- Born
- Died
- Birth namePeter William Postlethwaite
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- An oddly fascinating bloke with prominent bony cheeks and rawboned figure, Peter William (Pete) Postlethwaite was born on February 16, 1946 and was a distinguished character actor on stage, TV and film. Growing up the youngest of four siblings in a Catholic family in Warrington, Lancashire (near Liverpool) in middle-class surroundings to working-class parents, he attended St Mary's University (London). However, while completing his studies, he developed an interest in theatre, to the chagrin of his father, who wanted his children to find secure positions in life.
A drama teacher initially at a Catholic girls convent school, he decided to follow his acting instincts full-time and gradually built up an impressive array of classical stage credits via repertory, including the Bristol Old Vic Drama School, and in stints with Liverpool Everyman, Manchester Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company. By the 1980s he was ready to branch out into film and TV, giving a startling performance as a wife abuser in the Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988).
By 1993 he had crossed over into Hollywood parts and earned his first Oscar nomination for his superb role as Daniel Day-Lewis' father in In the Name of the Father (1993). Other quality roles came his way with The Usual Suspects (1995), Brassed Off (1996), and Amistad (1997). He did fine work on television in Sharpe's Company (1994), Lost for Words (1999), and The Sins (2000). Postlethwaite worked equally both in the UK and abroad, and avoided the public limelight for the most part, except for occasional displays of political activism.
Postlethwaite lived quietly out of the spotlight in England and continued on in films with roles in The Shipping News (2001), The Limit (2004), Dark Water (2005), The Omen (2006), Ghost Son (2007) and Solomon Kane (2009). In 2010, he was seen in Clash of the Titans (2010), Inception (2010) and The Town (2010).
Postlewaite died on January 2, 2011, at age 64, of pancreatic cancer. He was surrounded by his wife and son, and by his daughter from a prior relationship.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpouseJacqueline Morrish(2003 - January 2, 2011) (his death, 2 children)
- ChildrenLily Kathleen Postlethwaite
- ParentsWilliam PostlethwaiteMary Postlethwaite
- RelativesMichael Postlethwaite(Sibling)Anne Postlethwaite(Sibling)Patricia Postlethwaite(Sibling)
- Often played very devious characters
- Distinctive gruff voice
- One of his biggest fans was Daniel Day-Lewis, who used to watch Postlethwaite perform on stage frequently during his impressionable years as a youngster. It was Day-Lewis who recommended him for the father role in In the Name of the Father (1993).
- He is the only actor in Romeo + Juliet (1996) who speaks in iambic pentameter, the rhythm of speech William Shakespeare's plays are written in.
- Steven Spielberg called him "The best actor in the world".
- Pete Postlethwaite was sought after for a role in Gangs of New York but turned it down when he was offered a reduced salary. He said "It was the biggest dream of my life to work with Scorsese but I thought it was a bit of a scam. Oh well." He also stated that his friends and previous co-stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio were not offered reduced salaries to star in the film.
- Postlethwaite's nose was broken when he played rugby as a child and was re-broken years later as an adult following several barroom brawls.
- 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.
- It's all in the cheekbones, this career of mine. They are quite whopping, aren't they? Who was it that said, 'He looks like he's got a clavicle stuck in his mouth?'
- I refuse to be typecast, and I'll have a go at anything so long as it's different, challenging, hard work and demands great versatility.
- My first agent wanted me to change [my name]. So I changed him instead. When I made a breakthrough as an actor, people started to say, 'Who's that bloke with the funny name?' They advised me to change it, saying it would never be put up in lights outside theaters because they couldn't afford the electricity. But I would never contemplate changing it. It's who I am. It's my mother and father, my whole family. It's where everything I am comes from. I couldn't imagine living my life with another name.
- [in a speech to Ed Miliband, then Climate Change Minister of the Labour government, on 16 March 2009] If you commission a new dirty coal power station at Kingsnorth, then you are clearly unfit to represent the people of Britain at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, and therefore I promise, very sadly, to return to Her Majesty The Queen the OBE that I was given in 2002, because I don't believe that I can be a real Officer of the British Empire if that's what is going to happen. Unfortunately I would *never* be able to vote for the Labour Party again. And I want you to tell that to the Party.
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