Frank Finlay
Born: 1926-08-06 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Died: 2016-01-30
Known For: Acting
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.
Filmography
2018
- Nothing Like a Dame as Self (archive footage)
2015
- Fifty Shades of Erotica as (archive footage)
2008
- Merlin as Anhora
- Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons as Alexander 'Alex' Combe
2007
- The Waiting Room as Roger
2006
- Johnny and the Bomb as Tom Maxwell
2004
- Life Begins as Eric Thornhill
- Lighthouse Hill as Alfred
2003
- The Lost Prince as Asquith
- The Statement as Commissaire Vionnet
- Eroica as Josef Haydn
2002
- The Pianist as Father
2001
- The Martins as Mr Heath
- Station Jim as Riorden Snr
2000
- Longitude as Admiral Wagner
- The Sins as Uncle Irwin Green
- For My Baby as Rudi Wittfogel
1999
- The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns as General Bulstrode
- Dreaming of Joseph Lees as Father
1998
- How Do You Want Me?
- Stiff Upper Lips as Hudson Junior
1997
- The Grand as Edward Lawrence
- Limited Edition as John Rathbone
- Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?) as Mike's Dad
1995
- A Mind to Murder as Professor Etherege
- Virgin Mary as Monsignor
1994
- The Voyeur as Nino Rolfe
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes as Professor Coram / Sergius
- Charlemagne, le prince à cheval as Alcuin
- Sparrow as Father Nunzio
1993
- An Exchange of Fire as Pavel Rhele
1992
- Heartbeat as Howard Franklin
- Stalin as Sergei
- The Other Side as Arthur Conan Doyle
- Cthulhu Mansion as Chandu
1991
- Prime Suspect as Arnold Tennison
- Mountain of Diamonds as Garrick
- The Burning Shore as Garrick
- Mountain of Diamonds as Garrick
1990
- King of the Wind as Edward Coke
1989
- The Return of the Musketeers as Porthos
1987
- Casanova as Razetta
- Erebus: The Aftermath as Justice Peter Mahon
1986
- Lovejoy as Harold Plumb
1985
- Screen Two as Frank Strange
- Lifeforce as Dr. Hans Fallada
- Nineteen Nineteen as Sigmund Freud (voice)
- In the Secret State as Frank Strange
- The Making Of Lifeforce as Self
1984
- Sherlock Holmes as Professor Coram / Sergius
- A Christmas Carol as Jacob Marley
- Arch of Triumph as Col. Boris Morosov
- Royal Variety Performance 1984
- Sakharov as Kravtsov
1983
- Blackadder as The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
- The Key as Nino Rolfe
- The Spanish Civil War as Self - Narrator
- The Return of the Soldier as William Grey
- The Ploughman's Lunch as Matthew Fox
1982
- Wogan as Self
- All for Love as Captain Manson
- Enigma as Canarsky
- Mona as Captain Manson
1981
- Dear Brutus as Dearth
- Tales from the Thousand and One Nights as Shahriar
1979
- Tales of the Unexpected as Arthur Pearson
- Murder by Decree as Inspector Lestrade
- Ring of Darkness as Paul
1978
- The Wild Geese as Fr. Geoghagen
- The Thief of Baghdad as Abu Bakar
- Betzi as Napoleon
- Saturday, Sunday, Monday as Peppino
1977
- Count Dracula as Professor Van Helsing
- Count Dracula as Abraham van Helsing
- Another Bouquet
1976
- Laurence Olivier Presents as Peppino
- Bouquet of Barbed Wire as Peter Manson
1975
- 84 Charing Cross Road as Frank Doel
- Van der Valk and the Scapegoat as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
1974
- The Four Musketeers as Porthos
- Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
1973
- The Three Musketeers as Porthos / O'Reilly
- Shaft in Africa as Vincent Amafi
- The Death of Adolf Hitler as Adolf Hitler
- Van der Valk and the Rich as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
- The Adventures Of Don Quixote as Sancho Panza
1972
- Sitting Target as Marty Gold
- Danny Jones
- The Merchant of Venice as Shylock
- Neither the Sea Nor the Sand as George Dabernon
1971
1970
- Play for Today
- The Molly Maguires as Davies
- Cromwell as John Carter
- The Body as Narrator
- The Lie as Andrew Firth
1969
- ITV Saturday Night Theatre as Wilfred Tilley
- Julius Caesar as Brutus
- The Piano Tuner as Wilfred Tilley
- This Happy Breed as Frank Gibbons
- Blood of the Lamb as Albert
1968
- Inspector Clouseau as Supt. Weaver
- Twisted Nerve as Henry Durnley
- The Shoes of the Fisherman as Igor Bounin
1967
- Robbery as Robinson
- The Jokers as Harrassed Man
- I'll Never Forget What's'isname as Chaplain
- Les Misérables as Jean Valjean
- Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry
- The Spare Tyres as Council foreman
1966
- NET Playhouse as Marcus Brutus
- The Deadly Bees as H.W. Manfred
- The Sandwich Man as Second Fish Porter
1965
- BBC Play of the Month as Marcus Brutus
- Thirty-Minute Theatre as The Man
- Othello as Iago
- A Study in Terror as Inspector Lestrade
- The Wild Affair as Drunk
- Olivier Talks About Othello as (archive footage)
1964
- Theatre 625 as Dr Dee
- The Wednesday Play as Albert
- The Comedy Man as Prout
- Hot Enough for June as British Embassy Porter
1963
- The Informers as Leon Sale
- Doctor in Distress as Corsetiere
1962
- Z-Cars
- The Longest Day as Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
- Studio 4 as Fernand Destayac
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner as Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
- Private Potter as Capt. Patterson
- Life for Ruth as Teddy's Father
- The Hard Knock as Franco Angelo
1961
- Drama 61-67 as Albert Hope
- The Younger Generation as Ross Mayer
- You Can't Win as George Lander
1960
- Target Luna as Conway Henderson
1956
- Armchair Theatre as Franco Angelo
1950
- Sunday Night Theatre as Louis