Sad news to here this early in the year, but today it was announced that British character actor Pete Postlethwaite passed away yesterday in hospital after a long battle with cancer, he was 64 years old. The actor has recently had a very good year in 2010 featuring in albeit minor roles in Christopher Nolan’s masterly Inception and Ben Affleck’s very accomplished thriller The Town.
He remains one of cinema’s most enduring supporting performers, often adding a lot of gravitas to otherwise hollow productions. Steven Spielberg was even quoted as calling him: “the best actor in the world”. He was Oscar nominated for his role in Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father which catapulted him to fame. He also had memorable roles as the creepy lawyer Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects and as Father Laurence in Baz Luhrmann’s exuberant adaptation of Romeo + Juliet.
He of course did a long string of work in British cinema, taking more lead roles, being particularly memorable for the inspirational drama Brassed Off. He will be sadly missed as one the most powerful actors who managed to do so much with small roles.
