[Deathwatch] Paul Scofield, actor, 86

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Thanks to a long-time reader for this one.

Oscar-winning actor Paul Scofield dies at 86

By Jim Cheng
Paul Scofield may have turned down a knighthood, but his place among
British acting royalty is nonetheless assured.

The legendary stage actor, who won an Academy Award for A Man for All
Seasons, made only a handful of films, but he made them count.

Scofield died Wednesday at age 86 in a hospital in southern England. He
had been suffering from leukemia.

On stage, Scofield brought his physical gifts ? a craggy face and a
powerful, rumbling voice ? to roles from Shakespeare and Shaw to
Steinbeck and Chekhov.

Richard Burton, once regarded as the theatrical heir to Laurence
Olivier and John Gielgud, said it was Scofield who deserved that place.
"Of the 10 greatest moments in the theater, eight are Scofield's."

Even A Man for All Seasons, perhaps his greatest film role, was an
adaptation of a play that won him a Tony Award in 1962. He reprised his
role as Sir Thomas More, who was executed after clashing with King
Henry VIII, in the 1966 film.

"With a kind of weary magnificence, Scofield sinks himself into the
part, studiously underplays it, and somehow displays the inner mind of
a man destined for sainthood," Time magazine said.

In 1979, he received acclaim for another great historical stage role,
as composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus.

For all the fame, Scofield remained a family man who lived most of his
life a few miles from his birthplace.

"It is hard not to be Polyanna-ish about Paul because he is such a
manifestly good man, so humane and decent, and curiously void of ego,"
said director Richard Eyre, former artistic director of Britain's
National Theatre. "All the pride he has is channeled through the thing
that he does brilliantly."

Scofield reportedly had been offered a knighthood, but declined.

"It is just not an aspect of life that I would want," he once said. "If
you want a title, what's wrong with Mr.?"

Still, in 2001 he was named a Companion of Honor, one of England's top
accolades, limited to 65 living people.

Scofield received his second Oscar nomination for Robert Redford's Quiz
Show (1994). His other films included Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance
(1973), Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989) and The Crucible (1996).

He told The Sunday Times in 1992, "Yes, I've turned down quite a lot of
parts. At my age you need to weed things out, but the idea that I can't
be bothered anymore with acting ? that's quite absurd. Acting is all I
can do. An actor: That's what I am."

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary