Toddington Town Brass Band, Contesting, Musical Tuition

Postlethwaite was born on 7th Februrary 1946, in the town of Warrington, Cheshire. Originally trained as a teacher, he taught drama at Lorreto College in Manchester before training as an actor in Bristol. His small screen debut came in the television play, Afternoon Off, by Alan Bennet in 1979. From there he moved into big screen film with titles such as Alien 3, The Last of the Mohicans and the second Jurassic Park film, The Lost World on his list of work.

As said above however, it will be his role as Danny in Brassed Off that most of Britain will remember him most fondly for. Danny was the musical director of the Grimley Colliery Band, a thinly disguised Grimethorpe on whom the film was based. Facing the closure of his pit (coal mine) and the financial woes that would bring, Danny led the band to the National competitions, where under his baton, the band claimed the trophy.

Other major roles played by Postlethwaite include the role of Father Lawrence in the 1996 remake of Romeo and Juliet, two appearances in the popular Sharpe series on Britian's ITV channel and as William S. Holabaird, the Government Prosecutor in the epic slavery film, Amistad, (1997).

Postlethwaite leaves behind a wife and two children with whom our thoughts lie.