Quite a remarkable man. Unlike many actors mentioning no names (you still here Dirk) Paul Schofield (born David Paul Scofield) was never up his own backside or consumed by self-importance. Astonishing when you remember how great an actor he was. On three occasions he turned down a knighthood, preferring to be called 'Mr'. And though a private man he never begrudged an autograph to a fan, being always considerate to the public for their support.

Little things like that go a long way in peoples recollections of the man.

Needless to say, he was one of the finest classical actors of his generation, won an Oscar as well as a Bafta, in 1967 for his role as Sir Thomas More, the 16th century Lord Chancellor executed by Henry VIII, in the film of Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons.

Starting his career in 1940 - he rose to prominence in Stratford-upon-Avon - he was noted for Shakespearean roles and was ranked alongside Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson as the country’s greatest stage stars of the mid-20th century.

In 2004, a poll of actors of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Ian McKellen, Donald Sinden, Janet Suzman and Anthony Sher, acclaimed his performance as King Lear as the greatest Shakespearean performance ever. On at least two occasions occasions he refused a knighthood, though he finally agreed to become a Companion of Honour in 2001.

He died peacefully in a hospital near his home in Sussex.

Carve Her Name With Pride
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He was one of three children of a village school headmaster. He was educated at Varndean School for Boys, Brighton, before going on to the London Mask Theatre School. He had first appeared on the stage (at Brighton's Theatre Royal, as one of the crowd in The Only Way) aged 15. His first professional appearance was in Desire Under The Elms at the Westminster in 1940.

Although Scofield sought to serve in the Army during the war, he was turned down on medical grounds, and instead spent the war years learning his craft with various repertory companies. In 1941 he joined the Bideford Repertory Theatre, touring with Ensa later that year in Shakespeare; in 1942 he was with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre for a few months before touring with the Travelling Repertory Theatre in Shaw and Shakespeare, returning to Birmingham for two seasons in 1944.

From there Scofield moved to what was then known as the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, playing a number of leading and prominent roles. Two of these took him to London, where his Mercutio in Peter Brook's production of Romeo and Juliet drew the attention of the critics. Then it was back to Stratford to consolidate his reputation as the most promising of young actors, with a Hamlet - directed by Michael Benthall in Edwardian dress - which perfectly expressed Scofield's gifts for pensive melancholy and tentative sensibility.

Within a few seasons it appeared almost as though his powers would be limitless. His Konstantin in The Seagull, his Pierre in Venice Preserv'd, his Richard II, discovered in each role new depths. Kenneth Tynan declared that Scofield could achieve "a raptness in repose". This species of poised emotion, which somehow had the effect of keeping the spectator in a state of anxiety, was part of Scofield's unusually rich equipment.

Scofield performed with John Gielgud's company in the early 1950s, and in 1955 played a magnificent Hamlet (again for Peter Brook) in England and in Moscow (the first time an English-speaking company had played in the Russian capital since 1917). In 1958 he demonstrated his versatility with an acclaimed appearance as a singer's agent in the musical Expresso Bongo.

It was, though, something of a mystery that Scofield's career did not progress as most expected from the 1970s onwards. In the revival of The Madrass House, and as the composer Salieri in Amadeus, his performances were warmly received. In 1977 he played the title role in Volpone, Peter Hall's production for the National Theatre. It can be confidently said of Scofield that he never acted badly; but it sometimes appeared as if he could not find his place as a player as the years progressed. On the other hand, he was always extremely discriminating about the work he took on, and when he was 74 he observed: "As you get older, the more you know, the more nervous you become. The risks are much bigger."

His work in the cinema was occasional. It was always thoughtful, and never degrading (which is more than can be said of several of his illustrious contemporaries and elders); yet it was never as exciting as it had been on stage in the 1950s and 1960s, in Shakespeare, Otway, Chekhov, Anouilh, Greene, Eliot, Zuckmayer and Pirandello.

After making his first film - That Lady (1955), in which he played Philip II of Spain - Scofield was offered a contract by a Hollywood studio, but declined. Among his subsequent pictures were Carve Her Name With Pride (1958); The Train (1964); King Lear (1971); A Delicate Balance (1973); and Henry V (1989). For his role as Mark Van Doren in Quiz Show (1994), directed by Robert Redford, he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor. He won a Bafta for his role as Judge Thomas Danforth in The Crucible (1996).

On television he took a Bafta for his roles as Old Martin and Anthony in Martin Chuzzlewit (1994). He also appeared on the small screen in productions such as Anna Karenina (1985), The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988) and Genesis: The Creation and the Flood (1994).

Paul Scofield was appointed CBE in 1956 and CH in 2001.

He married, in 1943, the actress Joy Parker, with whom he had a son and a daughter. She survives him.

Source: telegraph.co.uk