Pete Postlethwaite obituary "best actor in the world"

[Swagman]

Source: The Guardian

Peter William Postlethwaite, actor, born 16 February 1946; died 2 January 2011

Oscar-nominated British actor with a vast range who could move between comedy and tragedy with ease

The actor Pete Postlethwaite had a face that elicited many similes, among them "a stone archway" and "a bag of spanners". These unflattering descriptions, plus his tongue-twisting surname, would suggest an actor with a career limited to minor supporting roles. But Postlethwaite, who has died of cancer aged 64, played a vast range of characters, often leading roles, on stage, television and film.

He was at ease in switching the masks of tragedy and comedy. The working-class martinet father he played in Terence Davies's film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), which Postlethwaite credited as his big break, can be seen as paradigmatic of his career. Postlethwaite powerfully conveyed the father's double-sided nature: at one moment he is tenderly kissing his children goodnight, the next he is ripping the tablecloth off in a rage.

Postlethwaite was Oscar-nominated as best supporting actor for his performance in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father (1993). He portrayed Patrick "Guiseppe" Conlon, one of the Maguire Seven, who in 1976 was sentenced to 12 years in prison for possessing nitroglycerine to be used for IRA bombs. Guiseppe died in prison in 1980; his conviction was overturned 11 years later.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jan/03/pete-postlethwaite-obituary

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Steven Spielberg : "he was the best actor in the world"

[Doctor_J]

1. I just watched "Inception" last week. He was in that

Also enjoyed him in Usual Suspects and Brassed Off.