A really cool actor with a solid Sci-Fi resume has passed. Now if I can still still tell the difference between John and the American actor William Hurt.
John first came to my attention as the Nostrumo’s navigator Kane who was indirectly killed by the Xenomorph’s face-hugger stage. Rumor has it, director Ridley Scott only told John what was going to happen during the crew’s fateful “last supper.” He was a good sport in reprising this role as a joke in Spaceballs.
Other roles he took in the genre were The Black Cauldron, 1984, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, Watership Down, Snowpiercer, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Outside of these, he’ll always be remembered as the War Doctor and Hellboy’s handler. I want to draw attention to his performance in 1984 as Winston Smith. John did a great job being so numb to the regime until Julia pulls him into an affair which leads to their horrible fates.
He also did comedy. There’s just two coming to mind. The closeted gay cop in Ryan O’Neal’s Partners and a cameo as Jesus during the Last Supper.