Frank Finlay
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.
Born: August 6, 1926
Place of Birth: Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Known For
Filmography
as Self (archive footage)
as (archive footage)
as Alexander 'Alex' Combe
as Anhora
as Roger
as Tom Maxwell
as Alfred
as Eric Thornhill
as Commissaire Vionnet
as Josef Haydn
as Asquith
as Father
as Mr Heath
as Uncle Irwin Green
as Rudi Wittfogel
as Admiral Wagner
as General Bulstrode
as Father
as Hudson Junior
as John Rathbone
as Monsignor
as Professor Etherege
as Alcuin
as Father Nunzio
as Nino Rolfe
as Sergei
as Howard Franklin
as Chandu
as Garrick
as Arnold Tennison
as Garrick
as Edward Coke
as Porthos
as Justice Peter Mahon
as Razetta
as Harold Plumb
as Sigmund Freud (voice)
as Dr. Hans Fallada
as Frank Strange
as Col. Boris Morosov
as Jacob Marley
as Kravtsov
as Professor Coram / Sergius
as Nino Rolfe
as The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
as Matthew Fox
as William Grey
as Canarsky
as Captain Manson
as Self
as Shahriar
as Paul
as Arthur Pearson
as Inspector Lestrade
as Napoleon
as Fr. Geoghagen
as Abu Bakar
as Peppino
as Professor Van Helsing
as Abraham van Helsing
as Peppino
as Peter Manson
as Frank Doel
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
as Porthos
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
as Porthos / O'Reilly
as Vincent Amafi
as Adolf Hitler
as Sancho Panza
as George Dabernon
as Marty Gold
as Shylock
as William Ginley
as Casanova
as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
as Andrew Firth
as Dearth
as Narrator
as John Carter
as Davies
as Brutus
as Henry Durnley
as Igor Bounin
as Supt. Weaver
as Chaplain
as Jean Valjean
as Robinson
as Harrassed Man
as Dogberry
as H.W. Manfred
as Second Fish Porter
as Iago
as Drunk
as Marcus Brutus
as Shylock
as Sancho Panza
as Voltaire
as Inspector Lestrade
as Prout
as Dr Dee
as British Embassy Porter
as Leon Sale
as Corsetiere
as Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
as Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
as Teddy's Father
as Capt. Patterson
as Conway Henderson