The start of a New Year is a great time to look forward, but this one started with some sad news that makes me want to reflect on better times past.
The untimely death of “the best actor in the world” as Steven Spielberg memorably described him has robbed us of the opportunity to see this extraordinary performer extend his range even further. Many will know him best for his film roles in movies such asBrassed Off or the brilliant The Usual Suspects but my wife and I were fortunate enough to see him in 2002 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford in his one-man show Scaramouche Jones
In this astonishing performance he held the entire audience spellbound for two hours as he explored the character of the clown, Scaramouche. At the end the audience fell momentarily silent, disappointed that the show had to finish, before everyone rose to their feet to applaud this extraordinary actor who had, it seemed, put his entire heart and soul into that one performance.
He had another major link with Guildford of course with his Oscar-nominated performance as Guiseppe Conlon in the film In The Name Of The Father about the wrongful conviction of the Guildford Four.
Thank you Pete for some wonderful memories.
