Last night it was reported that John Hurt had passed away from cancer. The legendary actor was famous for a number of roles over a wide net of genres such as Alien, The Elephant Man, Hellboy, and Snowpiercer to only name a few. Fans of Harry Potter, however, might know Hurt best from his role as Ollivander the wandmaker from the films. Though he only appeared in three films of the series for a brief time each, it was a memorable role for fans who grew up loving the series. Hundreds of fans got together to tribute Hurt and his character and you can see what they did below.
Hundreds of fans gathered outside of Ollivander's wand shop and raised their wands in salute to John Hurt and his character. This post was shared by the official Harry Potter facebook account. Fans congregated to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, where you can visit Ollivander's wand shop and buy a wand of your very own. It's a touching tribute and it's great to see that the street is absolutely packed with fans.
Though Ollivander was a relatively small character, he played an integral part in the Harry Potter series. Said to be the greatest wandmaker in the world, most of the main characters had received their wand from his shop. Not only did he give Harry his Phoenix feather wand, it was one of the first teases about how connected Harry was to Voldemort, who received the exact same type of wand from Ollivander. Ollivander also provided knowledge to Harry about the nature of wands, which would eventually lead Harry to realize that he was the true master of the Elder Wand.
John Hurt only played Ollivander in three movies: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and The Deathly Hallows Part I and II. Just like how Harry was first being introduced to the Wizarding World, so too were the fans, and watching Harry receive his wand from a whimsical magic man was a thrill. It's a great scene that a lot of fans remember well and you can watch it right here in the clip below.
Though John Hurt is gone, he's essentially been immortalized through his dozens of film and television roles, so go ahead and pop in whatever movie you want this weekend if you feel like reminiscing about Jon Hurt.
