One of the foremost British actors of his generation, John Hurt has passed away at age 77. He played everything from Caligula to Winston Smith to the Elephant Man, but he will always perhaps be best known for his first major role, that of his portrayal of the villainous Richard Rich who betrayed Saint Thomas More for an office in Wales. Hurt had the knack of all great character actors of disappearing into his roles. He was always the character, and not John Hurt playing a character. Unlike most British actors and actresses, he did not talk much about his politics, but he did view political correctness with disdain, calling it a threat to freedom.
His greatest role was in Spaceballs. At the end of the movie when Lone Star and Barf were at the diner, the character Hurt played said, “Oh, no, not again” and the alien popped out of him and did the Michigan J. Frog sond on the diner counter.