Oscar-nominated British actor Pete Postlethwaite has died at the age of 64 after a long battle with cancer.
Pete Postlethwaite pictured in 1997
The Warrington-born actor was one of Britain’s most talented actors and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1993 drama ‘In the Name of the Father’.
Starring alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father told the story of the wrongful imprisonment of Gerry and Guiseppe Conlon following the IRA’s Guildford pub bombings.
Despite a lengthy battle with illness, Postlethwaite continued to appear in major Hollywood movies, most recently in the critically-acclaimed and Oscar-tipped Inception and The Town.
Other notable movies, the talented star appeared in include The Usual Suspects, Romeo and Juliet and Brassed Off.
He was once described by director Steven Spielberg as “the best actor in the world”. The two worked together in the 1997 blockbuster The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Mr Postlethwaite, who was made a CBE in 2004, passed away peacefully in a Shropshire hospital near his home.
His death had met with great sadness on Twitter.
Actor and writer Stephen Fry tweeted: “The loss of the great Pete Postlethwaite is a very sad way to begin a year.”
