Pete Postlethwaite

PHOTO GALLERY
Date of Birth : Feb 16th 1946

Postlethwaite was born in Warrington, England, the son of Mary Geraldine and William Postlethwaite. He followed a normal educational upbringing, attending West Park Catholic Grammar School, St Helens and did not enroll in acting classes until he was 24. Postlethwaite was a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company and other acting troupes by the time he became known in the United States through his film and television roles. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Postlethwaite’s first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role in In the Name of the Father in 1993. He is also well known for his role as Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill in the period television drama series, Sharpe, alongside Sean Bean. His performance as the mysterious lawyer “Kobayashi” in The Usual Suspects is also well-known, and he later made appearances in several successful films, including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Amistad, Brassed Off, The Shipping News and The Constant Gardener. In 2003, he was both the physical and vocal actor for the villain Deeth in Zixx: Level One, a Canadian TV series created by IDT Entertainment.

Steven Spielberg called Pete Postlethwaite “the best actor in the world”, of which Postlethwaite says: “I’m sure what Spielberg actually said was, ‘The thing about Pete is that he thinks he’s the best actor in the world.'”

He was made an OBE in the 2004 New Year’s Honours List.

Sadly Pete passed away from pancreatic cancer on the 2nd of January 2011.