Pete Postlethwaite Dies January 2, 2011

Award Winning British actor Pete Postlethwaite peacefully passed away January 2, 2011 after his long battle with cancer. Despite his illness Postlethwaite appeared in three films in 2010 as certainly one of the hardest working actors of the year.

Postlethwaite acted in theater, television and appeared in over 50 films since 1975. He was inducted as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2004 additional to being nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1993.

The often gruff, yet powerful actor made his breakthrough role in the film "Distant Voices, Still Lives" as an abusive father. The film from Terence Davies was largely autobiographical and Postlethwaite evoked his father with tremendous fury.

The strength of Postlethwaite's performance was later matched in the 1994 biographical film, "In the Name of the Father", in which he also played a father. His role as Giuseppe Conlon showcased the inner-strength of a wrongly convicted Irish father and son. Postlethwaite played the father of Gerry Conlon, portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis and is one of the few actors capable of handling such a powerful role next to Day-Lewis.

"In the Name of the Father" garnered Postlethwaite an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor along with a Best Actor nomination for Daniel Day-Lewis. Two years prior Postlethwaite and Day-Lewis shared the screen in "The Last of the Mohicans."

After being nominated, Postlethwaite was also revered for his role as the enigmatic lawyer Mr. Kobayashi in "The Usual Suspects." The following year Postlethwaite had one of his most productive years appearing in 6 films including "Dragonheart", "Brassed Off" and as Father Lawrence in "Romeo + Juliet."

Postlethwaite had a fruitful relationship with Steven Spielberg appearing in his Jurassic Park sequel "The Lost World" and his historical film "Amistad." Spielberg famously said that Postlethwaite was "probably the best actor in the world today."

Postlethwaite notably acted in films such as the award-winning "The Shipping News", Walter Salles horror film "Dark Water" and Fernando Meirelles's award-winning "The Constant Gardner." He had a Shakespearean presence as with his role in "Romeo + Juliet" and portraying the Player King in the 1990 adaptation of "Hamlet" with Mel Gibson. It was that same year that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but was also a self-confessed smoker since the age of ten .

Although battling cancer off and on for nearly 20 years, Postlethwaite never lost his domineering screen presence. Reuniting with "Romeo + Juliet" star Leonardo DiCaprio in 2010, Postlethwaite eerily played the dying father of Robert Fischer in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller "Inception." Though, one would never guess the actor was weak seeing him in Ben Affleck's crime thriller "The Town." Always immaculate, Postlethwaite played the Charlestown crime ringleader posing as a neighborhood Florist.

Postlethwaite was also one of the few shining moments of the 3D Adventure remake of "Clash of Titans" portraying Spyros, the human surrogate father of Perseus. The actor often captured father-figure roles, whether as masterminds, endearing providers of tough-love or raging lunatics. Postlethwaite was himself a Titan on the screen; equally bringing fire and finesse to a number of masterful films.