The actor has died at 86, Sky News is reporting.
Oh damn. He was a great actor. I was amused at something Charlton Heston wrote about him, saying he was poor in rehearsals, mumbling his lines, but when the show was for real he gave a perfect delivery. And Heston lusted for the role of Sir Thomas More, in the 1966 film, but praised the performance that got Scofield the Oscar.
One of the better actors has passed.
Ah fuck!
Scofield was a true great. he might not have worked(in movies) as much as others but his skill and talent were up near the top of his field. A true great.
A Man For All Seasons is such a great movie on almost every level but it is Scofields central performance which holds it all together.
Damn!
I loved him in A Ma n for All Seasons (as everyone here has mentioned). He WAS Thomas More. I’ve seen other actors in the part (Heston eventually did it for a TV adaptation), but nobody pulled it off the way he did.
AMFAS sort of overshadowed his other work, and he stayed out for films for years, but Branaugh brought him back for Henry V, where he was similarly great. He was also in Quiz Show and was great in the 1962 film The Train.
Apparently he created the role of Salieri in Amadeus on the London Stage. My copy of the penguin edition of the play has a picture of him on the cover. I would’ve loved to have seen that!
BBC Obituary
My father, who usually just couldn’t sit through movies, loved “A Man for All Seasons”. I loved it too, and Scofield’s performance. Truly, one for the ages.
PS - I saw Scofield in my mind’s eye as Denethor when I read LOTR.
Sadly, Peter Brook’s curious but unforgettable version of Lear isn’t on DVD, and while it’s definitely YMMV (in both the adaptation and the cinematic approach), Scofield is amazing in it. He was also the only genuinely great thing about Mel Gibson’s tedious Hamlet (and the best incarnation of the father’s Ghost ever put on film; truly heartbreaking).
RIP.
I came in to mention The Train, one of my favorite movies. While Burt Lancaster was good in it, Scofield was wonderful. The opening scene in the art museum is just perfect, and Scofield nails it. Great actor, and it’s sad to lose him.
This hurts. Yep, The Train and Man For All Seasons were taken from good to classic by his performance. A real loss here.
I watched Henry V again last night, just for him.