Pete Postlethwaite Has Died

Sad news to start 2011.  Major British actor and activist, Pete Postlethwaite, has died.  Although a TV and stage actor beforehand, he became world famous 18 years ago, in 1993, when he appeared in In The Name of the Father, the role which got him Oscar-nominated for a profoundly-moving part.  He then cemented his position as one of the most astonishing and refreshing new onscreen faces of the Nineties, with great parts in big crowd-pleasers The Usual Suspects and Romeo + Juliet.  He also marched against the war in Iraq.  He also appeared in several big-budget sci-fi/horror flicks, like The Lost World (a Spielberg sequel), The Omen (remake), and a top film of 2010, Inception.  He could pull off any role and make any movie he was in cooler and yet more authentic by his presence, which screamed nonchalant-gritty integrity.  No one looked or acted like Postlethwaite - he was a great original and will be much missed.