Pete Postlethwaite

Peter William Postlethwaite, (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor.

After minor television appearances, including in '' The Professionals'', his first major success arose through the British autobiographical film '' Distant Voices, Still Lives'' (1988). He had a transatlantic breakthrough when he portrayed David in ''Alien 3'' (1992), and his international reputation was further solidified when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' In the Name of the Father''. Following this role, he portrayed the mysterious lawyer Mr. Kobayashi in ''The Usual Suspects,'' and went on to appear in a wide variety of films.

On television, Postlethwaite played Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill on '' Sharpe''. He trained as a teacher and taught drama before training as an actor. Director Steven Spielberg called him "the best actor in the world" after working with him on '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (1997). He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours list. Less than one month after his death, he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Ben Affleck's '' The Town'' (2010).

Early life

Postlethwaite was born in Warrington, at that time part of Lancashire, the fourth and youngest child of William Postlethwaite (1913–1988), a cooper, wood machinist, and school caretaker, and Mary Geraldine (née Lawless; 1913–2000), working-class Roman Catholics. He had two sisters, Mrs. Patricia Rowland and Mrs. Anne Williams, and a brother, Michael (1944–2006). Despite portraying Irish characters on multiple occasions, Postlethwaite was not of Irish descent.

Postlethwaite attended St Benedict's RC Junior School and a seminary. He then joined the 4th form at West Park Grammar School, St Helens where he enjoyed sport including rugby league . He spent an extra year re-sitting some O-levels and then took four A-levels in English, history, geography, and French.

Career

Early in his career, Postlethwaite was advised to adopt a new surname for his acting work by his first agent and by peers who quipped that his name "would never be put up in lights outside theatres because they couldn't afford the electricity". Postlethwaite rejected the advice.

He was also the first male drama teacher at Loreto College in Hulme, Manchester.

He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and join in 1970.

He initially trained to be a Catholic priest but opted for a career in theatre and started his career at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where his colleagues included Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Antony Sher, Matthew Kelly, and Julie Walters. Postlethwaite and Walters had an intimate relationship during the latter half of the 1970s.

In 2003, he toured Australia and New Zealand in a 90-minute one-man play, ''Scaramouche Jones'', in which he played a clown trying to find out why he is who he is before he dies at midnight, receiving a nomination for the TMA Award for Best Actor and winning the Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Solo Performance. This was directed by Rupert Goold, who would also direct his Lear in 2008, in which Postlethwaite played every character. As well as Australia, the play toured Canada, New Zealand and the UK to great acclaim.

In '' The Art of Discworld'' (2004), Terry Pratchett wrote that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as 'a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite'.

Steven Spielberg called Postlethwaite "the best actor in the world" after working with him on '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', to which Postlethwaite quipped: "I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, 'The thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.'"

Postlethwaite next starred in a Liverpool stage production of ''King Lear'' in 2008 at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, and at the Young Vic, London. He appeared in the climate change-themed film ''The Age of Stupid'', which premiered in March 2009. Having recently installed a wind turbine in his garden, so impressed was he by the film, he wrote in '' The Sun'' newspaper that, "The stakes f climate changeare very, very high. They're through the roof. How could we willingly know that we're going into extinction ... and let it happen."

Terminally ill, Postlethwaite made a conspicuous return to Hollywood in three 2010 films, first as Spyros in '' Clash of the Titans''. He next appeared in the blockbuster hit ''Inception'' as Maurice Fischer, an industrialist who is slowly dying. Lastly, his performance in '' The Town'' as florist/crime boss Fergus "Fergie" Colm was well received by critics, making several publications' lists of Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actor. Postlethwaite's last appearance on screen was in Nick Hamm's film '' Killing Bono'', based on the memoir of Neil McCormick. The role was written specially for Postlethwaite to accommodate his illness. The film was released on 1 April 2011. His final role was due to be in the BBC series '' Exile'', written by Danny Brocklehurst and Paul Abbott, but he had to pull out because of ill health. Jim Broadbent replaced him in the role.

Personal life

Postlethwaite lived in West Itchenor, West Sussex before moving near Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. He began a relationship with Jacqueline "Jacqui" Morrish, a former BBC producer, in 1987; the couple married in 2003 at St Nicholas' Church, Itchenor. They had two children, William John "Billy" (born 1989) and Lily Kathleen (born 1996). Billy is an actor who trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has most notably appeared in the TV series ''Holby City'', ''Game of Thrones'', and ''Chernobyl''.

Postlethwaite was a lifelong supporter of Liverpool FC.

Postlethwaite was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1990, and had his right testicle removed. He was a smoker from the age of ten until his death. In a March 2009 interview with ''Scotland on Sunday'', the actor referred to his smoking habit, stating: "We've got to hope the next generation will do things differently. I'm sure that in 20 years' time the kids will say: 'Can you believe that people actually used to smoke – put these funny little things in their mouths, lit them and sucked all that crap into their lungs?"

Postlethwaite appeared as a taxi driver in one of the Labour Party's political broadcasts during the 1997 general election. He marched in London against the Iraq War in 2003. He was an activist calling for action to prevent climate change. At the UK premiere of ''The Age of Stupid'' on 16 November 2009, he told then-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband that he would return his OBE and vote for any party other than Labour if the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station was given the go-ahead by the government.

Illness and death

Postlethwaite died of pancreatic cancer at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on 2 January 2011, and was survived by his wife and children. The cancer had been diagnosed in March 2009. Postlethwaite continued acting almost to the end of 2010, showing clear signs of weight loss during his last performances. In his last two years, he worked on his memoir ''A Spectacle of Dust'' with Andy Richardson. It was published on 1 June 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Daily Telegraph Obituary
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Postlethwaite, Pete
1946 births
2011 deaths
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
English male film actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male stage actors
Male actors from Lancashire
English male television actors
English Roman Catholics
Labour Party (UK) people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Male actors from Warrington
People from West Itchenor