Paul Scofield

Mar 21 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

HIS face carried a half-smile of expectation and the weariness of one who knows the ways of man.

And then his eyes fell upon the bauble of office being worn by his eager, grovelling, erstwhile friend and protege, Richard Rich.

The contempt was magnificent when he said, “It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... But for Wales.”.

That, perhaps, is the line most remembered from Paul Scofield’s portrayal of Sir Thomas More, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons.

Scofield played the part on stage and then in the 1966 film version opposite Robert Shaw’s Henry VIII.

The film, directed by Robert Zinnemann, brought Scofield an Oscar and wider public recognition, but he would have said that his finest work was done on the stage, though he was never free with his opinions.

His voice, whether honeyed or gravelly could fill any auditorium.

Yet at a time when the thespians of classical theatre sat on chat-show chairs at the drop of a curtain, Scofield remained a reserved figure. “Only the dead play harder to get,” noted a wag.

This was disappointing to his many admirers. Scofield was perhaps the finest looking from his generation of Shakespearian actors, his weathered visage framed in a mane of hair.

Richard Burton, a great contemporary, thought Scofield was the natural successor to Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud.

He was born in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, where his father was the village schoolmaster. At Varndean School for Boys, Brighton, his versatility was stretched under the blonde plaits he wore to play Juliet and Rosalind.

From school, he joined the Croydon Repertory Theatre and was an actor for the rest of his working life.

When with a Birmingham-based touring company, he played Horatio in Hamlet. Joy Parker was Ophelia. They fell in love, married and had two children.

Scofield played all the great Shakespeare parts in Stratford after the war, including Hamlet, for which he was widely acclaimed, particularly in productions under the directorship of Peter Brook. In 1956, Scofield was appointed CBE, though he three times turned down the offer of a knighthood, preferring to be a “mister”.

Despite his love of the stage, Scofield, a Companion of Honour in 2001, appeared in Robert Redford’s film, Quiz Show (1994).

Paul Scofield, actor, born January 21, 1922; died March 19, 2008.