Vale: Pete Postlethwaite

UK charactor actor Pete Postlethwaite, best known for film roles in The Usual Suspects, Brassed Off and In the Name of the Father, has died aged 64.

He died peacefully in hospital having suffered from cancer for some time.

Postlethwaite chalked up a long list of assorted films since beginning his career in the mid 70s. They include Distant Voices, Still Lives, Hamlet, Alien 3, The Last of the Mohicans, Suite 16, James and the Giant Peach, Dragonheart, Crimetime, Romeo + Juliet, The Serpent’s Kiss, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Amistad, Wayward Son, When the Sky Falls, The Shipping News, Between Strangers, Dark Water, The Constant Gardener, Æon Flux, Clash of the Titans and Inception.

In 2004 he played a taxman chasing Michael Caton and Paul Hogan in the Australian film Strange Bedfellows.

He received an Oscar nomination for his performance as Guiseppe Conlon in the 1993 film In The Name Of The Father. He is also remembered as the menacing criminal mastermind Kobayashi in the 1995 hit film The Usual Suspects.

But Postlethwaite was also prolific in television with early roles in Last of the Summer Wine, Going Straight and Coronation Street, later followed with Tales of Sherwood Forest, Boon, Zorro, Between the Lines, Minder, Casualty, Pie in the Sky, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Sins and Criminal Justice.

He also appeared in many telemovies including Cyrano de Bergerac, Tumbledown, Treasure Island, A Child from the South, Sharpe’s Company, Alice in Wonderland, Butterfly Collectors, Animal Farm and Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion.

He once said of acting, “At the end of the day, acting is all about telling lies. We are professional imposters and the audience accept that. We’ve made this deal that we tell you a tale and a pack of lies, but there will be a truth in it. You may enjoy it, or it will disturb you.”

He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.

Source: The Guardian, IMDb