Paul Scofield, 86; actor was towering presence on screen, nearly invisible off

Paul Scofield, one of the foremost British actors of the 20th century and an Academy Award winner for his performance in 1966 for "A Man for All Seasons," died Wednesday in a hospital near his home in Sussex, England. He was 86. According to his agent, Mr. Scofield had leukemia.

In addition to an Oscar, Mr. Scofield was the recipient of a Tony Award for the 1961 Broadway production of "A Man for All Seasons" and an Emmy for the 1969 television play "Male of the Species."

Paul Scofield choose a different path, winding and at times obscure, but always in step with his brilliant characters. An appreciation in Living/Arts. D8

Belonging to the generation after Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and Ralph Richardson, Mr. Scofield was equally adept at classical and modern roles, on stage and in film.

He acted less often they did, especially on screen, which helped account for his lesser renown with audiences. Mr. Scofield appeared in fewer than 20 theatrical films and a comparably small number of television films and miniseries.

In his combination of consistent excellence, powerful intelligence, and high degree of selectivity in his roles, Mr. Scofield's career resembled that of Daniel Day-Lewis. The two appeared together in the 1996 film version of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible."

Mr. Scofield's reputation among actors did not reflect his relatively low public profile. Mel Gibson likened the experience of playing Hamlet across from Mr. Scofield's Ghost to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson."

Richard Burton once said that "of the 10 greatest moments in the theater, eight are Scofield's." A 2004 survey of members of the Royal Shakespeare Company named Mr. Scofield's portrayal of the title role in Peter Brook's 1962 production of "King Lear" the greatest performance in a Shakespeare play.

In 1971, Brook filmed that production, celebrated for a bare-bones staging strongly influenced by Samuel Beckett. Mr. Scofield repeated his performance in the title role.

Mr. Scofield played many leading classical parts, including Henry V, Richard II, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Prospero, Volpone, and John Gabriel Borkman. The Ibsen role was his last major stage performance, in London, in 1996. Richard Eyre, who directed Mr. Scofield in that production, called him "not just the best there is, but the best there has ever been."

Mr. Scofield also appeared in productions of plays by Anouilh, Pirandello, T.S. Eliot, and Chekhov. There was a sense in which Mr. Scofield, with his professional reticence and air of slightly querulous detachment, could have been himself a Chekhov character.

A highly private man who shied from publicity, Mr. Scofield communicated a strong sense of diffidence. Gielgud, who directed him, spoke of him as "a sphinx with a secret."

Asked why he had several times rejected a knighthood, Mr. Scofield said in 1996, "If you want a title, what's wrong with Mr.? If you have always been that, why lose your title?"

Mr. Scofield originated several notable modern roles on stage, among them Salieri in Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" and the priest in Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory."

David Paul Scofield was born on Jan. 21, 1922, in Hurstpierpoint, England. His father was a schoolmaster.

Mr. Schofield began acting in his early teens. One role was the heroine in an all-male "Romeo and Juliet." Exempted from military service for medical reasons, Mr. Scofield acted in several touring repertory companies in England.

After the war, Mr. Scofield acted in various classical productions in Stratford-on-Avon, as well as in London. He worked steadily on the English stage throughout the '50s, most notably in a Brook-directed "Hamlet."

Mr. Scofield appeared in his first film, "That Lady," in 1956. "A Man for All Seasons" came 10 years later and was only his fourth film. Robert Bolt's play about the English statesman-saint Thomas More became Mr. Scofield's signature role. It drew on his remarkable ability to project intelligence, strength, and inner tension.

Yet after his enormous success as More on both stage and screen, Mr. Scofield began to work both less often and more unconventionally. He took parts in such undistinguished films as a 1970 adapation of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" and a 1973 thriller, "Scorpio." Or he played supporting roles, most notably, perhaps, as the king of France in Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" (1989) and as the poet Mark Van Doren in "Quiz Show" (1994). The latter role earned Mr. Scofield an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

Mr. Scofield leaves his wife of 64 years, Joy Parker (who once played Ophelia to his Hamlet); a son, Martin; and a daughter, Sarah.