Pete Postlethwaite facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pete Postlethwaite OBE
Postlethwaite in July 2004
Born	Peter William Postlethwaite (1946-02-07)7 February 1946 Warrington, England
Died	2 January 2011(2011-01-02) (aged 64) Shrewsbury, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–2011
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Morrish ​ ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2, including Billy

Peter William Postlethwaite (born February 7, 1946 – died January 2, 2011) was a famous English actor. He was known for playing many different kinds of characters. People often called him a "character actor" because he was so good at transforming into his roles.

Pete Postlethwaite started with small TV parts. His big break came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988). He became well-known in Hollywood after playing David in Alien 3 (1992). His acting was so good that he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in In the Name of the Father. He also played the mysterious Mr. Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects.

On TV, he was known as Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill in Sharpe. Director Steven Spielberg even called him "the best actor in the world" after they worked together on Amistad (1997). Pete was honored with an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004. After he passed away, he was nominated for another award, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his work in The Town (2010).

Early Life and Education

Peter William Postlethwaite was born on February 7, 1946, in Warrington, England. His family was working class and Catholic. His father, William, worked as a cooper and school caretaker. Pete had an older brother, Michael, and two older sisters, Patricia and Anne. He often played Irish characters, which made some people think he was from Ireland.

Pete went to St Benedict's RC Junior School. He also attended West Park Grammar School in St Helens. He loved sports, especially rugby league. After school, he trained to be a teacher. He became the first male drama teacher at Loreto College in Manchester. He even thought about becoming a Catholic priest for a while. But in 1970, he decided to become an actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

His Acting Journey

When Pete first started acting, some people told him to change his last name. They thought "Postlethwaite" was too long for theater lights. But he chose to keep his name. He began his career at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. There, he worked with other famous actors like Bill Nighy and Julie Walters.

In 2003, Pete traveled to Australia and New Zealand. He performed in a one-man play called Scaramouche Jones. In this play, he acted as a clown trying to understand his life before he died. He received an award for his amazing solo performance. He also played every character in a 2008 production of King Lear.

The famous author Terry Pratchett once wrote that he imagined his character Sam Vimes as a younger version of Pete Postlethwaite. This shows how much Pete's acting inspired others.

Steven Spielberg famously called Pete "the best actor in the world." This was after they worked together on The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Pete joked that Spielberg probably meant, "The thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world."

Pete was very busy in his final years. He appeared in three films in 2010. He played Spyros in Clash of the Titans. He was also Maurice Fischer in the hit movie Inception. His role as crime boss Fergus "Fergie" Colm in The Town was highly praised. His very last film was Killing Bono, released after he passed away. The role was written especially for him because he was ill.

Standing Up for the Planet

Pete Postlethwaite was also known for his activism. He cared deeply about climate change. He even installed a wind turbine in his own garden. He wrote in The Sun newspaper about the serious dangers of climate change. He said, "The stakes [of climate change] are very, very high."

In 2009, at the premiere of his climate change film The Age of Stupid, he made a strong statement. He told Ed Miliband that he would return his OBE award. He also said he would vote against the Labour government if they allowed a new coal power station to be built. This showed how passionate he was about protecting the environment.

Personal Life

Pete Postlethwaite lived in West Itchenor before moving near Bishop's Castle. He was a big fan of the Liverpool FC football team his whole life. In 1987, he started a relationship with Jacqueline Morrish, a former BBC producer. They got married in 2003. They had two children: a son named Billy Postlethwaite (born in 1989), who also became an actor, and a daughter named Lily (born in 1996).

His Final Years

In March 2009, Pete Postlethwaite was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He continued to act for about a year and a half after his diagnosis. People could see he was losing weight in his last performances. He passed away on January 2, 2011, at the age of 64. He died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shrewsbury. In his last two years, he worked on a book about his life called A Spectacle of Dust. It was published in June 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Pete Postlethwaite para niños