Pete Postlethwaite, the actor Spielberg called 'the best in the world,' dies aged 64

By Donna Mcconnell for MailOnline
Updated: 12:48 EDT, 3 January 2011

• Star of Brassed Off and The Usual Suspects passes away peacefully in hospital
  
• Earned Oscar nomination for father of member of Guildford Four
• Ex-partner Julie Walters leads tributes
  

Veteran British actor Pete Postlethwaite, best known for his roles in films Brassed Off and In The Name Of The Father, has died aged 64.

Mr Postlethwaite underwent treatment for testicular cancer after being diagnosed with the condition in 1990.

Journalist and friend Andrew Richardson said the star passed away peacefully in hospital in Shropshire yesterday following a lengthy illness.

At peace: Pete Postlethwaite seen at The Chelsea Flower Show last year, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer

Classic: Postlethwaite, left, and Ewan McGregor at the 1997 New York premiere for Brassed Off

The 64-year-old star of Hollywood blockbusters Jurassic Park, and The Usual Suspects had continued to work until recent months despite receiving treatment for cancer.

Last year, he appeared in blockbuster Inception and gritty film drama The Town and his last film, Killing Bono, is set for release in April.

He was treated at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and recently paid tribute to the staff there, telling the Shropshire Star: 'They have been wonderful and I am grateful to them. I cannot thank them enough for everything that they have done for me.'

Leading the tributes, his actor friend Bill Nighy said: 'I was honoured by his friendship - he is irreplaceable.'

Career changing: Postlethwaite starred alongside Oscar-winner Daniel Day Lewis in 1993 film In The Name Of The Father as Giuseppe Conlon

Hollywood calling: Postlethwaite as Kobayashi alongside Gabriel Byrne, and Stephen Baldwin in movie classic The Usual Suspects

The Warrington-born star started out touring pubs in with the Everyman Theatre group, where he met former girlfriend Julie Walters in 1974. They were together for five years.

She said today he was a 'big part' of her early life as an actor.

Walters said: 'He was quite simply the most exciting, exhilarating actor of his generation.

'He invented "edgy". He was an exhilarating person and actor. Spielberg was right when he said he was the best actor in the world.

'I saw him in Coriolanus and it was the most terrifying, wonderful performance I have ever seen. The audience were privileged to see it.'

Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four, praised Postlethwaite's portrayal of his dying father, Guiseppe.

Family man: Postlethwaite with his wife Jacqueline Moorish and their children William and Lily at the 2009 premiere of his film The Age Of Stupid

'I have to say when he played him he obviously lost a bit of weight but he was so, so believable.

There were times when he turned and these quirky mannerisms that he performed it was like looking at my dad,' Mr Conlon said.

'I don't think anyone else could have played my father. People now look at In The Name of Father and when Pete comes on he's automatically Guiseppe. And I think that is great testament to his acting ability,' Conlon told RTE Radio.

Stephen Fry wrote on Twitter: 'The loss of the great Pete Postlethwaite is a very sad way to begin a year.'

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: 'So sad to hear of Pete Postlethwaite's death. Brassed Off and The Age Of Stupid had a real effect on me and our Government.'

Writer Neil McCormick, who worked with the actor in his last film Killing Bono, wrote on Twitter: 'RIP Pete Postlethwaite. We were privileged to have him in Killing Bono when he knew the end was near. Such a sweet, funny performance too.'

Friends in high places: Sophia Loren kisses Postlethwaite during a photocall for their 2002 film Between Strangers at the Venice Film festival

Mr Postlethwaite, who was made an OBE in the 2004 New Year's Honours List, was once described by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg as 'the best actor in the world'.

They worked together on The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad.

To which Mr Postlethwaite responded: '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 actor has appeared in a string of box office hits including In The Name Of the Father, The Usual Suspects and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet.

Born to a Catholic family of four, Postlethwaite originally intended to have a career in the church.

In was as he served as an altar boy, he discovered his love of performing.

He started his working life as a school teacher, before focusing on his love of acting.

And his screen work began with bit parts in Coronation Street, Minder and Casualty.

It was when he was working as artistic director at the The Little Theatre Company in Bristol, he forged a friendship with Daniel Day Lewis, going on to star in several films together.

Proud: Postlethwaite with son William, daughter Lily and wife Jacqui, with his OBE for services to drama at Buckingham Palace in 2004

In 1980, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and met the Queen following a performance of The Taming Of The Shrew.

He later admitted his meeting with the Queen finally convinced his mother to accept his acting career: 'My mother always thought that acting was a phase, she assumed I'd go back to teaching at some point. But when she saw me with the Queen, she finally accepted that I was serious about it.'

He worked steadily, taking small roles in Last of the Mohicans and Alien 3 before landing the career-changing role of Giuseppe Conlon in the 1993 film In The Name Of The Father.

His portrayal of Conlon, whose son Gerry was wrongly convicted of the Guildford Four pub bombings, earned him an Oscar nomination.

Final swansong: Postlethwaite's last film role is in the upcoming Killing Bono, alongside Ben Barnes (left) and Robert Sheehan (right)

A role in The Usual Suspects followed, before he played the priest Father Laurence in Baz Luhrmann's modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

In 2004, he was made an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List and received an honorary degree from Liverpool University in 2006.

In an interview two years ago, the actor admitted he turned down a role in Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York because they wanted him to work for 'less than union rate'.

One of his last roles: Postlethwaite played a gangster posing as a florist in crime drama The Town last year

The actor lived with his wife of seven years - former BBC producer - Jacqui Moorish, and their two children, William, 21, a drama student at LAMDA, and daughter Lily, 14, in an environmentally-friendly house in Shropshire.

The couple met in 1986 when Postlethwaite was starring in a BBC drama, for which she was a floor manager.

During their first date, at a pub in Liverpool, he told her: 'I think you had better live with me for the rest of my life.'

He modestly laughed off Spielberg's famous quote saying 'it sounds like an advert for lager and it's only one man's opinion'.

Probably the best actor in the world: Postlethwaite starred in Steven Spielberg's 1997 sequel to Jurassic Park, The Lost World