WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers

Born: 7th February 1946

Died: 2nd January 2011 (age 64)

The fourth child of Mary and William Postlethwaite, Peter William Postlethwaite, was born in Warrington, Lancashire.  He attended West Park Grammar School in Merseyside before retaking his O-Levels (precursors to GCSEs for you youngsters) then continued on to study his A-Levels before studying to become a teacher of Physical Education and Drama at St Mary’s College in London’s Strawberry Hill. He found his love for acting and studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School when he was 24. He also learnt his craft at Liverpool Everyman, Manchester Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He started acting with the occasional role on TV in the mid 70s his first TV lead came about ten years later in BBC’s Play for Today: The Muscle Market and his first film role came in 1988 in Distant Voices, Still Lives – a film which won a couple of awards and is ranked third in Time Out’s list of the 100 greatest British films of all time.

I’m not going to talk about Mr Postlethwaite’s role Inception, mainly because it’s one line and a death scene; although he is very convincing with his death he does not flinch as the room shakes – total commitment! Its about two minutes of screen time so I’ll move on to the second film in his list which is The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Anyone that takes The Lost World: Jurassic Park as a serious film has to be deluded but that is how Postlethwaite plays big game hunter Roland Tembo and he makes you think there could be more to this than another “let’s bring dinosaurs to the world for all to see” film – there isn’t by the way but he could make you believe it! Roland sort of becomes a hero he takes charge and unites both research teams in their survival and all with only a little hint of his Lancashire accent – the way he says his parting words just wouldn’t have sounded right otherwise  – “No thank you… I believe I’ve spent enough time in the company of death.” – and is probably one of the best parting shots anyone could make! Next we have another small role for Mr Postlethwaite and what a talent Louis Letterier has wasted in this remake of Clash of the Titans! Postlethwaite’s Spyros is only in it for about five minutes; alright he saves the baby Perseus (our hero in this story) but what else? No, Postlethwaite’s voice alone says that he should be playing one of the Gods! As his third film we have a film I have watched countless times and every time I watch it I think Postlethwaite has a bigger role? I think it goes down to the presence the man has, even when not speaking, as in fact his first piece of conversation is about the hour mark and he dies 30 odd minutes later! Alien3 has a star-studded cast – a majority of whom are British – and David (his character) does have some cracking lines especially “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!” whilst looking for the creature so I guess its not such a stretch to remember him as having more of a role. This fourth film was Postlethwaite’s penultimate screen appearance. He plays Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm, a florist, in The Town. Have to admit I was starting to expect that this would also have to be bumped from the list as it wasn’t until an hour into the film that we really get to know his character – he’s a very angry Irish florist! I know that he has played ‘baddies’ before but his portrayal of Fergus Colm is quite exceptional – the way he rips the leaves and thorns off the roses as he tells Doug about his mother is vicious – and quite threatening. I was so happy that I was not able to use Inception for this article (two scenes, one line and a death, however convincing, does not a starring role make) because I got to watch Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, a good interpretation that uses Shakespeare’s words in a modern setting (most modernisations do not use the Bard’s words as written). Casting in some areas is a little weak but not in the case of Postlethwaite as Father Laurence. He has the presence of any actor that is more renowned for Shakespeare and he is the only actor to speak in iambic pentameter, as Shakespeare should be spoken. You forget how much influence Father Laurence has on the whole story and Postlethwaite’s presence can carry such a role.

To be honest there are several films I could say have my favourite Postlethwaite character; the enthusiastic monk, Brother Gilbert of GIockenspur, in DragonHeart and his Father Laurence is one of best thing about Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. But I do love the character of Danny in Brassed Off. As soon as Danny appears on the screen it makes me smile then later on, I’m in tears. Humour, passion and emotion all exude from him in a highly emotional, yet funny, comedy drama set around the Grimley Colliery Band and the tentative future of the mine itself. Surrounded by a strong cast there is no lead in this film (apart from the Brass band itself played mainly by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band – who this film is based on) but for me it is the passion that Pete brings to his final speech that shows how good an actor he is – I say for me but the band Chumbawamba must have felt the same as they sampled it for the beginning of their 1997 single ‘Tubthumping’.

Pete Postlethwaite was never an award winning actor even though Steven Spielberg once said that he was “the best actor in the world” (a comment which Postlethwaite himself supposedly deflected as that what he meant to say was, ‘The thing about Pete is that he thinks he’s the best actor in the world’). He was nominated for several of his roles including posthumously for his role of Fergus in The Town but lost out to Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech). He was also very active in raising awareness about Climate Change, installing a wind turbine at his home and threatening to hand back his OBE (awarded in 2004) if the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station was given the go-ahead by the Labour government – he had previously appeared in a Labour Party political broadcast in 1997.

In 1990 Pete Postlethwaite was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had his right testicle removed. Nineteen years later he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer he died three years later leaving behind a wife, his son and daughter. His son, William ‘Billy’ Postlethwaite, is also an actor.