Frank Finlay
| Frank Finlay | |
|---|---|
|
Publicity photo of Finlay | |
| Born |
6 August 1926 Farnworth, Lancashire, England |
| Died |
30 January 2016 (aged 89) Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1958–2009 |
| Spouse(s) | Doreen Shepherd (1954–2005, her death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | http://www.frankfinlay.net |
Francis "Frank" Finlay, CBE (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor. He was Oscar-nominated for his supporting role in Olivier's 1965 film of Othello and got his first leading role on television in 1971 as Casanova,[1] which led to appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show.[2] He also appeared in the controversial drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire.[3]
Early life
Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay,[4] a butcher. He was educated at St Gregory the Great School, but left at the age of 14 to train as a butcher himself at the family firm,[5] gaining a City and Guilds Diploma in the trade.
Stage career
Finlay made his first stage appearances at the local Farnworth Little Theatre, in plays that included Peter Blackmore's Miranda in 1951. The current Little Theatre president, also in the cast of that Miranda production, remembers him as a perfectionist in his craft. He also played in rep, initially in Scotland, before winning a scholarship to RADA in London.[5]
There followed several parts in productions at the Royal Court Theatre, such as the Arnold Wesker trilogy. He became particularly associated with the National Theatre, especially during the years when Laurence Olivier was director. Playing Iago opposite Olivier's title character in John Dexter's 1965 production of Othello,[6] and the film adaptation of that production (also 1965), Finlay's performance as Iago left theatre critics unmoved, but he later received high praise for the film version and he gained an Academy Award nomination.[7] The critic John Simon wrote that the close-ups in the film afforded Finlay the chance to give a more subtle and effective performance than he had on stage.
At the Chichester Festival Theatre, he played roles ranging from the First Gravedigger in Hamlet to Josef Frank in Weapons of Happiness. He also had parts in The Party, Plunder, Saint Joan, Hobson's Choice, Amadeus (as Salieri), Much Ado About Nothing (as Dogberry), The Dutch Courtesan, The Crucible, Mother Courage, and Juno and the Paycock.
Finlay also made appearances on Broadway, in Epitaph for George Dillon (1958–59) and in the National Theatre and Broadway productions of Filumena (opposite Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright) in 1980.[8]
Television and film
One of his earliest television roles was in the family space adventure serial Target Luna (1960), as journalist Conway Henderson. Finlay's first major television success on was in the title role of Dennis Potter's BBC 2 series Casanova (1971). Following this, he portrayed Adolf Hitler in The Death of Adolf Hitler (1972) for London Weekend Television.
Finlay portrayed Richard Roundtree's nemesis, Amafi, in Shaft in Africa (1973), before playing Porthos for director Richard Lester in The Three Musketeers (also 1973), The Four Musketeers (1975) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989). He appeared in several additional films, including The Wild Geese (1978).
Finlay starred as the father in the once controversial Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976), and its sequel Another Bouquet (1977), and he was reunited with his Bouquet of Barbed Wire co-star, Susan Penhaligon, when he played Van Helsing in the BBC Count Dracula (also 1977), with Louis Jourdan. He appeared in two Sherlock Holmes films as Inspector Lestrade, solving the Jack the Ripper murders (A Study in Terror, 1965, and Murder by Decree, 1979). He also played a role in an episode of the Granada Television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett, in which his son Daniel played a minor role as well. Finlay appeared on American television in A Christmas Carol (1984) playing Marley's Ghost opposite George C. Scott's Ebenezer Scrooge. He also guest-starred as the title character in an episode of The Black Adder ("The Witchsmeller Pursuivant", 1983).
Finlay played Sancho Panza opposite Rex Harrison's Don Quixote in the 1973 British made-for-television film The Adventures of Don Quixote,[9] for which he won a BAFTA award.[10] He won another BAFTA award that year for his performance as Voltaire in the BBC TV production of Candide.
Finlay played the role of Justice Peter Mahon in the award-winning New Zealand television serial Erebus: The Aftermath (1988). In the Roman Polanski film The Pianist (2002), he took on the part of Adrien Brody's father.
He starred alongside Pete Postlethwaite and Geraldine James in the BBC drama series The Sins in 2000, playing the funeral director "Uncle" Irwin Green. He appeared in the TV series Life Begins (2004–06) and as Jane Tennison's father in the last two stories of Prime Suspect (2006 and 2007). In 2007, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure 100. In November 2008, Finlay appeared in the eleventh episode of the BBC drama series Merlin, as "Anhora, Keeper of the Unicorns".
Private life and honours
Finlay met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, when they were both members of the Farnworth Little Theatre. They had three children, Stephen, Cathy and Daniel, and lived in Shepperton, Middlesex. She died in 2005 aged 79.[5] A devout Roman Catholic,[11] he was a member of the British Catholic Stage Guild (now known as the Catholic Association of Performing Arts).
Finlay was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours of 1984[12] and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton in 2009.[5]
Death
Finlay died on 30 January 2016 at his home in Weybridge, Surrey, England, aged 89, from heart failure after an unspecified illness.[13][14]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Private Potter | Captain Patterson | ||
| Life for Ruth | Henry - Teddy's father | |||
| The Longest Day | Private Coke | |||
| The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Booking Office clerk | |||
| 1963 | Doctor in Distress | Corsetiere | ||
| The Informers | Leon Sale | |||
| The Wild Affair | Drunk | |||
| 1964 | Hot Enough for June | British Embassy porter | ||
| The Comedy Man | Prout | |||
| 1965 | Othello | Iago | San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture | |
| A Study in Terror | Inspector Lestrade | Reprised the role fourteen years later in Murder by Decree | ||
| 1966 | The Sandwich Man | Second fish porter | ||
| 1967 | The Deadly Bees | H.W. Manfred | ||
| The Jokers | Harassed man | |||
| Robbery | Robinson | |||
| I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Chaplain | |||
| The Spare Tyres | Council foreman | |||
| 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 | |||
| 1974 | The Four Musketeers | Porthos | Sequel to The Three Musketeers | |
| 1977 | Count Dracula | Abraham Van Helsing | TV film | |
| 1978 | The Wild Geese | Father Geoghagen | ||
| 1979 | Ring of Darkness | Paul | aka Satan's Wife | |
| Murder by Decree | Inspector Lestrade | |||
| 1982 | The Return of the Soldier | William Grey | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role | |
| Enigma | Canarsky | |||
| 1983 | The Ploughman's Lunch | Matthew Fox | ||
| The Key | Nino Rolfe | |||
| 1984 | A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley's Ghost | TV film | |
| Sakharov | Kravtsov | TV film | ||
| 1985 | 1919 | Sigmund Freud (voice) | ||
| Lifeforce | Dr. Hans Fallada | |||
| 1989 | The Return of the Musketeers | Porthos | Final film in the Musketeers trilogy | |
| 1990 | King of the Wind | Edward Coke | ||
| 1992 | Cthulhu Mansion | Chandu | ||
| 1993 | Sparrow | Father Nunzio | ||
| 1995 | Gospa | Monsignor | ||
| 1996 | Tiré à part | John Rathbone | ||
| 1997 | For My Baby | Rudi Wittfogel | ||
| 1998 | Stiff Upper Lips | Hudson Junior | ||
| So This Is Romance? | Mike's dad | |||
| 1999 | Dreaming of Joseph Lees | Father | ||
| 2000 | Ghosthunter | Charlie Fielding | Short film | |
| 2000 | The Sins | 'Uncle' Irwin Green | BBC drama series | |
| 2001 | The Martins | Mr. Heath | ||
| 2002 | The Pianist | Samuel Szpilman | ||
| Silent Cry | Dr. Robert Barrum | |||
| 2003 | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | ||
| Eroica | Joseph Haydn | TV film | ||
| The Lost Prince | H.H. Asquith | TV film | ||
| 2004 | Lighthouse Hill | Alfred | ||
| 2007 | The Waiting Room | Roger | ||
| 2008 | Merlin | Anhora | Episode: "The Labyrinth of Gedref" |
References
- ↑ BBC News, "Actor Frank Finlay dies aged 89", 31 January 2016. Accessed 1 February 2016
- ↑ Gary Morecambe, Eric Morecambe: Life's Not Hollywood It's Cricklewood. BBC Books, 2004. p 210.
- ↑ "Bouquet Of Barbed Wire scandalised Seventies viewers - but will a remake have the same impact?", Daily Mail, 3 September 2010. Accessed 5 February 2016
- ↑ "Frank Finlay profile". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ↑ Fox, Margalit (2016-02-06). "Frank Finlay, 89, Is Dead; Was Iago to Olivier's Othello". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ "Session Timeout - Academy Awards® Database - AMPAS". Awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
- ↑ The Broadway League. "Frank Finlay profile". IBDB.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ Josephdreams. "Frank Finlay website". Frank Finlay. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ "BAFTA Television Awards". Bafta.org. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ↑ Deborah Ross (24 February 1998). "Interview: Frank Finlay: Getting over the barbed wire". The Independent. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49583. p. 8. 30 December 1983.
- ↑ "Frank Finlay dead: British Oscar-nominated actor who played opposite Olivier dies aged 89". Independent.co.uk. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ↑ "Actor Frank Finlay dies aged 89". BBC News.com. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
External links
- Frank Finlay at the Internet Movie Database
- Obituary at the Bolton News [1 February 2016] Retrieved 7 February 2016.