Frank Finlay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Francis Finlay (1926-08-06)6 August 1926 Farnworth,Lancashire, England |
| Died | 30 January 2016(2016-01-30) (aged 89) Weybridge, Surrey, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1958–2009 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | Official website |
Francis Finlay,CBE (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English actor. He earned anAcademy Award nomination for his performance asIago inOthello (1965).[1]His first leading television role came in 1971 inCasanova.[1] This led to appearances[2] onThe Morecambe and Wise Show.[3] Finlay starred alongside famous Italian actressStefania Sandrelli in Tinto Brass'The Key, the most successful Italian film of the 1983-1984 season. He also appeared in the dramaBouquet of Barbed Wire.[4]
A four-timeBAFTA nominee, Finlay won one for his television performances in 1974.
Finlay was born inFarnworth,Lancashire, the son of Josiah Finlay,[5] and Margaret Finlay. He was educated at St Gregory the Great School, but left at 14 to train as a butcher at Toppings,[6] gaining aCity and Guilds Diploma in the trade.
Finlay made his first stage appearances at the local Farnworth Little Theatre, in plays that included Peter Blackmore'sMiranda in 1951.[1][6] The current Little Theatre president, also in the cast of thatMiranda production, remembers him as a perfectionist in his craft. He also played inrepertory, initially in Scotland, before winning a scholarship toRADA in London.[6][1]
There followed several parts in productions at theRoyal Court Theatre, such as theArnold Wesker trilogy. He became particularly associated with theNational Theatre, especially during the years whenLaurence Olivier was director. PlayingIago opposite Olivier'stitle character inJohn Dexter's 1965 production ofOthello,[7] and thefilm adaptation of that production (also 1965),[1][6] Finlay's performance left theatre critics unmoved, but he later received high praise for the film version and gained anAcademy Award nomination.[8] The criticJohn Simon wrote that the close-ups in the film allowed Finlay to give a more subtle and effective performance than he had done on stage.
At theChichester Festival Theatre, Finlay played roles ranging from the First Gravedigger inHamlet toJosef Frank inWeapons of Happiness. He also appeared inThe Party,Plunder,Saint Joan,Hobson's Choice,Amadeus (as Salieri),[9]Much Ado About Nothing (asDogberry),The Dutch Courtesan,The Crucible,Mother Courage, andJuno and the Paycock.
Finlay made appearances onBroadway, inEpitaph for George Dillon (1958–1959), and in the National Theatre and Broadway productions ofFilumena oppositeJoan Plowright in 1980.[10] Between November 1988 and April 1989, Finlay toured Australia, performing inJeffrey Archer'sBeyond Reasonable Doubt at theatres in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.[11]
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One of his earliest television roles was in the family space adventure serialTarget Luna (1960), as journalist Conway Henderson. Finlay's first major television success was asJean Valjean in the BBC's 1967 ten-part adaptation ofVictor Hugo'sLes Misérables. He played the title role ofDennis Potter'sBBC 2 seriesCasanova (1971).[1] Following this, he portrayedAdolf Hitler inThe Death of Adolf Hitler (1973) forLondon Weekend Television.[9]
Finlay was one of the stars ofMartin Ritt's highly acclaimed 1970 featureThe Molly Maguires. He portrayedRichard Roundtree's nemesis, Amafi, in the filmShaft in Africa (1973), before playingPorthos for directorRichard Lester inThe Three Musketeers (also 1973),[1]The Four Musketeers (1975) andThe Return of the Musketeers (1989).[1] He appeared in several additional films, includingThe Wild Geese (1978)[1] andThe Key byTinto Brass.
Finlay starred as the father in the once-controversialBouquet of Barbed Wire (1976), and its sequelAnother Bouquet (1977), and he was reunited with hisBouquet of Barbed Wire co-star,Susan Penhaligon, when he playedProfessor Van Helsing in the BBC'sCount Dracula (also 1977), withLouis Jourdan. He appeared in twoSherlock Holmes films asLestrade, solving theJack the Ripper murders (A Study in Terror, 1965, andMurder by Decree, 1979). He also played a role as the primary antagonist in an adaptation of "The Golden Pince-Nez" of theGranada Television series ofSherlock Holmes starringJeremy Brett, in which his son Daniel played a minor role as well. Finlay appeared on American television inA Christmas Carol (1984) playingMarley's Ghost oppositeGeorge C. Scott'sEbenezer Scrooge. He also guest-starred as a farcical witch-smeller in an episode ofThe Black Adder ("Witchsmeller Pursuivant", 1983), oppositeRowan Atkinson.[1]
In 1994 he played Howard Franklin in fourth-seriesHeartbeat episode "Lost and Found".
Finlay playedSancho Panza oppositeRex Harrison'sDon Quixote in the 1973 Britishmade-for-television filmThe Adventures of Don Quixote,[12] for which he won aBAFTA award.[13] He won another BAFTA award that year for his performance asVoltaire in theBBC TV production ofCandide.[9]
Finlay played the role ofJusticePeter Mahon in the award-winning New Zealand television serialErebus: The Aftermath (1988). In theRoman Polanski filmThe Pianist (2002),[1][6] he took on the part ofAdrien Brody's father. He starred alongsidePete Postlethwaite andGeraldine James in the BBC drama seriesThe Sins in 2000, playing the funeral director "Uncle" Irwin Green. He appeared in the TV seriesLife Begins (2004–2006)[1] and asJane Tennison's father in the last two stories ofPrime Suspect (2006 and 2007). In 2007, he guest-starred in theDoctor Who audio adventure100. Finlay appeared in November 2008 in the eleventh episode of the BBC drama seriesMerlin, as "Anhora, Keeper of the Unicorns".[1]
Finlay met his future wife Doreen Shepherd when both belonged to Farnworth Little Theatre. They had three children,[6] lived inShepperton,Middlesex. She died in 2005 aged 79.[6] As aRoman Catholic,[14] Finlay became a member of the British Catholic Stage Guild (now theCatholic Association of Performing Arts).
Finlay was made a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours of 1984[1][15] and an honorary doctor of theUniversity of Bolton in 2009.[6]
Finlay died on 30 January 2016 at his home inWeybridge,Surrey, aged 89, from heart failure.[1][16][17][18][9]
| Year | Awards | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Othello | Nominated | [19] |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Nominated | |||
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | Silver Shell for Best Actor | Won | |||
| 1967 | British Academy Film Awards | Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | Nominated | [20] | |
| 1972 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | Casanova | Nominated | [21] |
| 1974 | Play of the Month: The Adventure of Don Quixote /Candide /ITV Sunday Night Theatre:The Death of Adolf Hitler | Won | |||
| 1976 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Actor of the Year in a New Play | When It Comes Down /Weapons of Decree | Nominated | [22] |
| 1983 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Return of the Soldier | Nominated | [23] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Life for Ruth | Henry – Teddy's father | ||
| The Longest Day | Private Coke | Uncredited | ||
| The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Booking Office clerk | [9] | ||
| Private Potter | Captain Patterson | |||
| 1963 | Doctor in Distress | Corsetiere | [9] | |
| The Informers | Leon Sale | |||
| 1964 | Hot Enough for June | British Embassy porter | Uncredited | |
| The Comedy Man | Prout | |||
| 1965 | A Study in Terror | Inspector Lestrade | Reprised the role fourteen years later inMurder by Decree | [9] |
| The Wild Affair | Drunk | |||
| Othello | Iago | [1] | ||
| 1966 | The Sandwich Man | Second fish porter | ||
| The Deadly Bees | H.W. Manfred | |||
| 1967 | The Jokers | Harassed man | ||
| Robbery | Robinson | |||
| I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Chaplain | |||
| The Spare Tyres | Council foreman | Short | ||
| 1968 | Inspector Clouseau | Superintendent Weaver | ||
| The Shoes of the Fisherman | Igor Bounin | |||
| Twisted Nerve | Henry Durnley | |||
| 1970 | The Molly Maguires | Davies | ||
| Cromwell | John Carter | |||
| 1971 | Assault | Det. Chief Supt. Velyan | ||
| Gumshoe | William Ginley | |||
| 1972 | Sitting Target | Marty Gold | ||
| Danny Jones | Mr. Jones | |||
| Neither the Sea Nor the Sand | George Dabernon | |||
| 1973 | Shaft in Africa | Amafi | ||
| The Three Musketeers | Porthos / O'Reilly | [1][9][17] | ||
| 1974 | The Four Musketeers | Porthos | Sequel toThe Three Musketeers | [1][9][17] |
| 1978 | The Wild Geese | Father Geoghagen | [1] | |
| 1979 | Murder by Decree | Inspector Lestrade | ||
| Ring of Darkness [it] | Paul | akaSatan's Wife | ||
| 1982 | The Return of the Soldier | William Grey | ||
| Enigma | Canarsky | |||
| 1983 | The Ploughman's Lunch | Matthew Fox | ||
| The Key | Nino Rolfe | |||
| 1985 | 1919 | Sigmund Freud | Voice | |
| Lifeforce | Dr. Hans Fallada | |||
| 1989 | The Return of the Musketeers | Porthos | Final film in the Musketeers trilogy | [1][9] |
| 1990 | King of the Wind | Edward Coke | ||
| 1992 | Cthulhu Mansion | Chandu | ||
| Stalin | Sergei Alliluyev | TV movie | ||
| 1993 | Sparrow | Father Nunzio | ||
| 1995 | Gospa | Monsignor | ||
| 1996 | Tiré à part | John Rathbone | ||
| 1997 | For My Baby | Rudi Wittfogel | ||
| So This Is Romance? | Mike's dad | |||
| The Road to Glory | Yudah Lieb Gold | |||
| Put K Slave | ||||
| 1998 | Stiff Upper Lips | Hudson Junior | ||
| 1999 | Dreaming of Joseph Lees | Father | ||
| 2000 | Ghosthunter | Charlie Fielding | Short | |
| 2001 | The Martins | Mr. Heath | ||
| 2002 | The Pianist | Samuel Szpilman | [1][6][9] | |
| Silent Cry | Dr. Robert Barrum | |||
| 2003 | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | ||
| 2004 | Lighthouse Hill | Alfred | ||
| 2007 | The Waiting Room | Roger |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Play For Today | Andrew Firth | Episode: "The Lie" (written byIngmar Bergman) | [24] |
| 1971 | Casanova | Casanova | Main role | [1] |
| 1973 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Adolf Hitler | Episode: "The Death of Adolf Hitler" | [9] |
| 1976 | Bouquet of Barbed Wire | Peter Manson | TV mini-series | [4][9][17] |
| 1977 | Count Dracula | Abraham Van Helsing | TV movie | [9] |
| 1983 | The Black Adder | TheWitchsmeller Pursuivant | Episode: "Witchsmeller Pursuivant" | [1][9] |
| 1984 | Sakharov | Kravtsov | TV movie | |
| A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley's Ghost | [9] | ||
| 1987 | Casanova | Razetta | [17] | |
| 1988 | Erebus: The Aftermath | Justice Peter Mahon | TV Mini-Series | |
| 1998–1999 | How Do You Want Me? | Astley Yardley | 10 episodes | |
| 2000 | The Sins | 'Uncle' Irwin Green | BBC drama series | |
| 2003 | Eroica | Joseph Haydn | TV movie | |
| The Lost Prince | H.H. Asquith | |||
| 2004 | Life Begins | Eric | ITV Series | |
| 2008 | Merlin | Anhora | Episode: "The Labyrinth of Gedref" | [1] |
