Towering star of British stage Paul Scofield dies

PAUL SCOFIELD, the towering British stage actor who won international fame and an Academy Award for the film A Man for All Seasons, has died. He was 86.

Scofield died on Wednesday in hospital near his home in southern England, agent Rosalind Chatto said yesterday. He had been suffering from leukemia.

Scofield made few films, even after the Oscar for his 1966 portrayal of Tudor statesman Sir Thomas More. He was a stage actor by inclination and by his gifts — a dramatic, craggy face and an unforgettable voice that was likened to a Rolls-Royce starting up or the rumbling sound of low organ pipes.