Man for All Seasons

Here Indeed Was A Man For All Seasons

We note the regretable passing of that greatest of actors, Paul Schofield, who recently succumbed to leukemia at age 86. He is due the greatest personal admiration not so much for his incomparable acting ability, but for his even more prodigious personal qualities. Having learned his trade in the classic manner he worked primarily in the theatre. As Audrey Woods (Associated Press) pointed out, Schofield made few films even after the Oscar for his 1966 portrayal of Tudor statesman Sir Thomas More. Although a stage actor by inclination, training and gifts; it was film that gave him his greatest fame. Of his several films his most memorable and juxtaposing roles range from the soul imbued, Saint Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons and the souless heart of human evil as Judge Danforth in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, that timely and powerful critique of McCarthyism in 1953.True to his humble, yet noble origins, as the son of a country schoolmaster, Schofield preferred throughout his life the sweetness of close rural family life to the glamour of the limelight, having turned down many parts offered to him over the many years.In a fit of “Schofieldian” humility, Richard Burton scoffed at the notion that he should be regarded as the natural heir to Olivier or Gieglud, deferring the honour to Schofield. “Of the ten greatest moments in the theater,” Burton generously remarked, “eight are Schofield’s”.True to his democratic roots he declined the inevitable offer of a knighthood, explaining, “It is just not an aspect of life that I would want. If you want a title, what's wrong with Mr.?" How utterly “uncommon” (sic.); how utterly unlike our Lord Black today, for example, and all those so many hinds who make it their life’s work to chase the tail of the dog. He did graciously accept many other honours including Tonys, Emmys and of course the British Companion of Honour in 2001. There is little doubt that in Schofield's view, as his life so clearly proclaimed, the greatest honours were the wife and family who survive and continue to love him.