British actor Paul Scofield, famed for his Oscar-winning portrayal in
"The Man For All Seasons", has died aged 86 of leukemia, his agent
said on Thursday (March 20).

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Paul Scofield, hailed as one of the great British actors of his
generation and awarded an Oscar for his haunting performance in "A Man
For All Seasons," has died aged 86 of leukemia, his agent said on
Thursday. Scofield, a fiercely private actor who shunned the limelight and
gave several unforgettable performances in his varied career, with some of his
most recent films being 1994's "Quiz Show" and 1996's "The
Crucible."
    Hollywood's Academy Award as best actor of 1966 went to Scofield for
his masterly portrayal of Catholic martyr Sir Thomas More, who chose to be
executed by King Henry VIII rather than betray his conscience, in the film
"A Man For All Seasons".  The film was adapted by author Robert Bolt
from his play in which Scofield was acclaimed on stages in London and New
York.
    Despite a volley of offers from Hollywood, Scofield chose a much lower
profile, making few more films but still commanding the stage in such roles as
Othello and Macbeth.  In the early 1980s he scored one of his greatest
successes as court composer Antonio Salieri in the London production of
"Amadeus", Peter Shaffer's box office hit about Mozart.
     Scofield, six feet (1.8 metres) tall, with a lean frame, a lined face
and thick, wavy white hair, made his acting debut at the age of 13 in a school
production of "Romeo and Juliet". He was Juliet.
     He began a long association with Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company
at Stratford-on-Avon after World War Two, from which he had been exempted for
medical reasons. Between Stratford seasons he triumphed in the capital as
Richard II in a production in which the queen was played by his wife, Joy
Parker. They had married in 1943.  His much praised interpretation of Hamlet
won rave reviews in Moscow in the winter of 1955-56 when the Royal Shakespeare
became the first English-speaking company to appear there since the Russian
revolution.
     He returned to packed houses in Moscow and Leningrad as Lear in 1962
and as Macbeth in 1967 -- the same year he won the best male actor award at
the Moscow International Film Festival for his role in "A Man For All
Seasons".
     Scofield lived with his wife in a cottage in the Sussex countryside
south of London. They had a son and daughter, who both became teachers.