Photo of Frank Finlay
Acting

Frank Finlay

Profession
Acting
Born
August 6, 1926 · Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Died
January 30, 2016

Biography

Frank received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for his performance as William Shakespeare’s Iago in Stuart Burge’s 1965 film of Laurence Olivier’s staging of Othello. He also won the Best Actor Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. He later essayed the definitive screen portrayal of Alexandre Dumas’ musketeer Porthos in three movies for director Richard Lester: The Three Musketeers (1974), The Four Musketeers (1975) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989). Frank’s many other films include The Longest Day; Tony Richardson’s The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner; Martin Ritt’s The Molly Maguires; Bob Clark’s Murder by Decree; Alan Bridges’ The Return of the Soldier (for which he recieved a BAFTA Award nomination); Franco Zeffrelli’s Sparrow; and Eric Styles’ Dreaming of Joseph Lees; and most recently Roman Polanski’s multi-award winning The Pianist and Norma Jewison’s The Statement. His similarly extensive television projects have earned him two BAFTA Awards, for his performances in The Death of Adolf Hitler (starring as Hitler, with Rex Firkin directing); The Adventures of Don Quixote (as Sancho Panza, opposite Rex Harrison, for director Alvin Rakoff); the ground breaking Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Another Bouquet; 84 Charing Cross Road; and recently the critically acclaimed series The Sins. Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, Finlay had already begun performing on stage when he earned the Sir James Knott Scholarship at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Since then he has led theatre companies in London and on Broadway. He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1984 New Year’s Honours List, and was presented with his CBE by the Queen in February1984.

Known for

The Pianist poster
The Pianist
Film · 2002 · ★ 8.4
Merlin poster
Merlin
Series · 2008 · ★ 7.8
The Longest Day poster
The Longest Day
Film · 1962 · ★ 7.6
Lifeforce poster
Lifeforce
Film · 1985 · ★ 6.2
Blackadder poster
Blackadder
Series · 1983 · ★ 8.0
The Key poster
The Key
Film · 1983 · ★ 6.0
A Christmas Carol poster
A Christmas Carol
Film · 1984 · ★ 7.5
The Three Musketeers poster
The Three Musketeers
Film · 1973 · ★ 6.7
The Voyeur poster
The Voyeur
Film · 1994 · ★ 6.4
The Wild Geese poster
The Wild Geese
Film · 1978 · ★ 6.8
Sherlock Holmes poster
Sherlock Holmes
Series · 1984 · ★ 8.2
The Four Musketeers poster
The Four Musketeers
Film · 1974 · ★ 6.5

Filmography