# RIP Paul Scofield **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051 "2008-03-20T09:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/1 "2008-03-20T09:45:11Z")
The [actor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Scofield) has died at 86, Sky News is reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/2 "2008-03-20T09:50:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/3 "2008-03-20T11:02:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/4 "2008-03-20T12:15:34Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/5 "2008-03-20T12:37:21Z")
> [@](#): > > In 2004, Scofield’s portrayal of King Lear in 1962 was voted the greatest performance in a Shakespeare play by a panel of Royal Shakespeare Company actors, including Sir Ian McKellen, Ian Richardson and Sir Antony Sher. > > “Of the 10 greatest moments in the theatre, eight are Scofield’s,” the actor Richard Burton once said. [BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Acting world mourns Paul Scofield](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7306378.stm) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/6 "2008-03-20T14:49:42Z")
BBC Obituary > **[BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Obituary: Paul Scofield](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4313352.stm)** > > With his rich smooth voice and ruggedly handsome features, Paul Scofield was one of the greatest actors of his age, playing nearly all the major Shakespearean roles on stage and screen. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/7 "2008-03-20T15:39:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/8 "2008-03-20T16:22:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/9 "2008-03-21T13:46:30Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] 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**. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/10 "2008-03-21T15:30:39Z")
This hurts. Yep, The Train and Man For All Seasons were taken from good to classic by his performance. A real loss here. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-scofield/442051/11 "2008-03-22T00:30:49Z")
I watched _Henry V_ again last night, just for him.