Frank Finlay
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- 6 August 1926 · Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
- Died
- 30 January 2016
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
Acting 94
- 2018Nothing Like a Dame as Self (archive footage)
- 2015Fifty Shades of Erotica as (archive footage)
- 2007The Waiting Room as Roger
- 2004Lighthouse Hill as Alfred
- 2003The Statement as Commissaire Vionnet
- 2003Eroica as Josef Haydn
- 2002The Pianist as Father
- 2001Station Jim as Riorden Snr
- 2001The Martins as Mr Heath
- 2000For My Baby as Rudi Wittfogel
- 1999Dreaming of Joseph Lees as Father
- 1998Stiff Upper Lips as Hudson Junior
- 1997Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?) as Mike's Dad
- 1997Limited Edition as John Rathbone
- 1995The Miracle of Medjugorje as Monsignor
- 1995A Mind to Murder as Professor Etherege
- 1994Sparrow as Father Nunzio
- 1994The Voyeur as Nino Rolfe
- 1992Stalin as Sergei
- 1992The Other Side as Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1992Cthulhu Mansion as Chandu
- 1991Mountain of Diamonds as Garrick
- 1990King of the Wind as Edward Coke
- 1989The Return of the Musketeers as Porthos
- 1987Casanova as Razetta
- 1985Nineteen Nineteen as Sigmund Freud (voice)
- 1985Lifeforce as Dr. Hans Fallada
- 1985In the Secret State as Frank Strange
- 1985The Making Of Lifeforce as Self
- 1984Arch of Triumph as Col. Boris Morosov
- 1984Royal Variety Performance 1984
- 1984A Christmas Carol as Jacob Marley
- 1984Sakharov as Kravtsov
- 1983The Key as Nino Rolfe
- 1983The Ploughman's Lunch as Matthew Fox
- 1983The Spanish Civil War as Narrator
- 1983The Return of the Soldier as William Grey
- 1982Enigma as Canarsky
- 1982Mona as Captain Manson
- 1981Tales from the Thousand and One Nights as Shahriar
- 1981Dear Brutus as Dearth
- 1979Ring of Darkness as Paul
- 1979Murder by Decree as Inspector Lestrade
- 1978Betzi as Napoleon
- 1978The Wild Geese as Fr. Geoghagen
- 1978The Thief of Baghdad as Abu Bakar
- 1978Saturday, Sunday, Monday as Peppino
- 1977Count Dracula as Abraham van Helsing
- 197584 Charing Cross Road as Frank Doel
- 1975Van der Valk and the Scapegoat as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
- 1974Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
- 1974The Four Musketeers as Porthos
- 1973Van der Valk and the Rich as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
- 1973The Three Musketeers as Porthos / O'Reilly
- 1973Shaft in Africa as Vincent Amafi
- 1973The Death of Adolf Hitler as Adolf Hitler
- 1973The Adventures Of Don Quixote as Sancho Panza
- 1972Neither the Sea Nor the Sand as George Dabernon
- 1972Danny Jones
- 1972Sitting Target as Marty Gold
- 1972The Merchant of Venice as Shylock
- 1971Gumshoe as William Ginley
- 1971Assault as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
- 1970The Lie as Andrew Firth
- 1970The Body as Narrator
- 1970Cromwell as John Carter
- 1970The Molly Maguires as Davies
- 1969Blood of the Lamb as Albert
- 1969Julius Caesar as Brutus
- 1969The Piano Tuner as Wilfred Tilley
- 1969This Happy Breed as Frank Gibbons
- 1968Twisted Nerve as Henry Durnley
- 1968The Shoes of the Fisherman as Igor Bounin
- 1968Inspector Clouseau as Supt. Weaver
- 1967I'll Never Forget What's'isname as Chaplain
- 1967Robbery as Robinson
- 1967The Jokers as Harrassed Man
- 1967Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry
- 1967The Spare Tyres as Council foreman
- 1966The Deadly Bees as H.W. Manfred
- 1966The Sandwich Man as Second Fish Porter
- 1965Othello as Iago
- 1965The Wild Affair as Drunk
- 1965A Study in Terror as Inspector Lestrade
- 1965Olivier Talks About Othello as (archive footage)
- 1964The Comedy Man as Prout
- 1964Hot Enough for June as British Embassy Porter
- 1963The Informers as Leon Sale
- 1963Doctor in Distress as Corsetiere
- 1962The Longest Day as Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
- 1962The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner as Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
- 1962Life for Ruth as Teddy's Father
- 1962The Hard Knock as Franco Angelo
- 1962Private Potter as Capt. Patterson