Pete Postlethwaite, the Oscar-nominated star of such films as "In the Name of the Father" who turned in typically subtle, powerful performances in last year's "Inception" and "The Town," died in central England Sunday after a long fight with cancer. He was 64.
Few actors end their lives with two back-to-back roles as strong as Postlethwaite's in "Inception" and "The Town": In the first, he was vulnerable but unwavering, admirable and pitiable all at once. In the other, he was coolly terrifying.
The actor, whose bright eyes, prominent nose and sharp features helped him play mirthful and malicious characters alike, turned in powerful performances this year as a dying industrialist in "Inception" and a ruthless crime lord posing as a simple florist in "The Town." He first captured widespread attention — as well as a best supporting actor Oscar nomination — in 1993's "In the Name of the Father" opposite Daniel Day-Lewis.
That film showed Postlethwaite at his most sympathetic. But the next year's "The Usual Suspects" demonstrated his way with quiet brutality. The mysterious lawyer "Kobayashi," like Postlethwaite's rose-clipping thug in "The Town," orchestrates crimes from behind the scenes, telling the titular suspects that their loved ones will endure vile recriminations if they don't do exactly as he says.
Steven Spielberg, who directed him in 1997's "The Lost World" reportedly once called him "the best actor in the world" — a compliment Postlethwaite joked had been misunderstood.
"That quote should be put down for ever," he told The Telegraph. "I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, 'The thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.'"
The stage, television and film star also turned in notable turns in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo+Juliet," Spielberg's "Amistad," and Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardner," among many others.
