Peter William Postlethwaite, OBE (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English actor of stage and screen. Although primarily a supporting actor, he regularly earned critical acclaim for his performances.
Director Steven Spielberg called him "the best actor in the world" after working with him on The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He received an Academy Award Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in In the Name of the Father, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours list.
Postlethwaite was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2009. He continued working as an actor until late 2010 despite his illness, and eventually passed away from complications related to the disease in January 2011. Less than a month after his death, he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ben Affleck's The Town (the only such accolade the film received).
His works include:
- The Duellists (1977) as Man Shaving General Treillard
- Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) as Tommy Davies
- Treasure Island (1990) as George Merry
- Hamlet (1990) as Player King
- Alien³ (1992) as David
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992) as Captain Beams
- In the Name of the Father (1993) as Giuseppe Conlon
- The Usual Suspects (1995) as Mr. Kobayashi
- James and the Giant Peach (1996) as Magic Man
- Dragonheart (1996) as Brother Gilbert of Glockenspur
- William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) as Father Lawrence
- Brassed Off (1996) as Danny
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) as Roland Tembo
- Amistad (1997) as William S. Holabird
- Alice in Wonderland (1999) as Carpenter
- Animal Farm (1999) as Jones/Benjamin
- Rat (2000) as Hubert Flynn R
- The Shipping News (2001) as Tert Card
- Strange Bedfellows (2004) as Russell McKenzie
- Dark Water (2005) as Veeck
- The Constant Gardener (2005) as Dr. Lorbeer/Dr. Brandt
- Æon Flux (2005) as Keeper
- The Omen (2006) as Father Brennan
- The Age of Stupid (2009) as The Archivist
- Solomon Kane (2009) as William Crowthorn
- Clash of the Titans (2010) as Spyros
- Inception (2010) as Maurice Fischer
- The Town (2010) as Fergus "Fergie" Colm
- Killing Bono (2011) as Karl
- Last of the Summer Wine (1 episode, 1978) as Man in Cafe
- Play for Today (1 episode, 1981) as Danny Duggan
- Minder (2 episodes, 1982–93) as Jack Wragg/Logie
- Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1 episode, 1985) as Barry
- Screen Two (4 episodes, 1987–94) as Kecks McGuinness/Panter/The Dipper/Mitch
- Screen Play (1 episode, 1990) as Paula's Father
- Zorro (1 episode, 1990) as Bandit
- CASUAL+Y (2 episodes, 1990–93) as Ralph Peters/Hank
- The Bill (1 episode, 1992) as Ray Goller
- Between the Lines (1 episode, 1992) as Ch. Supt. Jameson
- Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1 episode, 1992) as Quince
- Lovejoy (1 episode, 1993) as Terrence Sullivan
- Pie in the Sky (1 episode, 1994) as Kevin Tasker
- Sharpe (2 episodes, 1994) as Sgt. Obadiah Hakeswill
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1985) as Ragueneau
