Paul Scofield RIP

And we appear to have completed another Rule of Three RIP cycle.

Oh shit. RIP.

My pa played Ariel to his Prospero in the 1970s, which I suspect will always be one of his proudest moments.

I know it's a late one in his career, but he is so great in "Quiz Show," which I have been meaning to watch again. R.I.P.

just bought his lear fim on dvd the other day. rip

Always liked "Bartleby"

Just marvelous in Quiz Show and a Burt Lancaster film called The Train. Never a fan of A Man for All Seasons.

My favourite thing he ever did, for which he will always have my affection and gratitude:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Robinson-Space-Paul-Scofield/dp/B00092ZE5K

if you haven't seen it but like Scofield, read the whole script here and imagine it in Scofield's magnificently frail, droll voice:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zG1lgCyA19gC&dq=patrick+keiller+robinson+in+space&pg=PP1&ots=slOmUQABPk&sig=cpd7k-dWsNYAOav3kCa7GpeMWRM&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DKUK_enGB235GB235&q=patrick+keiller+robinson+in+space&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail

(script is of the second film, which I have always marginally preferred; but he is reliably tremendous in both)

also nice: his reading of Eliot which was his 80th (?) birthday present to himself courtesy of the BBC

Yes, these are two of my all time favourite films and he gives the perfect narration such that you can almost see his shadow. And he was fantastic in Chuzzlewit.

RIP big man.

TSE: in fact, here they are:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2004/03_march/eliot.shtml

Robinson introduced himself to the managing director and explained our project, and we were very generously looked after for the next two weeks while we convalesced.

'Much of life for many people', read Robinson, 'even in the heart of the First World, still consists of waiting in a bus shelter with your shopping for a bus that never comes'.

The bus shelter was opposite the premises of Smallman Lubricants.

When the bus finally arrived, Robinson had disappeared, to a sexual encounter with a stranger he had contacted through the Internet while we were waiting at the bus-stop.

Our employer had equipped us with a notebook computer and a mobile phone.

My most recent encounter with Scofield was in a 1982 TV adaptation of N0el C0ward's play C0me Int0 The Gard3n, M4ud (sorry, workplace paranoia). They had to edit all the Beatles tunes out for DVD release and the prog ended on a strange freeze-frame of Scofield. Or was that S0ng At Tw1light?

So, right now, all I can think of is his Texan drawl in that role and the awkward freeze-frame.

Robinson In Space is the greatest thing I've almost seen.

RIP, as has been said his great readings of poetry and the Keillor films make this a real loss.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4313352.stm
I would have liked to have seen him in The Shooting Party but James Mason was near on perfect in it anyway.

worth seeking out the American Film Theatre version of A Delicate Balance where he's opposite Kate Hepburn.

i really love Quiz Show, it's beautifully written and Scofield is great in it.

"Sixty-four thousand dollars for a question, I hope they are asking you the meaning of life."

i might watch Brook's "King Lear" this weekend.

Love this detail:

Scofield reportedly had been offered a knighthood, but declined.

"It is just not an aspect of life that I would want," he once said. "If you want a title, what's wrong with Mr.?"

that is fantastic.

lol "an aspect of life."