Pete Postlethwaite

The movies lost a wonderful face and a wonderful actor Sunday. Born in Warrington, in Cheshire, England, actor, activist and Oscar nominee Pete Postlethwaite died of cancer in a hospital in Shropshire, at age 64. He is survived by a wife, a son, a daughter and long list of film and TV credits, ranging from Dickens on television to "The Usual Suspects" on screen.

In close-up Postlethwaite came at you like a series of fascinating outcroppings, a bulbous, W.C. Fieldsian nose framed by ruddy, sharply defined cheekbones. His eyes, at once sad and vibrant, often seemed on the verge of tears. If you haven't seen "Brassed Off" (1996), do; it's one of the best ways you can pay tribute to the man Steven Speilberg (who cast him in "The Lost World" and "Amistad") once called "probably the best actor in the world today."

Hyperbole? Maybe, but you can see why Spielberg was crazy for him. Here was a hard-working, distinctive, forceful presence, as far from Hollywood generica as an actor can be. Spielberg and others were already aware of his talent. And one of the nicest things a world-class director can do for a one-of-a-kind mug like Postlethwaite's is introduce it to a wider international audience.

Postlethwaite was on screen all year last year, practically, doing the best circumstances allowed in the remake of "Clash of the Titans"; toning up a strong ensemble in "Inception"; and dining out on a larger role in the Boston bank robbery thriller "The Town." To date, his sole Oscar nomination — he may yet pull a second one, posthumously, for "The Town" — came for his fervent, salt-of-the-earth portrayal of Irish Republican Army activist Gerry Conlon's father in the Jim Sheridan film "In the Name of the Father." The scenes between Postlethwaite and Daniel Day-Lewis were live wires of interplay between a couple of well-matched, stage-trained, emotionally volatile artists.

Two years ago Postlethwaite returned to his theatrical alma mater, the Everyman Theatre of Liverpool, to take on "King Lear." He did it for love, not money, just as he agitated against coal-powered power stations and drew attention to climate change not because it was good for his career, but for his sense of purpose. What does that sort of progressive politicking have to do with acting? With this actor, I think, a great deal.
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In "Brassed Off," a film about British miners Thatchered out of a job and mad as hell, he played the brass band leader who turns down the national trophy in protest. "This government," his character says from the podium, "has systematically destroyed an entire industry — our industry. And not just our industry — our communities, our homes, our lives. All in the name of progress. And for a few lousy bob." It's standard-issue rabble-rousing from one angle, but the way Postlethwaite plays it, the scene becomes something else. It's perfectly balanced between outrage and sorrow. The actor clearly had no trouble accessing the feelings needed to make the speech connect with an audience. He also had the technique to suppress as much emotion as he expressed, so that we watch a good, stubborn man struggling to keep it together, while speaking from the heart.

He gave his all in each performance, sometimes (as in his death scene in "The Town") a little more than was needed. But he could never be mistaken for anyone else. And that, among other things, is what makes a memorable character actor a memorable character actor.



I, of course, will always worship him for his role in "The Usual Suspects"---- my
all-time favorite movie.