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IMDbPro

Frank Finlay(1926-2016)

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Frank Finlay
Theatrical Trailer from Focus Features
Play trailer1:21
The Pianist (2002)
11 Videos
47 Photos
One of Britain's finest products of the stage, film and TV, actor Frank Finlay, he with the dark and handsomely serious-to-mordant looks, was born on August 6, 1926, in Farnworth, England, the son of Josiah, a butcher, and Margaret Finlay. Of English, Irish and Scottish descent, Frank attended St. Gregory the Great School and then was actually training to follow in his father's footsteps as a butcher himself when his side interest in acting eventually won out. He became a member of the Farnworth Little Theatre and met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, a fellow member at the same time. They married in 1954, had three children (two sons, one daughter) and were married for over 50 years until her death in 2005.

Finlay began his professional career on the repertory stage with roles in The Guilford Theatre Company's 1957 productions of "Jessica" and "The Telescope". Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he built up a strong and sturdy theatrical reputation at the Royal Court Theatre between 1958 and 1960 where he was seen to good advantage in such plays as "Chicken Soup and Barley", "Sugar in the Morning", "Sergeant Musgrave's Dance", "Roots", "I'm Talking About Jerusalem", "The Happy Haven" and "Platonov". Making his Broadway debut in "The Epitaph of George Dillon" in 1959, he also sparked a noteworthy professional association with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, the highlight being his intense but subtle portrayal of "Iago" to Olivier's "Othello" in 1964.

Marking his film debut in a bit role in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Finlay sandwiched in a steady stream of British film parts (including Private Potter (1964), Doctor in Distress (1963), Agent 8 3/4 (1964), The Comedy Man (1964), A Study in Terror (1965) (as "Jack the Ripper" Inspector Lestrade), The Jokers (1967), The Deadly Bees (1966) and Robbery (1967)) in between theatre assignments. His greatest film opportunity occurred when he was given the right by Olivier to recreate his Iago role opposite the legendary actor in the masterful film adaptation of Othello (1965). Finlay, Maggie Smith (as "Desdemona") and Joyce Redman (as "Emilia") all received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for their illustrious "supporting" work of Olivier (who was also Oscar nominated). Frank went on to nab a "Most Promising Newcomer" nomination from the BAFTA committee as well. To date, this has been the actor's only Oscar recognition.

Frank, who had a dashing role as "Porthos" for director Richard Lester in the ripe Dumas adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1973) (and its sequels The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989)), has had primarily an international cinematic career. Films include The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Cromwell (1970), The Molly Maguires (1970), Shaft in Africa (1973), The Wild Geese (1978), Murder by Decree (1979) (again as "Inspector Lestrade"), The Return of the Soldier (1982), The Key (1983) [The Key], Lifeforce (1985), Mountain of Diamonds (1991), So This Is Romance? (1997), Silent Cry (2002) and, most notably, the Oscar-winning WWII picture The Pianist (2002), directed by Roman Polanski, in which he portrayed the patriarch of a displaced Jewish family that included "Best Actor" son Adrien Brody.

Classical television notice came in middle age with Frank's strong performances as "Jean Valjean" in the British TV mini-series Les Misérables (1967) and the title role in Casanova (1971). He also went on to win stellar praise and a BAFTA award for his chilling portrayal of "Adolf Hitler" in The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973). Finlay and Susan Penhaligon courted controversy in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976) and were reunited in further controversy the following year with its follow-up Another Bouquet (1977). More plentiful and prestigious BBC-TV work came with his roles as Shakespeare's "Brutus" and "Shylock", not to mention his award-winning performances as "Voltaire" and "Sancho Panza".

In Count Dracula (1977), Finlay played "Van Helsing" to nemesis Louis Jourdan's velvety-voiced vampire; in A Christmas Carol (1984), he was the dour, shackled "Jacob Marley", who pays a ghostly visit to George C. Scott's crusty "Ebenezer Scrooge"; and in Eroica (2003), he portrayed composer "Franz Josef Haydn" alongside Ian Hart's "Beethoven" in the mini-series Eroica (2003). Frank ended his on-camera career gracing such programs as the mini-series Johnny and the Bomb (2006), Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006) and Four Seasons (2008) and the TV series Life Begins (2004).

Throughout his prolific career on TV and film, Frank has maintained on the stage giving sterling performances in classic and contemporary plays as in with "Much Ado About Nothing (as "Dogberry"), "The Crucible", "Saturday Sunday Monday", "Filumena", "Amadeus" (a most affecting Salieri), "Mutiny" (as "Captain Bligh"), "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" and as the rigid father in the 1992 period production of "The Heiress." On January 30, 2016, Finlay died of heart failure in Surrey, England, at the age of 89.
BornAugust 6, 1926
DiedJanuary 30, 2016(89)
BornAugust 6, 1926
DiedJanuary 30, 2016(89)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 3 wins & 6 nominations total

Photos47

Frank Finlay in Robbery (1967)
Frank Finlay in Robbery (1967)
Stanley Baker and Frank Finlay in Robbery (1967)
Paul Birchard and Frank Finlay in La mansión de los Cthulhu (1992)
Frank Finlay and Melanie Shatner in La mansión de los Cthulhu (1992)
Frank Finlay and Marcia Layton in La mansión de los Cthulhu (1992)
Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Finlay, Suzy Kendall, and James Laurenson in In the Devil's Garden (1971)
Frank Finlay in A Christmas Carol (1984)
Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman in Othello (1965)
Frank Finlay in Gumshoe (1971)
Laurence Olivier, Derek Jacobi, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, Robert Lang, Harry Lomax, Anthony Nicholls, and Joyce Redman in Othello (1965)
Laurence Olivier and Frank Finlay in Othello (1965)

Known for:

Lifeforce (1985)
Lifeforce
6.1
  • Fallada
  • 1985
The Pianist (2002)
The Pianist
8.5
  • Father
  • 2002
Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, Oliver Reed, Michael York, and Frank Finlay in The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974)
The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge
6.9
  • Porthos
  • 1974
Othello (1965)
Othello
7.0
  • Iago
  • 1965

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Four Seasons (2008)
    Four Seasons
    • Alexander 'Alex' Combe
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2008–2009
  • Richard Wilson, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Colin Morgan, and Bradley James in Merlin (2008)
    Merlin
    • Anhora
    • TV Series
    • 2008
  • Anne-Marie Duff and Ralf Little in The Waiting Room (2007)
    The Waiting Room
    • Roger
    • 2007
  • Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006)
    Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act
    • Arnold Tennison
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2006
  • Life Begins (2004)
    Life Begins
    • Eric Thornhill
    • TV Series
    • 2004–2006
  • Keith Barron, Frank Finlay, Zoë Wanamaker, and George MacKay in Johnny and the Bomb (2006)
    Johnny and the Bomb
    • Tom Maxwell
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2006
  • Jason Flemyng, Frank Finlay, and Kirsty Mitchell in Lighthouse Hill (2004)
    Lighthouse Hill
    • Alfred
    • 2004
  • Michael Caine, Jeremy Northam, John Neville, and Tilda Swinton in The Statement (2003)
    The Statement
    • Commissaire Vionnet
    • 2003
  • Prime Suspect: The Last Witness (2003)
    Prime Suspect: The Last Witness
    • Arnold Tennison
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2003
  • Eroica (2003)
    Eroica
    • Josef Haydn
    • TV Movie
    • 2003
  • Daniel Williams in The Lost Prince (2003)
    The Lost Prince
    • Asquith
    • TV Movie
    • 2003
  • Silent Cry (2002)
    Silent Cry
    • Dr. Robert Barrum
    • 2002
  • The Pianist (2002)
    The Pianist
    • Father
    • 2002
  • The Martins (2001)
    The Martins
    • Mr. Heath
    • 2001
  • Station Jim (2001)
    Station Jim
    • Riorden Snr
    • TV Movie
    • 2001

Videos12

Trailer
Trailer 2:09
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:16
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:49
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:11
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:17
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:52
Official Trailer
Lifeforce: [Collectors Edition] Blu-Ray
Trailer 1:26
Lifeforce: [Collectors Edition] Blu-Ray
Stiff Upper Lips
Trailer 1:21
Stiff Upper Lips
Shaft in Africa
Trailer 2:56
Shaft in Africa
The Return of the Musketeers
Trailer 1:03
The Return of the Musketeers
The Pianist
Trailer 1:21
The Pianist

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Official Site
  • Height
    • 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
  • Born
    • August 6, 1926
    • Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
  • Died
    • January 30, 2016
    • Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK(heart failure following a short illness)
  • Spouse
    • Doreen Joan Shepherd1954 - June 1, 2005 (her death, 3 children)
  • Children
      Stephen Finlay
  • Parents
      Josiah Finlay
  • Other works
    He starred with Joan Plowright in the 1980 Broadway revival of Eduardo De Filippo's "Filumena". The revival was directed by Ms. Plowright's husband, actor Laurence Olivier.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Interviews
    • 1 Article
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    A devout Catholic, he belonged to the British Catholic Stage Guild.
  • Trademarks
      Prematurely grey hair (later white).

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