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Peter William Postlethwaite, OBE (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English actor best known for his work as a character actor.

After minor television appearances including The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first major success arose through the British autobiographical film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988). He had a breakthrough in Hollywood when he portrayed David in Alien 3 (1992) and his international reputation was further solidified when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for In the Name of the Father. Following this role, he portrayed the mysterious lawyer Mr. Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects and went on to appear in a wide variety of films.

On television, Postlethwaite played Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill in Sharpe. Director Steven Spielberg called him "the best actor in the world" after working with him on Amistad (1997). He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours list. Less than one month after his death, he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in The Town (2010).

Early life
Peter William Postlethwaite was born into a working-class Catholic family in Warrington on 7 February 1946, the son of Mary Geraldine (née Lawless; 1913–2000) and cooper, wood machinist, and school caretaker William Postlethwaite (1913–1988). He had an older brother named Michael (1944–2006) and two older sisters named Patricia and Anne. He would later portray Irish characters on multiple occasions, leading some to mistakenly believe he was of Irish descent.

Postlethwaite attended St Benedict's RC Junior School and a seminary, then joined West Park Grammar School in St Helens, where he enjoyed sports including rugby league. He spent an extra year re-sitting some of his O-levels, and then took four A-levels in English, history, geography, and French. Before his acting career, he trained as a teacher and became the first male drama teacher at Loreto College in Manchester. He initially trained to be a Catholic priest, but later settled on a career in acting. He trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1970.