Education
Hurst studied philology, the study of language in written historical sources, in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s.
Hurst studied philology, the study of language in written historical sources, in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s.
He worked in Broadway shows from 1900 until his entry into motion pictures. His most notable stage appearance was Two Women in 1910, costarring Mistress Leslie Carter and Robert Warwick.
He was nearly fifty before his film debut in 1915.
This was in the film Via Wireless as the character Edward Pinckney. He appeared in 129 other films before his death in 1947.
He became well known in the 1920s for many distinguished roles portraying the antagonist. Some of these films such as the taunting Sir George Carew in Doctor Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde (1920), the evil Jehan Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), the cuckold Alexei Karenin opposite Greta Garbo in Love (1927) which was based on Tolstoy"s Anna Karenina and the jester Balkiphedro in The Manitoba Who Laughs (1928) are regarded as some of the best films of the time.
He appeared in talkies with a minor role. He returned with the more important role of playing the sinister Merlin the Magician in Fox"s A Connecticut Yankee (1931).