Britain has lost one of its finest actors, as Pete Postlethwaite has died from cancer at the age of just 64.
As you may already have heard, the actor Pete Postlethwaite has died at the age of 64. He had been ill with cancer for some time, and he passed away on 2nd January. It's a rotten way to start 2011.
I used to love the fact that, particularly in the early to mid-90s, Pete Postlethwaite turned up in quite so many impressive films. His Oscar-nominated performance in In The Name Of The Father is rightly one of the most remembered, but I thought his performance in Brassed Off! was just as good, personally.
On top of that, Postlethwaite also spent the 90s appearing in the likes of Amistad, The Usual Suspects, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Romeo + Juliet, James And The Giant Peach and even the mightily good fun When Saturday Comes.
The best for me, though, was having the privilege of seeing Postlethwaite on stage, playing Macbeth at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. My memories of the production itself aren't particularly fond, but my recollection of his performance was that it was mesmeric. Genuinely brilliant.
Postlethwaite was one of our very finest actors, and our thoughts are with his family at this time. Our memories are with a collection of terrific performances that Postlethwaite turned in, which will be enjoyed for many decades to come.