Entertainment | Pete Postlethwaite Actor Pete Postlethwaite Dead at 64 Oscar nominee had been battling cancer By Evann Gastaldo Posted Jan 3, 2011 10:45 AM CST Copied An Aug. 30, 2002 photo from files showing Sophia Loren and Pete Postlethwaite during a photocall at the 59th International Venice Film Festival, Terrazza del Casino in Lido, Venice, Italy. (AP Photo/PA, Myung Jung Kim, File) Pete Postlethwaite, who received an Oscar nomination for his role as Daniel Day-Lewis' character's father in In the Name of the Father, died yesterday at 64 after a long cancer fight. Most recently, the English actor had appeared in Inception and Ben Affleck’s The Town. He was also politically active, protesting the Iraq war and promoting awareness on issues involving poverty and global warming, the Independent reports. Steven Spielberg, who directed him in two films, once called him “the best actor in the world.” Click for more on Postlethwaite. Read These Next Two hospitalized after ICE shooting near Baltimore. President mixes in a coal joke in Christmas Eve call with kids. Trump includes 'scum' in Christmas wishes. Bizarre video shows thieves pulling an ATM out of store with SUV. Report an error