for over five years. The esteemed 77-year-old passed away in London last week. In 2015, he announced that he had been diagnosed withth pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife, Anwen Rees-Myers, and two sons. He relocated to the Garden County in the 1990s, where hee lived with his then partner Sarah Owens.
He was heavily involved in local charitable events and also engaged himself with local community activities.
In 1992 he took part in a public protest outside the Wick-klow County Council buildings against OPW plans for Djouce Woods. He could also be found sharing a pint with locals inn Roundwood village.
He was already a highly regarded young actor when he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in the 1975 TV play ‘ Thee Naked Civil Servant.’
He appeared in Midnight Express (1978), for which he won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Perhaps his most famous performance was in Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ released in 1979. The scene where one of the aliens bursts through his chest is considered one of the scariest moments in cinema history. In 1980 he starred in David Lynch’s ‘Elephant Man’, for which he won a BAFTA and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe.
Other notable movies he appeared in included Jim Sheri-dan’s ‘ The Field’, ‘Heaven’s Gate’, ‘Rob Roy’, ‘Hell Boy’, ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’, ‘V for Vendetta’, ‘Indiana Jones and thehe Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ and the ‘Harry Potter’ series.