Albert Finney
{{Short description|English actor (1936–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox person
|image = Albert Finney 1966.jpg
|caption = Finney in 1966
|birth_date = {{birth date|1936|5|9|df=y}}
|birth_place = Salford, Lancashire, England
|death_date = {{death date and age|2019|2|7|1936|5|9|df=y}}
|death_place = Chelsea, London, England
|occupation = Actor
|years_active = 1956–2012
|spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Jane Wenham|1957|1961|end=div}}|{{marriage|Anouk Aimée|1970|1978|end=div}}|{{marriage|Penelope Delmage|2006}}}}
|children = 1
|education = Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
}}
Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson, who had previously directed him in theatre. He maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television.
He is known for his roles in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Tom Jones (1963), Two for the Road (1967), Scrooge (1970), Annie (1982), The Dresser (1983), Miller's Crossing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994), Erin Brockovich (2000), Big Fish (2003), “[A Good Year]”(2006), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), and the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), and for his performances on stage and television.
A recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, Silver Bear and Volpi Cup awards, Finney was nominated for an Academy Award five times, as Best Actor four times, for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984), and as Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich (2000). He received several awards for his performance as Winston Churchill in the 2002 BBC–HBO television biographical movie The Gathering Storm.
Early life
Finney was born on 9 May 1936 in Salford, Lancashire, the youngest of three children and only son of Albert Finney, a bookmaker, and Alice (née Hobson).Billington, Michael. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614"Finney, Albert (1936–2019), actor"], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2023, {{ODNBsub}} He was educated at Tootal Drive Primary School, Salford Grammar School, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), from which he graduated in 1956.
Career
=1956–1962: Early career=
While at RADA, Finney made an early television appearance playing Mr Hardcastle in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The BBC filmed and broadcast the RADA students' performances at the Vanbrugh Theatre in London on Friday 6 January 1956. Other members of the cast included Roy Kinnear and Richard Briers.{{Cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001179/19560112/122/0012|title=Goldsmith Televised |date=12 January 1956|work=The Stage|access-date=10 February 2019 |issue=3900 |page=12 |url-access=subscription |via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{Cite news|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ee2a26f815ce4117ba46b95771f2db0e |title=She Stoops to Conquer: Part 1 |date=30 December 1955|work=The Radio Times|access-date=10 February 2019 |issue=1677 |pages=44|language=en-GB|issn=0033-8060}} Finney graduated from RADA and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was offered a contract by the Rank Organisation, but refused it to perform for the Birmingham Rep. He was in a production of The Miser for Birmingham Rep, which was filmed for the BBC in 1956. Also for the BBC he appeared in The Claverdon Road Job (1957) and View Friendship and Marriage (1958).
At Birmingham he played the title role of Henry V,Wife sues Albert Finney, The Guardian 7 July 1961: 19. and in 1958, made his London stage debut in Jane Arden's The Party, directed by Charles Laughton, who featured in the production along with his wife, Elsa Lanchester. In 1959, Finney appeared at Stratford in the title role of Coriolanus, replacing an ill Laurence Olivier.Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor, Orion, 1994, p. 243 Finney guest featured for several episodes of Emergency-Ward 10 and was Lysander in a TV version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959) directed by Peter Hall.
Finney's first film appearance was in Tony Richardson's The Entertainer (1960), with Laurence Olivier. Finney and Alan Bates played Olivier's sons. He made his film breakthrough in the same year with his portrayal of a disillusioned factory worker in Karel Reisz's film version of Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), produced by Richardson. The film was a success, being the third most popular movie in Britain that year. It earned more than half a million pounds of profit.Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 239 Finney then did Billy Liar (1960) on stage and for British television.Finney: A Star Who Hides His Magnitude: Albert Finney, Marks, Sally K. Los Angeles Times 23 April 1967: c11. Finney had been chosen to play T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's production of Lawrence of Arabia after a successful and elaborate screen-test that took four days to shoot. However, Finney baulked at signing a multi-year contract for producer Sam Spiegel and chose to decline the role."David Lean" by Stephen M. Silverman (Abrams, New York, 1992)
Finney created the title role in Luther, the 1961 play by John Osborne depicting the life of Martin Luther. He performed the role with the English Stage Company in London, Nottingham, Paris and New York.{{cite news |last1=Taubman |first1=Howard |title=Theater: 'Luther' Stars Albert Finney; John Osborne Drama Is at the St. James |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/09/26/archives/theater-luther-stars-albert-finney-john-osborne-drama-is-at-the-st.html?sq=Luther+AND+Osborne+AND+Finney&scp=1&st=p |website=The New York Times |date=26 September 1963 |access-date=9 February 2019}} The original West End run at the Phoenix ended in March 1962, after 239 performances there, when Finney had to quit the cast to fulfil a contractual obligation with a film company."Luther to end its run next month", The Times, 16 February 1962, p. 15
=1963–1977=
Finney starred in the Academy Award-winning 1963 film Tom Jones, directed by Richardson and written by Osborne. Due to the success of Tom Jones, British exhibitors voted Finney the ninth most popular film actor in 1963.{{cite news|title=Most Popular Films Of 1963|newspaper=The Times|location=London, England|date=3 January 1964|page=4}} Finney received 10% of the film's earnings, which made him over $1 million.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=21 October 1964|page=1|title=Finney's % of 'Tom Jones' Goes Over $1 Million}}
Finney followed this with a small part in ensemble war film The Victors (1963), which was a box-office failure. He then made his Broadway debut in Luther in 1963. When that run ended he decided to take a year off and sail around the world. "People told me to cash in on my success while I was hot," he later said. "I'd been acting for about eight years and had only had one vacation ... Captain Cook had been a hero of mine when I was a kid, and I thought it would be exciting to go to some of the places in the Pacific where he'd been." The success of Tom Jones enabled Finney to produce his next film, Night Must Fall, in 1964, which he also featured in and which was directed by Reisz. A remake of the classic 1937 film of the same title, the film was a failure and Finney's performance received poor reviews.{{cite web |title=Night Must Fall |url=https://variety.com/1963/film/reviews/night-must-fall-1200420591/ |website=Variety |access-date=29 January 2021 |date=1 January 1964}}
Finney undertook a season of plays at the Royal National Theatre, including Miss Julie by August Strindberg in 1965.{{cite web |url=https://passiton.cft.org.uk/archive/cast-list-miss-julie-1965/ |title=Cast List, Miss Julie and Black Comedy (1965) |publisher=Chichester Festival Theatre |access-date=1 September 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406125414/https://passiton.cft.org.uk/archive/cast-list-miss-julie-1965/ |archive-date=6 April 2019 }} He continued acting on films with Two for the Road (1967) co-featuring Audrey Hepburn. He and Michael Medwin formed a production company, Memorial Productions, which made Privilege (1967), directed by Peter Watkins; The Burning (1968), a short directed by Stephen Frears; and If.... (1968), directed by Lindsay Anderson. Memorial also did stage productions, such as A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which Finney performed in London and then Broadway.{{cite news |title=Albert Finney to Appear Here In 'Joe Egg,' a London Success: Simon Sells "Plaza Suite" Don't Drink" Will Move |first=Sam |last=Zolotow |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 December 1967 |page=57}} Memorial also produced some in which Finney did not appear, such as Spring and Port Wine and The Burgular. Memorial then made Charlie Bubbles (1968),Harding, John. Sweetly Sings Delaney. Greenwich Exchange 2014. www.greenex.co.uk which Finney featured in and also directed. Liza Minnelli made her feature debut in the movie.{{cite news |title=Movie Call Sheet: 'Charlie' Next Film for Liza
|last=Martin |first=Betty |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=21 October 1966 |page=C16}} Finney later called it "the most intense sense of creation I've ever had." Finney featured in The Picasso Summer in 1969, and played the title role in the musical Scrooge in 1970.
File:Audrey Hepburn & Albert Finney Two for the Road Still.jpg and Finney in Two for the Road (1967).]]
Finney then made Gumshoe (1971), the first feature film directed by Stephen Frears, for Memorial. Memorial continued to produce films in which Finney did not appear: Spring and Port Wine (1970), with James Mason; Loving Memory (1971), an early directorial effort from Tony Scott; Bleak Moments (1971), the first feature from Mike Leigh; O Lucky Man! (1973) for Anderson; and Law and Disorder (1974); filmed in Hollywood. In 1972, Finney returned to stage after a six-year absence with Alpha Beta, which he later filmed on television with Rachel Roberts.{{cite news |title=Albert Finney
|newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 March 1972 |page=10}} Memorial Productions stopped producing and Finney emphasized acting. "It was OK at first," he later said, "but in the end it was sitting in an office, pitching ideas to Hollywood and waiting for the phone to ring."{{cite news |title=Finney's fondness for the good life |last=Gritten |first=David |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |date=21 April 2000 |page=A14}}
Finney played Agatha Christie's Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot in the film Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Finney became so well known for the role that he complained that it typecast him for a number of years, "People really do think I am 300 pounds with a French accent", he said.{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=David |title=Poirot actors: from David Suchet to Kenneth Branagh, the stars who've played Agatha Christie's sleuth |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/bbc-film-review-programme-cancelled/ |work=The Independent |date=28 December 2018}}Sanders, Dennis and Len Lovallo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lrfyAAAAMAAJ&q=Albert+Finney The Agatha Christie Companion: The Complete Guide to Agatha Christie's Life and Work], (1984), pgs. 438–441. Subscription required {{ISBN|978-0425118450}} He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
He announced he intended to direct the film, The Girl in Melanie Klein, for Memorial, but it was not made.News of the Screen: ' Sugarland' Team For 'Clearwater' 5 Adaptations Set In Theater Series Finney to Direct Comedy on Lunacy By A. H. Weiler. New York Times 12 May 1974: 49.
Finney decided to take time off from features and focus on stage acting, doing classics at the National Theatre in London. "I felt that it needed commitment," he later said. "When you're making movies all the time, you stop breathing. You literally don't breathe in the same way that you do when you're playing the classics. When you have to deliver those long, complex speeches on stage, you can't heave your shoulders after every sentence. The set of muscles required for that kind of acting need to be trained. I really wanted to try and do justice to my own potential in the parts. I didn't want to be a movie actor just dropping in, doing Hamlet and taking off again. I wanted to feel part of the company."Finney comes back to film Farber, Stephen. New York Times 26 July 1981: A.1.
Finney was at the National for over three years{{when|date=August 2019}} during which he played in Hamlet, Macbeth, Tamburlaine, and plays by Anton Chekhov. Finney made a TV film Forget-Me-Not-Lane in 1975, which was written by Peter Nichols, and he also performed a brief role in The Duellists (1977), the first feature directed by Ridley Scott. He also released an album through Motown.Whither Albert Finney?: From Manchester to Motown Records Christon, Lawrence. Los Angeles Times 18 July 1977: f1.
=1981–1999=
File:Tom Courtenay 2 Allan Warren.jpg, who Finney featured with in The Dresser (1983).]]
Finney had not played a major role in a feature film in six years, and started to think about resuming work with cinema. The last two successful films he had made were Scrooge and Orient Express in which he was heavily disguised. "Most Americans probably think I weigh 300 pounds, have black hair and talk with a French accent like Hercule Poirot," said Finney. "So I thought they should have a look at me while I was still almost a juvenile and kind of cute." Finney decided to make six movies in succession "so that I could relax and get back into it again. In order to feel really assured and comfortable in front of a camera, you've got to do it for a while." The first three were thrillers: Loophole (1981), with Susannah York; Wolfen (1981), directed by Michael Wadleigh; and Looker (1981), written and directed by Michael Crichton.Albert Finney stages a film comeback, Blume, Mary. Los Angeles Times 19 October 1980: p67. He received excellent reviews for his performance in the drama Shoot the Moon (1982).{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/26/movies/finney-comes-back-to-film.html?pagewanted=all|title=Finney comes back to film|first=Stephen|last=Farber|work=The New York Times|date=26 July 1981|access-date=3 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905054528/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/26/movies/finney-comes-back-to-film.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=5 September 2017}} Finney said the role "required personal acting; I had to dig into myself. When you have to expose yourself and use your own vulnerability, you can get a little near the edge."
Less well received was his performance as Daddy Warbucks in the Hollywood film version of Annie (1982), which was directed by John Huston. Finney said doing this movie after Shoot The Moon was "marvelous. I use a completely different side of myself as Warbucks. Annie is show biz; it's open, simple and direct. It needs bold, primary colors. I don't have to reveal the inner workings of the character, and that's a relief."
Finney featured in Peter Yates-directed movie The Dresser (1983) as Sir, a deteriorating veteran actor struggling through a difficult performance of King Lear. He earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He then played the title role for the TV film Pope John Paul II (1984), his American television debut.{{cite web |title=Pope John Paul II |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087931/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_37 |website=imdb.com |publisher=Taft Entertainment Television |access-date=29 January 2021 |date=22 April 1984}} Huston cast Finney in the lead role of Under the Volcano (1984), which earned both men great acclaim, including another Best Actor Oscar nomination for Finney.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Albert Finney |work=BBC News |date=8 February 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-13503928 |access-date=8 February 2019}} Finney played the lead role of Sydney Kentridge in The Biko Inquest, a 1984 dramatization of the inquest into the death of Steve Biko which was filmed for television after a London run.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/12/arts/tv-review-the-biko-inquest-on-showtime.html|title=TV review; 'The Biko Inquest' on Showtime|last=O'Connor|first=John J.|date=12 September 1985|work=The New York Times|access-date=1 August 2018}}
Finney performed on stage in Orphans in 1986, and the film version, directed by Alan J. Pakula.The Albert memorial, Billington, Michael. The Guardian 13 March 1986: 12. He had the lead in a television miniseries, The Endless Game (1989), written and directed by Bryan Forbes.{{cite book |last1=Dixon |first1=Wheeler W. |title=Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema |date=2001 |publisher=SIU Press |isbn=978-0-8093-2407-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KibUx_BiR4C |access-date=23 November 2019 |language=en}} Finney began the 1990s with the lead role in a film for HBO, The Image (1990). He received great acclaim playing the gangster boss in Miller's Crossing (1990), replacing Trey Wilson shortly before filming. Finney made an appearance at Roger Waters' The Wall – Live in Berlin (1990), where he played "The Judge" during the performance of "The Trial".{{cite web |title=The Trial – Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig |url=https://genius.com/Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester-leipzig-the-trial-lyrics |website=Genius |access-date=8 February 2019}}
Finney featured in the BBC TV serial The Green Man, based on the Kingsley Amis novel.{{cite web |title=Dorset On Screen: A Report On The Use Of Dorset As A Film-TV Location For The British Film Centenary 1996 |url=http://www.south-central-media.co.uk/report.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324132850/http://www.south-central-media.co.uk/report.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2016 |website=South Central Media |access-date=8 February 2019}} He followed it with The Playboys (1992) for Gillies MacKinnon; Rich in Love (1993) for Bruce Beresford; The Browning Version (1994) for Mike Figgis; A Man of No Importance (1994), for Suri Krishnamma; and The Run of the Country (1995) for Peter Yates. In 1994, Finney played a gay bus conductor in early 1960s Dublin in A Man of No Importance.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-02-03-9502030249-story.html|title=Albert Finney Finds Significance on 'Man of No Importance'|first=Michael|last=Wilmington|website=chicagotribune.com}} He had the main role in Dennis Potter's final two plays, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus (both 1996). In the latter he played a frozen, disembodied head.{{cite web |last1=Elley |first1=Derek |title=Cold Lazarus |url=https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/cold-lazarus-1200445991/ |website=Variety |date=19 June 1996 |access-date=8 February 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Simon |title=Dennis Potter's 'Karaoke' & 'Cold Lazarus' DVD review |url=http://cultbox.co.uk/reviews/dvd-a-blu-ray/dennis-potters-karaoke-a-cold-lazarus-dvd-review |website=Cult Box |date=3 September 2010 |access-date=8 February 2019}} Finney did Nostromo (1997) for television, and Washington Square (1997) for Agnieszka Holland then made A Rather English Marriage (1998) with Tom Courtenay.{{cite web |last1=Elley |first1=Derek |title=A Rather English Marriage |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/a-rather-english-marriage-1200455871/ |website=Variety |date=23 November 1998 |access-date=8 February 2019}} He had supporting roles in Breakfast of Champions (1999) and Simpatico (1999).
=2000–2019=
Finney had his biggest success in several years with Erin Brockovich (2000), alongside Julia Roberts for Steven Soderbergh. His portrayal of real-life California lawyer Edward L. Masry earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, his fifth and final Oscar nomination. Finney had a cameo in Soderbergh's Traffic (2000) and played Ernest Hemingway in Hemingway, the Hunter of Death (2001) for TV. He had the main role in Delivering Milo (2001) and in 2002 his critically acclaimed portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm won him British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Best Actor.{{cite news |last1=Lyman |first1=Rick |title='Chicago,' 'Hours' Win Top Golden Globe Awards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/20/movies/chicago-hours-win-top-golden-globe-awards.html |website=The New York Times |date=20 January 2003 |access-date=8 February 2019}}{{cite web |title=54th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners |url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2002 |website=Emmys.com |access-date=8 February 2019}}
He also played the title role of the television series My Uncle Silas, based on the short stories by H. E. Bates, about a roguish but lovable poacher-cum-farm labourer looking after his great-nephew. The show played for two series broadcast in 2001 and 2003.{{cite news |title=Albert Finney: a career in pictures |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/09/albert-finney-a-career-in-pictures/uncle-silas/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/09/albert-finney-a-career-in-pictures/uncle-silas/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=9 May 2016 |access-date=9 February 2019}}{{cbignore}} Finney had a major role in Big Fish (2003) directed by Tim Burton, and did another cameo for Soderbergh in Ocean's Twelve (2004). He sang in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005){{cite web |title=Tim Burton's Corpse Bride |url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/tim-burtons-corpse-bride-film |website=BBFC |access-date=8 February 2019}} and the film of Aspects of Love (2005).
Finney was reunited with Ridley Scott in A Good Year (2006). He had support roles in Amazing Grace (2006), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), which reunited him with Murder on the Orient Express director Sidney Lumet. His final film role was in Skyfall (2012). A lifelong supporter of Manchester United Football Club, Finney narrated the documentary Munich, about the air crash that killed most of the Busby Babes in 1958, which was shown on United's TV channel MUTV in February 2008.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080720025923/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article3314557.ece Albert Finney remembers]. Timesonline.co.uk. 5 February 2008
=Theatre=
He received Tony Award nominations for Luther (1964) and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), and also starred on stage in Love for Love, Strindberg's Miss Julie, Black Comedy, The Country Wife, Alpha Beta, Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, Tamburlaine the Great, Another Time and, his last stage appearance, in 1997, "Art" by Yasmina Reza, which preceded the 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway run.
He won an Olivier Award for Orphans in 1986 and won three Evening Standard Theatre Awards for Best Actor."Albert Finney: in Character". Quentin Falk. Robson Books. 2002.
Finney never abandoned stage work and continued his association with the National Theatre Company in London, where he had performed during the mid-1960s in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Vic and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard during the 1970s at the National Theatre.{{cite news |last1=Coveney |first1=Michael |title=Albert Finney obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/08/albert-finney-obituary |access-date=10 June 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=8 February 2019}}
Personal life and death
File:Anouk Aimee - 1963.jpg.]]
In 1957, Finney married actress Jane Wenham; they had a son, Simon Finney, who works in the movie industry as a camera operator. They divorced in 1961.{{cite web |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |last2=Byrge |first2=Duane |title=Albert Finney, Chameleon-Like Star of Stage and Screen, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/albert-finney-dead-tom-jones-dresser-erin-brockovich-star-was-82-1022693 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=8 February 2019 |access-date=9 February 2019}} In 1970, Finney married French actress Nicole Dreyfus ("Anouk Aimée"), a union that lasted eight years. In 2006, he married Penelope Delmage, a travel agent. They remained together until Finney's death.
In May 2011, Finney disclosed that he had been receiving treatment for kidney cancer.{{cite news| title=Film star Albert Finney won't let cancer grind him down| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8514173/Film-star-Albert-Finney-wont-let-cancer-grind-him-down.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8514173/Film-star-Albert-Finney-wont-let-cancer-grind-him-down.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| last=Eden| first=Richard| date=15 May 2011| work=The Daily Telegraph | access-date=2 April 2013}}{{cbignore}} According to a 2012 interview, he had been diagnosed with the disease five years earlier and had surgery, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy.{{cite news| title=Actor Albert Finney – son of Salford – loves to come home| url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/film-and-tv/actor-albert-finney---son-698038| work=Manchester Evening News| last=Taylor| first=Paul | date=30 November 2012| access-date=2 April 2013}} Finney died of a chest infection at the Royal Marsden Hospital on 7 February 2019; he was 82.{{cite news |title=Actor Albert Finney dies aged 82 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47175304 |date=8 February 2019|website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/entertainment/albert-finney-dead-scli-intl-gbr/index.html|title=Albert Finney, five-time Oscar nominee, dead at 82|date=9 February 2019|first=Jack|last=Guy|work=CNN}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/movies/albert-finney-dead.html|title=Albert Finney, 'Angry Young Man' Who Became a Hollywood Star, Dies at 82|last=Cowell|first=Alan|date=8 February 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=8 February 2019}}
Acting credits
=Film=
class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Film performances |
scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{tooltip|Refs.|References}} |
---|
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1960
| data-sort-value="Entertainer, The" | The Entertainer | Mick Rice | |
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
| Arthur Seaton | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1963
| Tom Jones | |
data-sort-value="Victors, The" | The Victors
| Russian Soldier | |
scope="row" | 1964
| Danny | |
scope="row" | 1967
| Mark Wallace | |
scope="row" | 1968
| Charlie Bubbles |
scope="row" | 1969
| data-sort-value="Picasso Summer, The" | The Picasso Summer | George Smith | |
scope="row" | 1970
| Scrooge | |
scope="row" | 1971
| Gumshoe | Eddie Ginley | |
scope="row" | 1973
| Alpha Beta | Frank Elliot | | |
scope="row" | 1974
| Murder on the Orient Express | |
scope="row" | 1975
| data-sort-value="Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, The" | The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother | Man in opera audience |Cameo; uncredited | |
scope="row" | 1977
| data-sort-value="Duellists, The" | The Duellists | Fouche | |
rowspan="3" scope="row" | 1981
| Loophole | Mike Daniels | |
Wolfen
| Detective Dewey Wilson | |
Looker
| Dr. Larry Roberts | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1982
| George Dunlap | |
Annie
| Oliver 'Daddy' Warbucks | |
scope="row" | 1983
| data-sort-value="Dresser, The" | The Dresser | Sir | |
scope="row" | 1984
| Geoffrey Firmin | |
scope="row" | 1987
| Orphans | Harold | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1990
| Liam 'Leo' O'Bannon | |
Roger Waters – The Wall – Live in Berlin
| The Judge | |
scope="row" | 1992
| data-sort-value="Playboys, The" | The Playboys | Constable Brendan Hegarty | |
scope="row" | 1993
| Warren Odom | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1994
| data-sort-value="Browning Version, The" | The Browning Version | Andrew Crocker-Harris | |
data-sort-value="Man of No Importance, A" | A Man of No Importance
| Alfred Byrne | |
scope="row" | 1995
| data-sort-value="Run of the Country, The" | The Run of the Country | Danny's Father | | |
scope="row" | 1997
| Dr. Austin Sloper | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1999
| |
Simpatico
| Simms | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2000
| Ed Masry | |
Traffic
| |
scope="row" | 2001
| Elmore Dahl | | |
scope="row" | 2003
| Big Fish | Edward Bloom Sr. | |
scope="row" | 2004
| Gaspar LeMarc | Uncredited cameo |
scope="row" | 2005
| Finis Everglot | Voice |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2006
| data-sort-value="Good Year, A" | A Good Year | Uncle Henry Skinner | |
Amazing Grace
| |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2007
| data-sort-value="Bourne Ultimatum, The" | The Bourne Ultimatum | Dr. Albert Hirsch | |
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
| Charles Hanson | |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2012
| data-sort-value="Bourne Legacy, The" | The Bourne Legacy | Dr. Albert Hirsch | |
Skyfall
| Mr. Kincade | Final film role |
=Television=
class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Television performances |
scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{tooltip|Refs.|References}} |
---|
scope="row" | 1959
| Tom Fletcher | 4 episodes |
scope="row" | 1968–1977
| data-sort-value="Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The" | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | rowspan="4" | Himself | rowspan="2" | 2 episodes | |
scope="row" | 1968–1977
| data-sort-value="Merv Griffin Show, The" | The Merv Griffin Show | |
scope="row" | 1977
| data-sort-value="Mike Douglas Show, The" | The Mike Douglas Show | rowspan="2" | 1 episode | |
scope="row" | 1982
| Late Night with David Letterman | |
scope="row" | 1984
| Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II | {{cite web |title=Finney to make TV debut |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Bq8yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2982,1721583&dq=pope-john-paul+albert-finney&hl=en |website=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=9 February 2019}} |
scope="row" | 1989
| data-sort-value="Endless Game, The" | The Endless Game | Agent, Alec Hillsden | TV miniseries; 2 episodes |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1990
| data-sort-value="Image, The" | The Image | Jason Cromwell | Television movie |
data-sort-value="Green Man, The" | The Green Man
| Maurice Allington | 3 episodes |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1996
| Karaoke | rowspan="2" | Daniel Feeld | rowspan="3" | 4 episodes |
Cold Lazarus |
scope="row" | 1997
| Nostromo | Dr. Monygham |
scope="row" | 1998
| data-sort-value="Rather English Marriage, A" | A Rather English Marriage | Reggie | Television movie |
scope="row" | 2001–2003
| Uncle Silas | 9 episodes |
scope="row" | 2002
| data-sort-value="Gathering Storm, The" | The Gathering Storm | Television movie |
=Stage=
class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Stage performances |
scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Theatre ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{tooltip|Refs.|References}} |
---|
scope="row" | 1956
| Henry V | rowspan="2" | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | |
scope="row" | 1957
| data-sort-value="Lizard on the Rock, The" | The Lizard on the Rock | Malcolm |
scope="row" | 1958
| data-sort-value="Party, The" | The Party | Soya | |
scope="row" | 1959
| |
scope="row" | 1961
| Luther | |
scope="row" | 1963
| Luther | [https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Albert-Finney/ Albert Finney Theatre Credits] |
scope="row" | 1965
| Harold Gorringe | rowspan="4" | Old Vic Theatre | |
scope="row" | 1965
| |
scope="row" | 1965–1966
| Jean | [https://theatricalia.com/play/8h/miss-julie/production/a1g Miss Julie] |
scope="row" | 1966
| data-sort-value="Flea in Her Ear, A" | A Flea in Her Ear | Victor Emmanuel Chandebise | |
scope="row" | 1968
| data-sort-value="Day in the Death of Joe Egg, A" | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Bri |
rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1976
| Hamlet | rowspan="3" | Royal National Theatre | |
Tamburlaine
| Tamburlaine | |
scope="row" | 1978
| data-sort-value="Cherry Orchard, The" | The Cherry Orchard | Lopakhin | |
scope="row" | 1984
| Serjeant Musgrave | |
scope="row" | 1986
| Orphans | Harold | |
scope="row" | 1996
| | Marc |
Awards and nominations
Finney declined the offer of a CBE in 1980, as well as a knighthood in 2000. He criticised such honours as "perpetuating snobbery".{{cite web|title=Revealed: secret list of 300 who scorned honours|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/revealed-secret-list-of-300-who-scorned-honours-bg33h07rk3d|publisher=The Sunday Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012180008/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revealed-secret-list-of-300-who-scorned-honours-bg33h07rk3d|archive-date=12 October 2022|url-status=live|date=21 December 2003|url-access=subscription|first1=David|last1=Leppard|last2=Winnett|first2=Robert|access-date=1 September 2022}}
class="wikitable sortable" |
scope=col| Year
! scope=col| Association ! scope=col| Category ! scope=col| Nominated work ! scope=col| Result ! class=unsortable scope=col| Ref |
---|
rowspan=4|1961
| rowspan="2" | BAFTA Awards | rowspan="4" | Saturday Night and Sunday Morning | {{nom}} |
Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
| {{won}} |
National Board of Review
| {{won}} |
Mar del Plata International Film Festival
| {{won}} |
rowspan=5|1964
| rowspan="4" | Tom Jones | {{nom}} |
BAFTA Awards
| {{nom}} |
rowspan="2" | Golden Globe Awards
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | {{nom}} |
New Star of the Year – Actor
| {{won}} |
rowspan="2" | Tony Awards
| rowspan="2" | Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play | Luther | {{nom}} |
1968
| A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | {{nom}} |
1971
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Scrooge | {{won}} |
1972
| BAFTA Awards | Gumshoe | {{nom}} |
rowspan=2|1975
| rowspan="2" | Murder on the Orient Express | {{nom}} |
BAFTA Awards
| {{nom}} |
1976
| Hamlet and Tamburlaine the Great | {{nom}} |
1982
| Saturn Awards | Wolfen | {{nom}} |
rowspan=2|1983
| BAFTA Awards | rowspan="2" | Shoot the Moon | {{nom}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | {{nom}} |
rowspan=2|1984
| rowspan="2" | The Dresser | {{nom}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | {{nom}} |
rowspan=4|1985
| Under the Volcano | {{nom}} |
BAFTA Awards
| The Dresser | {{nom}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | rowspan="2" | Under the Volcano | {{nom}} |
London Film Critics' Circle Awards
| {{won}} |
1986
| Orphans | {{won}} |
1990
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | The Image | {{nom}} |
1991
| The Green Man | {{nom}} |
1994
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor | The Browning Version | {{won}} |
rowspan=2|1997
| rowspan="3" | BAFTA TV Awards | rowspan="3" | Best Actor on Television | Cold Lazarus | {{nom}} |
Karaoke
| {{nom}} |
1999
| A Rather English Marriage | {{nom}} |
2000
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor | rowspan="9" | Erin Brockovich | {{nom}} |
rowspan=10|2001
| {{nom}} |
BAFTA Awards
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | {{nom}} |
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
| Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama | {{nom}} |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
| {{nom}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | {{nom}} |
London Film Critics' Circle Awards
| British Supporting Actor of the Year | {{won}} |
Online Film Critics Society Awards
| {{nom}} |
Satellite Awards
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | {{nom}} |
rowspan="2" | Screen Actors Guild Awards
| Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Traffic | {{won}} |
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
| Erin Brockovich | {{won}} |
2002
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | rowspan="6" | The Gathering Storm | {{won}} |
rowspan=5|2003
| BAFTA TV Awards | {{won}} |
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
| {{won}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film | {{won}} |
Satellite Awards
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film | {{nom}} |
Screen Actors Guild Awards
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | {{nom}} |
rowspan=3|2004
| BAFTA Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | rowspan="3" | Big Fish | {{nom}} |
Golden Globe Awards
| Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | {{nom}} |
Saturn Awards
| {{nom}} |
2007
| rowspan="3" | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | {{won}} |
rowspan=2|2008
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | {{nom}} |
London Film Critics' Circle Awards
| British Supporting Actor of the Year | {{nom}} |
=Other awards=
Other awards include: a Golden Laurel for his work on Scrooge (1970) and for his work on Tom Jones, for which he was the 3rd Place Winner for the "Top Male Comedy Performance" for 1964. He was honoured by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as Best Actor for Under the Volcano (which he tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus),{{cite web |title=10th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |url=http://www.lafca.net/years/1984.html |website=LAFCA |access-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118102417/http://www.lafca.net/years/1984.html |archive-date=18 January 2015 |url-status=dead }} the National Board of Review Best Actor award for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning,{{cite web |title=National Board of Review – Best Actor |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-names/best-actor/ |website=National Board of Review |access-date=9 February 2019}} and the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor award for Tom Jones.{{cite news |last1=Weiler |first1=A.H. |title=Film Critics Vote 'Tom Jones' Best of Year; Finney Named Top Actor for Title Role – 'Hud' Honored Finney in 3d Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/31/archives/film-critics-vote-tom-jones-best-of-year-finney-named-top-actor-for.html |website=The New York Times |date=31 December 1963 |access-date=9 February 2019}}
Finney won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, for Erin Brockovich, and as a member of the acting ensemble in the film Traffic. He was also nominated for The Gathering Storm, for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, but did not win.{{cite web |title=The 9th Screen Actors Guild Awards |url=http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/9th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards |website=SAG Awards |access-date=9 February 2019}}{{cite web |title=The 7th Screen Actors Guild Awards |url=http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/7th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards |website=SAG Awards |access-date=9 February 2019}}
He won the Silver Berlin Bear award for Best Actor, for The Dresser, at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1984/03_preistr_ger_1984/03_Preistraeger_1984.html |title=Berlinale: 1984 Prize Winners |access-date=26 November 2010 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015121757/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1984/03_preistr_ger_1984/03_Preistraeger_1984.html |url-status=dead }}
He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, for Tom Jones, at the Venice Film Festival.{{cite web |title=Venice Film Festival – 1963 Awards |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000681/1963/1/ |website=IMDB |access-date=9 February 2019}}
In 2001, Finney was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for his achievements in film.{{Cite web |title=Fellowship |url=https://www.bafta.org/awards/film/fellowship |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=Bafta |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Hershman, Gabriel. Strolling Player – The Life and Career of Albert Finney The History Press, 2017, {{ISBN|9780750978866}}
External links
{{Commons category|Albert Finney}}
{{Wikiquote}}
- {{IMDb name|0001215}}
- {{TCMDb name|62063}}
- {{Screenonline name|451331}}
- {{IBDB name|40532}}
- {{British Comedy Guide|people|albert_finney}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160720200010/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1506c49 Albert Finney filmography] at the British Film Institute
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Albert Finney
|list =
{{AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Grownup Love Story}}
{{Bafta Award for Most Promising Newcomer}}
{{BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award}}
{{British Academy Television Award for Best Actor}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor}}
{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesLeadActor}}
{{Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor}}
{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor}}
{{Golden Globe Award Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActorTVMiniseriesFilm}}
{{Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year Actor}}
{{OlivierAward PlayActor}}
{{London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actor of the Year}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actor}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}
{{ScreenActorsGuildAward MaleSupportMotionPicture}}
{{Silver Bear for Best Actor}}
{{Volpi Cup for Best Actor}}
}}
{{British Triple Crown of Acting winners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, Albert}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles winners
Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award (television) winners
Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners
Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Category:English male film actors
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Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners
Category:Male actors from Salford
Category:New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Category:People educated at Salford Grammar School