Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite died Sunday January 2, 2011 after a long fight with cancer. He Was 64. Mr. Postlethwaite, a distinguished character actor with a remarkably craggy, timeworn face, had little going for him when he started in an industry where good looks — think Robert Redford or George Clooney — are valued. He had few connections, a name that was hard to pronounce, and could distinguish himself only by his talent.

  Postlethwaite was part of a small coterie of British actors who came up together through the theater and found a measure of success in Hollywood. The group included Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson, longtime friends who starred with him in In the Name of the Father, a 1993 classic that earned Postlethwaite a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role as Day-Lewis' father. 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 Spielberg's extravagant compliment. He also drew high praise for his starring role in Brassed Off in 1996.

  Over the years, some British actors who moved into the Oscar stratosphere were seduced by the glamour and moved to Hollywood. But Postlethwaite stayed away, living in recent years with his wife and two children in a farmhouse in rural England, where his comings and goings drew little more than a friendly smile from neighbors who took his presence for granted. Postlethwaite did not become a household name in much of the world — he is said to have resisted an agent's efforts to come up with a stage name that would be easier to pronounce and remember — but he was honored by Queen Elizabeth II when he received an OBE award in 2004.