John Hurt ‘more than optimistic’ after cancer diagnosis
LONDON (AP) – John Hurt said he has been diagnosed with cancer but has no plans to stop working and is “more than optimistic” about his future.
The 75-year-old actor said Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. He said he is undergoing treatment and is “more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.”
Hurt’s major roles include gay-rights advocate Quentin Crisp in “The Naked Civil Servant,” an unfortunate astronaut in “Alien” and John Merrick in “The Elephant Man,” for which he was Oscar-nominated. He played wand maker Mr. Ollivander in the “Harry Potter” movies and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II last year.
Hurt said in “one of life’s small ironies,” he will soon star in “Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell” for BBC radio.