--- description: He is "optimistic" about his prognosis title: John Hurt Is Battling Pancreatic Cancer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bcd31e73000d94d/698854c8428a9e07e2ccdbe0/john-waters.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # John Hurt Is Battling Pancreatic Cancer by [Tim Nudd/People](/author/people/) ## Tim Nudd/People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 6:06 PM CUT  LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 03: John Hurt attends the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy on June 3, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 03: John Hurt attends the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy on June 3, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)Karwai Tang—WireImage by [Tim Nudd/People](/author/people/) ## Tim Nudd/People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 6:06 PM CUT John Hurt, the veteran British actor known for playing the Elephant Man as well as Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter films, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but is “optimistic” about his prognosis. In a statement to PEOPLE, Hurt, 75, said: “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 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, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in December, has been twice nominated for an Academy Award – for 1978’s Midnight Express, and for playing the title role of John Merrick in David Lynch’s 1980 biopic The Elephant Man. “The role stretched me to the limits,” he once told PEOPLE of the latter film. He has also starred in dozens of other movies, including The Naked Civil Servant and Alien. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/john-hurt-pancreatic-cancer "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_PEOPLE.com._](http://www.people.com/people/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3923212/john-hurt-pancreatic-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3923212/john-hurt-pancreatic-cancer/"},"headline":"John Hurt Is Battling Pancreatic Cancer","datePublished":"2015-06-16T18:06:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:15:34.079Z","description":"He is \"optimistic\" about his prognosis","url":"https://time.com/3923212/john-hurt-pancreatic-cancer/","keywords":["celebrities","movies","Cancer","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bcd31e73000d94d/698854c8428a9e07e2ccdbe0/john-waters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tim Nudd/People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bcd31e73000d94d/698854c8428a9e07e2ccdbe0/john-waters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Royal Academy of Arts: Summer Exhibition","caption":"Royal Academy of Arts: Summer Exhibition","creditText":"Karwai Tang—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3923212/john-hurt-pancreatic-cancer/","name":"John Hurt Is Battling Pancreatic Cancer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes","description":"Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. 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