Pete Postlethwaite

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Birthday:

7 February 1946, Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK

Birth Name:

Peter William Postlethwaite

Height:

175 cm

Classically-trained actor Pete Postlethwaite was born Peter William Postlethwaite in 1946 and was a distinguished character actor on stage, TV and film. Growing up in Warrington, Lancashire amid middle-class surroundings, he went to college and while completing his studies developed an interest in theatre, to the chagrin of his family. His father, a laborer, wanted him to find a more secure position in life.A drama teacher initially, 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, Machester Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company. By the 80s he was ready to branch out into film and TV, giving a startling performance as a wife abuser in the British film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988). His highly distinctive features were subsequently put to good use in a number of versatile roles, usually menacing but sometimes humble, and most frequently as working-class types.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). Television has been a creative and positive venue as well with fine work 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, living quietly in England.Postlethwaite 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). 2010 was a banner film year for the actor with roles in the popular and/or highly acclaimed films Clash of the Titans (2010), Inception (2010) and The Town (2010). Married and the father of two, Postlewaite died on January 2, 2011, at age 64, following a recurrence of the cancer he had battled two decades earlier. Show less «

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 th...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 clavi...Show more »

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?' Show less «

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'...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 pow...Show more »

[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. Show less «

We've got to hope the next generation will do things differently. I'm sure that in 20 years' time the kids will say, 'Can you believe that p...Show more »

We've got to hope the next generation will do things differently. I'm sure that in 20 years' time the kids will say, 'Can you believe that people actually used to smoke - put these funny little things in their mouths, lit them and sucked all that crap into their lungs?'. Show less «