British actor John Hurt, star of Harry Potter and ‘The Elephant Man,’ dies aged 77

British actor John Hurt, a two-time Oscar nominee who played a wide variety of roles on film, TV and in theater, has died aged 77 from pancreatic cancer, family members confirmed Saturday. The actor, who was critically acclaimed for his portrayal of Caligula in the highly regarded TV series “I Claudius”, as well as John Merrick in David Lynch’s “The Elephant Man” and wand expert Mr Ollivander in the “Harry Potter” films, was a character actor with a distinctive, smoky voice, who worked on both sides of the Atlantic in small, independent films as well as blockbusters.