Oscar-nominated Postlethwaite dies

LONDON – Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite, a craggy-faced British character actor described by director Steven Spielberg as “the best actor in the world,” has died at age 64 after a long battle with cancer.

Friend and journalist Andrew Richardson said Monday that Postlethwaite died in a hospital Sunday.

The actor was instantly recognizable for his unusually shaped face – with prominent cheekbones that gave him a lean, rugged look – and his intense eyes. He was not conventionally handsome like many film stars but had a powerful presence and authenticity on screen and on stage.

Like many English actors, Postlethwaite started his career on stage, performing at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool and working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He branched out into movies and television work in the 1980s, most often taking roles as an occasionally menacing working-class figure.

He reached what some viewed as his professional peak when he received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in “In the Name of the Father,” a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson. Postlethwaite played Day-Lewis’ father in the drama about the complex ramifications of Day-Lewis’ forced confession to an IRA bombing he didn’t commit.

He had recently been seen in the critically acclaimed film “Inception” and had worked with Spielberg on “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Amistad” in performances that sparked the extravagant compliment from Spielberg.