We’re obsessed with the dangers of alcohol and political correctness, says Hurt, who stars in Radio 4’s Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
Sir John Hurt has bemoaned the homogenised state of modern society, in which excessive warnings about the danger of alcohol abound and making a pass at a woman is fraught with risks.
The 75-year-old actor, whose film credits include The Elephant Man, The Naked Civil Servant and the Harry Potter films said life was more fun in the days when he hellraised with the likes of Peter O’Toole and Oliver Reed.
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Sir John Hurt has bemoaned the homogenised state of modern society, in which excessive warnings about the danger of alcohol abound and making a pass at a woman is fraught with risks.
The 75-year-old actor, whose film credits include The Elephant Man, The Naked Civil Servant and the Harry Potter films said life was more fun in the days when he hellraised with the likes of Peter O’Toole and Oliver Reed.
Continue reading...
- 8/10/2015
- by Haroon Siddique
- The Guardian - Film News
Seventy-five-year-old veteran actor John Hurt has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. "I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team," Hurt said in a statement. "I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life's small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4." Hurt hasn't slowed down at all in his 70s: He was in Bong Joon-ho's dystopic thriller Snowpiercer, and most recently was filming The History of Love as well as the new Tarzan film. You'll also see him on (British) TV in the six-part crime series The Last Panthers alongside Samantha Morton. Unfortunately, this probably means another hiccup for Terry Gilliam's white whale project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, in which Hurt is set to play the Man from La Mancha. We wish you a speedy recovery,...
- 6/17/2015
- by E. Alex Jung
- Vulture
British actor John Hurt revealed Tuesday he is battling pancreatic cancer. The 75-year-old Oscar nominee, who is best known for his role in 1980’s “The Elephant Man” and more recently as wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter franchise, said he is undergoing treatment but that his doctors are providing a positive prognosis. “I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team,” Hurt said, according to BBC News. “I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording ‘Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell’ (one of life’s small ironies!
- 6/17/2015
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
Sir John Hurt is battling early stage pancreatic cancer. The 75-year-old veteran actor revealed his diagnosis Tuesday, telling the Press Association, "I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team." "I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments," he added, "and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life's small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4." Story developing...
- 6/16/2015
- E! Online
Sir John Hurt has confirmed that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The British movie icon - best known for roles in Alien and The Elephant Man - has said that he will continue working despite the recent diagnosis.
"I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement," he told Pa.
"I have recently been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.
He added: "I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life's small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4."
Hurt won Oscar nominations for his roles in The Elephant Man and Midnight Express, and was awarded with a knighthood last year.
He most recently...
The British movie icon - best known for roles in Alien and The Elephant Man - has said that he will continue working despite the recent diagnosis.
"I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement," he told Pa.
"I have recently been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.
He added: "I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life's small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4."
Hurt won Oscar nominations for his roles in The Elephant Man and Midnight Express, and was awarded with a knighthood last year.
He most recently...
- 6/16/2015
- Digital Spy
He found stardom on screen in Lawrence of Arabia, but O'Toole was a legendary and often mesmerising presence in the theatre
• Obituary: Peter O'Toole, 1932-2013
• Peter O'Toole: a life in pictures
• Peter O'Toole: a career in clips
Today's papers all carry big pictures of Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia. Although that role made him an international star and launched a long film career, it shouldn't be forgotten that he was a formidable stage actor. What made him unusual was that he was something of a throwback to an earlier era: I'd describe him as a charismatic romantic with the glamour found in actor-managers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. And, if he returned to the stage only spasmodically after his film career took off, it may have been because he didn't fit easily into the new director-driven theatre.
I first heard of O'Toole when stories spread about...
• Obituary: Peter O'Toole, 1932-2013
• Peter O'Toole: a life in pictures
• Peter O'Toole: a career in clips
Today's papers all carry big pictures of Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia. Although that role made him an international star and launched a long film career, it shouldn't be forgotten that he was a formidable stage actor. What made him unusual was that he was something of a throwback to an earlier era: I'd describe him as a charismatic romantic with the glamour found in actor-managers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. And, if he returned to the stage only spasmodically after his film career took off, it may have been because he didn't fit easily into the new director-driven theatre.
I first heard of O'Toole when stories spread about...
- 12/16/2013
- by Michael Billington
- The Guardian - Film News
The actor was one of a generation of hard-drinking stars who gloried in their wild exploits and lost weekends
• Peter O'Toole: a life in pictures
• News: Peter O'Toole dies aged 81
Peter O'Toole was the last of the hell-raising actors who ushered in the swinging 60s and was almost as famous for his drinking as for his dazzling eyes.
As with his peers and sometime drinking buddies Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, much of his best work seems to have been done under the influence.
"We heralded the 60s," he once said. "Me, Burton, Richard Harris – we did in public what everyone else did in private then, and does for show now. We drank in public, we knew about pot."
Both Burton and O'Toole won Oscar nominations for Becket but said they were drunk throughout most of the shooting.
While shooting The Lion in Winter, O'Toole cut off...
• Peter O'Toole: a life in pictures
• News: Peter O'Toole dies aged 81
Peter O'Toole was the last of the hell-raising actors who ushered in the swinging 60s and was almost as famous for his drinking as for his dazzling eyes.
As with his peers and sometime drinking buddies Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, much of his best work seems to have been done under the influence.
"We heralded the 60s," he once said. "Me, Burton, Richard Harris – we did in public what everyone else did in private then, and does for show now. We drank in public, we knew about pot."
Both Burton and O'Toole won Oscar nominations for Becket but said they were drunk throughout most of the shooting.
While shooting The Lion in Winter, O'Toole cut off...
- 12/16/2013
- by Dominic Rushe
- The Guardian - Film News
The star of David Lean’s Lawrence Of Arabia who earned eight Oscar nominations has died at Wellington hospital in London following a long illness. He was 81.
O’Toole was reportedly born in Ireland – there is some dispute over this and it is said his birthplace may in fact be Leeds – and despite his global fame and London residency remained very much a son of the country.
The Irish president Michael Higgins, a personal friend for several decades, led a list of tributes and called O’Toole “one of the giants of film and theatre.”
O’Toole served two years in the Navy before attending the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in the early 1950s. He cut his teeth with a series of major roles in regional theatre for several years and eventually landed his cinematic breakthrough as Te Lawrence in Lean’s 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, which earned him one of eight Academy Award nominations.
The...
O’Toole was reportedly born in Ireland – there is some dispute over this and it is said his birthplace may in fact be Leeds – and despite his global fame and London residency remained very much a son of the country.
The Irish president Michael Higgins, a personal friend for several decades, led a list of tributes and called O’Toole “one of the giants of film and theatre.”
O’Toole served two years in the Navy before attending the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in the early 1950s. He cut his teeth with a series of major roles in regional theatre for several years and eventually landed his cinematic breakthrough as Te Lawrence in Lean’s 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, which earned him one of eight Academy Award nominations.
The...
- 12/15/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The star of David Lean’s Lawrence Of Arabia who earned eight Oscar nominations has died at Wellington hospital in London following a long illness. He was 81.
O’Toole was reportedly born in Ireland – there is some dispute over this and it is said his birthplace may in fact be Leeds – and despite his global fame and London residency remained very much a son of the country.
The Irish president Michael Higgins, a personal friend for several decades, led a list of tributes and called O’Toole “one of the giants of film and theatre.”
O’Toole served two years in the Navy before attending the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in the early 1950s. He cut his teeth with a series of major roles in regional theatre for several years and eventually landed his cinematic breakthrough as Te Lawrence in Lean’s 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, which earned him one of eight Academy Award nominations.
The...
O’Toole was reportedly born in Ireland – there is some dispute over this and it is said his birthplace may in fact be Leeds – and despite his global fame and London residency remained very much a son of the country.
The Irish president Michael Higgins, a personal friend for several decades, led a list of tributes and called O’Toole “one of the giants of film and theatre.”
O’Toole served two years in the Navy before attending the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in the early 1950s. He cut his teeth with a series of major roles in regional theatre for several years and eventually landed his cinematic breakthrough as Te Lawrence in Lean’s 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, which earned him one of eight Academy Award nominations.
The...
- 12/15/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Gregory Katz, Associated Press
London (AP) - Known on the one hand for his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia," leading tribesmen in daring attacks across the desert wastes, and on the other for his headlong charges into the depths of drinking, Peter O'Toole was one of the acting world's most charismatic figures.
O'Toole, who died Saturday at age 81 after a long bout of illness, was fearsomely handsome, with burning blue eyes and a penchant for hard living, which long outlived his decision to give up alcohol. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson told Sky News television it was hard to be too sad about the news of his passing.
"Peter didn't leave much of life unlived, did he?" he said, chuckling.
A reformed - but unrepentant - hell-raiser, O'Toole long suffered from ill health. Always thin, he had grown wraithlike in later years, his famously handsome face eroded by years of hard drinking.
London (AP) - Known on the one hand for his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia," leading tribesmen in daring attacks across the desert wastes, and on the other for his headlong charges into the depths of drinking, Peter O'Toole was one of the acting world's most charismatic figures.
O'Toole, who died Saturday at age 81 after a long bout of illness, was fearsomely handsome, with burning blue eyes and a penchant for hard living, which long outlived his decision to give up alcohol. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson told Sky News television it was hard to be too sad about the news of his passing.
"Peter didn't leave much of life unlived, did he?" he said, chuckling.
A reformed - but unrepentant - hell-raiser, O'Toole long suffered from ill health. Always thin, he had grown wraithlike in later years, his famously handsome face eroded by years of hard drinking.
- 12/15/2013
- by The Associated Press
- Moviefone
Britain's stages are about to be invaded by drunks. What's the secret to playing a tipsy character? And who is drama's biggest boozer?
Drama frequently holds up a mirror to our drinking habits: think of the booze that casually gets put away in plays as diverse as Pinter's Betrayal, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, or anything by Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard. Actors are routinely required to express joy, cry real tears or shed fake blood; yet there is no technical challenge more tricky than the business of drinking on stage. This spring they are getting plenty of practice at mastering the art, as a host of drunk characters are staggering the boards across the country.
Michael Caine once pointed out that a drunk person is actually trying very hard to be sober: therefore acting drunk requires a degree of reverse psychology. Sian Thomas, who is playing Martha in a revival of...
Drama frequently holds up a mirror to our drinking habits: think of the booze that casually gets put away in plays as diverse as Pinter's Betrayal, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, or anything by Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard. Actors are routinely required to express joy, cry real tears or shed fake blood; yet there is no technical challenge more tricky than the business of drinking on stage. This spring they are getting plenty of practice at mastering the art, as a host of drunk characters are staggering the boards across the country.
Michael Caine once pointed out that a drunk person is actually trying very hard to be sober: therefore acting drunk requires a degree of reverse psychology. Sian Thomas, who is playing Martha in a revival of...
- 3/24/2011
- by Alfred Hickling
- The Guardian - Film News
Celebrated author and playwright Keith Waterhouse has died at his home in London.
The Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell writer passed away in his sleep on Friday morning. He was 80.
His death comes after a short undisclosed illness.
Born in Leeds, England, Waterhouse started his career as a clerk in an undertaker's office, which inspired his first bestseller and play, Billy Liar.
He served in the Royal Air Force and then signed on as a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper.
He became a Daily Mirror journalist in the early 1950s and his literary skills were so renowned he frequently wrote speeches for top politicians like Harold Wilson.
He wrote his first novel, There Is A Happy Land, in 1956 and went on to create one of the West End's favourite shows Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based on his friend Bernard's weekly Low Life columns in the Spectator magazine.
Waterhouse and Bernard also co-scripted two beloved British films, Whistle Down The Wind and A Kind Of Loving.
He was nominated for the Best British Screenplay BAFTA three years running in the early 1960s.
The Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell writer passed away in his sleep on Friday morning. He was 80.
His death comes after a short undisclosed illness.
Born in Leeds, England, Waterhouse started his career as a clerk in an undertaker's office, which inspired his first bestseller and play, Billy Liar.
He served in the Royal Air Force and then signed on as a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper.
He became a Daily Mirror journalist in the early 1950s and his literary skills were so renowned he frequently wrote speeches for top politicians like Harold Wilson.
He wrote his first novel, There Is A Happy Land, in 1956 and went on to create one of the West End's favourite shows Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based on his friend Bernard's weekly Low Life columns in the Spectator magazine.
Waterhouse and Bernard also co-scripted two beloved British films, Whistle Down The Wind and A Kind Of Loving.
He was nominated for the Best British Screenplay BAFTA three years running in the early 1960s.
- 9/4/2009
- WENN
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