Sir John Hurt Awarded Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II

Veteran actor Sir John Hurt (Garrick Ollivander) has been officially knighted. While it was announced in December that Hurt would receive his knighthood, having been included on Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year’s honors list, his Investiture ceremony took place today at Windsor Castle.

The Eastern Daily Press reports that Hurt, who made his pancreatic cancer diagnosis public last month, has already completed half a round of chemotherapy and is “feeling good.”

Of his health, he said,

I’m not feeling any of the side effects you’re [supposed] to feel, or at least you can feel, as everybody’s different I’m told.

At the ceremony, Hurt was accompanied by his wife, Anwen Rees-Myers. He expressed that his knighthood had been “unexpected,” explaining that he had “never thought of it when [he had] started out.”

He added,

I suppose the only thing I really rather regret is that my parents aren’t alive to see this. I’m sure that’s not a sentiment that’s new by any means; a lot of people say the same. But it does make one inordinately proud.

Hurt was also asked about his favorite role, to which he responded by comparing the task to choosing a favorite child. He came to a conclusion, however:

They all have different qualities, but I suppose something [that] changes your life in so far as it changes an audience’s perception of you and the business’s perception of you, then I think I’d have to say The Naked Civil Servant, followed by The Elephant Man.

The actor has also completed work on a BBC Radio 4 version of the Keith Waterhouse play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, about journalist Jeffrey Bernard, whom he knew personally.

You can read the full article on Sir John Hurt’s awarded knighthood here. Congratulations, Sir John!