The Florist Put the Whole Universe in His Reahview

Apologies for the cutesy pun headline, this is actually a bummer. Pete Postlethwaite, brilliant character actor and all-around weird-looking dude, died yesterday at the age of 64.  The cause of death is listed as cancer. Postlethewaite lost a testicle to testicular cancer in 1990, but the type of cancer that killed him hasn’t been reported.  All we know is that it was the A-hole kind that kills awesome actors.

Spielberg once called Postlethwaite “the best actor in the world.”  The Warrington, Cheshire-born actor’s most recent role was as The Florist in The Town (‘Oy’ll clip yer nots, just loike oy clipped yer faaather’s,’), but he also had memorable turns in The Usual Suspects (as the apparently-not-Japanese Kobayashi), Alien 3, Last of the Mohicans, and In the Name of the Father, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (losing to Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive).  His career was a constant reminder that even though they’re super weird looking, British people can sometimes be good at stuff.

Postlethwaite was basically the offensive lineman of acting, the kind of actor who shows up on time, gets the job done, and makes everyone else’s job easier without the stardom that comes with being a leading man.  Perhaps now, in death, no one will stop him in the airport to yell, “Hey! You!  You’re that one guy! From that thing!”

[Pete Postlethwaite dead, Friends Remember Pete Postlethwaite]


The 1994 Best Supporting Actor Oscar (Postlethwaite shows up at 1:59)


Usual Suspects (Postlethwaite shows up at 00:54)


In Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet


Brassed Off from 1996

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