Oscar-nominated British actor Pete Postlethwaite has died at the age of 64, it was announced today. After a lengthy illness, the actor died peacefully in hospital in Shropshire.
Born in Warrington in 1946, Postlethwaite trained as a drama teacher before becoming an actor in the 1970s. His career began at the Liverpool Everyman theatre where he acted alongside Jonathan Pryce, Julie Waters and Antony Sher. In 2008 he returned to the theatre to star as King Lear in Rupert Goold’s production that transferred to the Young Vic the following year.
On stage, Postlethwaite worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Royal Court. His London theatre credits also included appearances in Favourite Nights and Having A Ball at the Lyric Hammersmith, the National Theatre’s The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, Richard II at the Phoenix theatre alongside Derek Jacobi, and The Duchess Of Malfi at the Roundhouse theatre. The actor also famously tackled the renowned one-man show Scaramouche Jones under the direction of Goold.
Postlethwaite was arguably best known for his screen work, which has seen him star alongside Hollywood heavyweights including actors Kevin Spacey and Leonardo DiCaprio, and directors Steven Spielberg and Bryan Singer.
The actor’s big break came in 1988 with Terence Davies’s film Distant Voices, Still Lives. Despite undergoing treatment for testicular cancer in 1990, his film career went from strength to strength and 1993 saw the actor receive an Academy Award nomination for his role in In The Name Of The Father. The actor then went on to star in cult film The Usual Suspects, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, The Constant Gardener, Brassed Off and, most recently, the science-fiction hit Inception.
Postlethwaite was made an OBE in 2004. Before his death he lived with his wife of seven years in Shropshire with whom he had two children.
CM