Pete Postlethwaite

Infobox actor
birthname = Peter William Postlethwaite
birthdate = birth date and age|1945|2|7
birthplace = Warrington, England
yearsactive = 1975 - present
occupation = Actor
spouse = Jacqueline Morrish (1987-)
awards = NBR Award for Best Cast
1995 "The Usual Suspects"

Peter William Postlethwaite OBE (born February 7, 1945 [cite web | url=http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800020217&cf=biog&intl=us | title=Pete Postlethwaite Biography | publisher = Yahoo! Movies | accessdate=2007-05-08] ; IPA: 'pɒsəlθweɪt) is an Academy Award-nominated English actor.

Biography

Early life

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 St. Mary's College, Strawberry Hill and did not enroll in acting classes until he was 24. Postlethwaite started his career at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and 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.

Career

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 "Alien³", "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", [cite news | first=Phil | last=Hogan | coauthors= | title=Pete's progress | date=October 1, 2000 | publisher= | url =http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,375560,00.html | work =The Observer | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-25 | language = ] 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.'" [cite news | first=Dominic | last=Cavendish | co-authors= | title= The poet in Pete's soul | date=April 25 2007 | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/04/25/btpete125.xml | work =Telegraph Co UK | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-25 | language = ]

He was made an OBE in the 2004 New Year's Honours List. One of his most notable roles was as the much-hated Obadiah Hakeswill in ITV's Sharpe series, which starred Sean Bean. Pete has said that this was one of his favourite roles and that he and Sean played so well off each other because of their mutual love and respect for each other. Pete also co-starred with Sean Bean in "When Saturday Comes".

Set for release in February 2009, Pete Postlethwaite stars in The Age of Stupid as the Archivist set in 2055, looking back and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance? Having recently installed a wind turbine in his garden, he was also really impressed by the enviro-film he stars in: [http://www.ageofstupid.net/video/making_of_petes_reaction] - he also spoke about his role on the Channel Four news: [http://www.ageofstupid.net/video/channel_4_news_16th_feb_2008]

He lives in Shropshire with his wife and their two children.

Filmography

* "Afternoon Off" (1979) (TV)
* "A Private Function" (1984)
* "Distant Voices, Still Lives" (1988)
* "Treasure Island" (1990) (TV)
* "Hamlet" (1990)
* "The Grass Arena" (1991)
* "Alien³" (1992)
* "Split Second" (1992)
* "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992)
* "In the Name of the Father" (1993)
* "Sharpe's Company" (1994) (TV)
* "Suite 16" (1994)
* "Sharpe's Enemy" (1994) (TV)
* "Martin Chuzzlewit" (1994) (TV)
* "The Usual Suspects" (1995)
* "When Saturday Comes" (1996)
* "Brassed Off" (1996)
* "Dragonheart" (1996)
* "James and the Giant Peach" (1996)
* "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" (1996)
* "Bastard (Bandyta)" (1997)
* "" (1997)
* "Among Giants" (1998)
* "Alice in Wonderland " (1999)
* "Wayward Son " (1999)
* "Animal Farm" (1999)
* "The Divine Ryans" (1999)
* "Rat" (2000)
* "The Shipping News" (2001)
*"Strange Bedfellows" (2004)
* "Dark Water (2005)
* "Æon Flux (2005)
* "The Constant Gardener (2005)
* "The Omen (2006)
* "Closing the Ring" (2007)
* "Liyarn Ngarn" [cite web | url=http://www.antar.org.au/liyarn_ngarn | title=Liyarn Ngyarn | publisher = Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation | accessdate=2008-08-08] (2007)
* "Solomon Kane" (2008)
* "Criminal Justice" (2008) (TV)
* The Age of Stupid (2009)

References

External links

*imdb name | id=0000592 | name=Pete Postlethwaite