Paul Scofield, RIP

LONDON (AP) - Paul Scofield, the towering British stage actor who won international fame and an Academy Award for the film "A Man for All Seasons," has died. He was 86.

Scofield died Wednesday in a hospital near his home in southern England, agent Rosalind Chatto said. He had been suffering from leukemia.

Scofield made few films even after the Oscar for his 1966 portrayal of Tudor statesman Sir Thomas More. He was a stage actor by inclination and by his gifts - a dramatic, craggy face and an unforgettable voice that was likened to a Rolls Royce starting up or the rumbling sound of low organ pipes.

Even his greatest screen role was a follow up to a play - the London stage production of "A Man for All Seasons," in which he starred for nine months. Scofield also turned in a performance in the 1961 New York production that won him extraordinary reviews and a Tony Award.

"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's said.

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

 

And Hugh Grant goes straight to the top ....

 

Boy, is that one terrific scene in "Quiz Show," where he and Fiennes are sharing chocolate cake and milk.

Fiennes' character is struggling with the fact that he's a fake and a cheat. He mentions how the milk and cake bring back memories of being a kid, and how he probably was as happy then as he'll ever be.

"Just wait until you have a son," Scofield's character says, unknowingly compounding Fiennes' guilt a million times over.

 

A terrific Scofield performance can be seen in "The Train" (1965), an over looked B&W classic WWII movie directed by Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster.

 

A Man For All Seasons is a magnificent film. Intelligent, suspenseful, and brilliantly cast, especially in the scenes with Scofield and Robert Shaw.
He was also great as Philip of France in Branagh's Henry V.
RIP indeed.

 

Just a sampler.

://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/03/do-you-really-think-you-could-stand.html

 

The scene later in the classroom is damn near as good.

"Can't ... tell the truth ... Charlie?"

As is the birthday party scene where they're quoting Shakespeare to each other.

Quiz Show, one of the most underrated movies of the last 15 years. Was everything "Good Night, and Good Luck" aspired to be and more.

 

He was good, but he was no Ducky Schofield.