Portrait of Pete Postlethwaite

Pete Postlethwaite

Acting

Biography

Pete Postlethwaite (February 7, 1946 – January 2, 2011) was an English stage, film and television actor. After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr. Kobayashi, in The Usual Suspects, and he appeared in Alien 3, In the Name of the Father, Amistad, Brassed Off, The Shipping News, The Constant Gardener, The Age of Stupid, Inception, The Town, Romeo + Juliet, and Æon Flux. In television, Postlethwaite's most notable performance was as the villain Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill in the Sharpe television series and television movies opposite actor Sean Bean's character of Richard Sharpe. Postlethwaite was born in Warrington, England in 1946. He trained as a teacher and taught drama before training as an actor. Steven Spielberg called Postlethwaite "the best actor in the world" after working with him on The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role in In the Name of the Father in 1993, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year's Honours List. He died of pancreatic cancer.

Born: February 7, 1946

Place of Birth: Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK

Filmography

2011
2010
The Town

as Fergus "Fergie" Colm

2010
Inception

as Maurice Fischer

2010
2009
Solomon Kane

as William Crowthorn

2009
The Age of Stupid

as The Archivist

2008
2007
2007
Ghost Son

as Doc

2006
The Omen

as Father Brennan

2006
2005
Æon Flux

as Keeper

2005
2005
Dark Water

as Veeck

2005
Red Mercury

as Gold Commander

2004
The Limit

as Gale

2004
Strange Bedfellows

as Russell McKenzie (taxman)

2002
Cowboy Up

as Reid Braxton

2002
Triggermen

as Ben Cutler

2001
The Shipping News

as Tert Card

2001
2000
2000
Sins

as Len Green

2000
Rat

as Hubert Flynn

2000
When the Sky Falls

as Martin Shaughnessy

1999
Animal Farm

as Benjamin (voice) / Farmer Jones (voice)

1999
Wayward Son

as Ben Alexander

1999
Butterfly Collectors

as John McKeown

1999
1999
Lost for Words

as Deric Longden

1999
The Divine Ryans

as Uncle Reg Ryan

1998
1997
Amistad

as Holabird

1997
Brute

as Sincai

1997
Sharpe: The Legend

as Hakeswill

1997
The Serpent's Kiss

as Thomas Smith

1996
Brassed Off

as Danny

1996
Romeo + Juliet

as Father Laurence

1996
Crimetime

as Sidney

1996
DragonHeart

as Gilbert

1996
1996
When Saturday Comes

as Ken Jackson

1995
The Usual Suspects

as Kobayashi

1994
Suite 16

as Glover

1994
Martin Chuzzlewit

as Tigg Montague

1994
Sharpe's Enemy

as Obadiah Hakeswill

1994
Sharpe's Company

as Obadiah Hakeswill

1994
Sin Bin

as Mitch

1994
Pie in the Sky

as Kevin Tasker

1993
In the Name of the Father

as Giuseppe Conlon

1993
Anchoress

as William Carpenter

1993
Sharpe

as Obadiah Hakeswill

1992
1992
Between the Lines

as Ch. Supt. Jameson

1992
The Last of the Mohicans

as Captain Beams

1992
Waterland

as Henry Crick

1992
Alien³

as David

1992
Split Second

as Paulsen

1992
The Grass Arena

as The Dipper

1991
1990
Hamlet

as Player King

1990
Needle

as Paula's Father

1990
Treasure Island

as George Merry

1990
Zorro

as Bandit

1988
1988
Number 27

as Becket

1988
1988
Tumbledown

as Major (Rehabilitation Centre)

1987
Coast to Coast

as Kecks McGuinness

1986
Casualty

as Ralph Peters

1986
Casualty

as Hank

1986
Lovejoy

as Terence Sullivan

1985
1985
Screen Two

as Panter

1985
Screen Two

as Kecks McGuinness

1985
Screen Two

as The Dipper

1985
Screen Two

as Mitch

1984
1984
Mitch

as Jack Frost

1983
Fords on Water

as Winston's Boss

1981
1981
The Muscle Market

as Danny Duggan

1979
Minder

as Jack Wragg

1979
Minder

as Logie

1979
Afternoon Off

as Attendant in Art Gallery

1978
Doris and Doreen

as Mr. Lomax

1978
Going Straight

as Thomas Clifford Crowther

1977
The Duellists

as Orderly shaving Gen. Treillard

1976
1976
Occupy!

as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool

1975
Thwum

as Duffy

1975
The Racer

as Ecco

1973
1970
Play for Today

as Danny Duggan

1953
The Oscars

as Self

1949