Pete Postlethwaite
1946-2011
This is so tragic considering the fact that Pete Postlethwaite was still working so steadily and he was only 64. I didn’t even know he had cancer, but sadly he succumbed to it on January 2nd. A highly skilled actor of both stage and screen, Pete Postlethwaite’s was a consummate pro no matter how big his role. With his cracked and wrinkled face, he was adept at playing villains or even emotionally distraught characters with the flick of a switch.
I’ll always remember him for what will probably go down as his best role, playing Daniel Day-Lewis’ father in the emotional drama In the Name of the Father. Though Postlethwaite was no stranger to other genres, other notable roles include; The Usual Suspects, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Amistad, The Constant Gardener, and most recently The Town and Inception. It kind of freaks me out that I just watched Inception and all Postlethwaite’s character does in it is die, that will always be chilling for me now.
Even in less than spectacular films like Alien 3 and The Clash of the Titans (2010, Postlethwaite was fun to watch, it didn’t matter what movie he was in, he always brought his best stuff and I will miss that.