Sir John Hurt will return to the screen following his death as it was revealed that he spent the last years of his life working on a number of films.

The veteran actor died on Wednesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his wife said on Saturday.

Months after his death, Sir John will star as Ralph, a successful screenwriter who is facing terminal illness, in That Good Night, which takes its name from the poem by Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

He had completed filming for the role, described as “poignant” by producers, months before his death as he continued to work at a prodigious rate.

As well as working on That Good Night, Sir John was also starring in the Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie, thriller Damascus Cover and the upcoming biopic of boxer Lenny McLean, My Name Is Lenny.

He was also filming Darkest Hour, in which he starred as Neville Chamberlain opposite Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill.

The film focuses on Churchill’s charge against Adolf Hitler’s army in the early days of the Second World War and is due to be released on December 29.

Recently Sir John pulled out of a production of John Osborne’s play The Entertainer on medical advice, as he recovered from an intestinal complaint.

He had been due to play Billy Rice in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company production, directed by Rob Ashford.

A spokesman for the producers of That Good Night expressed their “sincere condolences” following his death.

They added: “John delivers a masterful and touching performance of this flawed character as he attempts to be reconciled to his son and, secretly, to ensure he is not a burden to his wife as he goes ‘into that good night’.

“We watched John in awe during filming and feel privileged to have had this opportunity to work with him.”

They said his role in the film “was extremely poignant but one that he was very proud of and keen to take on and complete despite his own personal battles with illness”.