HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Pete Postlethwaite, who received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1993 film In the Name of the Father has died. He was 64.
Postlethwaite passed away Sunday at a hospital in western England after a lengthy battle with cancer, his rep told Reuters.
The English actor began his career at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre in the 1970s, working alongside the likes of Bill Nighy and ex-girlfriend Julie Walters.
"I was honored by his friendship – he is irreplaceable," Nighy told the BBC.
Famed director Steven Spielberg once called Postlethwaite "the best actor in the world today." The two worked together on The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad.
Other notable film roles included The Usual Suspects and Inception.
A friend who asked to remain anonymous said Postlethwaite was "a man of enormous dignity and integrity.
"He was self-deprecating, enormously funny and had little time for fame or celebrity," they told Reuters. "The biggest love of his life was not acting, it was his family."
Postlethwaite is survived by his wife, Jacqui, and two children – son Will, 21, and daughter Lily, 14.
