Frank Finlay
Acting • Born 1926-08-06 – Died 2016-01-30
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
133 credits
The Pianist
Movie • 2002
Father
Shaft in Africa
Movie • 1973
Vincent Amafi
Ring of Darkness
Movie • 1979
Paul
The Three Musketeers
Movie • 1973
Porthos / O'Reilly
Enigma
Movie • 1982
Canarsky
Inspector Clouseau
Movie • 1968
Supt. Weaver
The Wild Geese
Movie • 1978
Fr. Geoghagen
Lifeforce
Movie • 1985
Dr. Hans Fallada
Cromwell
Movie • 1970
John Carter
The Waiting Room
Movie • 2007
Roger
Murder by Decree
Movie • 1979
Inspector Lestrade
Gumshoe
Movie • 1971
William Ginley
Cthulhu Mansion
Movie • 1992
Chandu
The Key
Movie • 1983
Nino Rolfe
The Statement
Movie • 2003
Commissaire Vionnet
The Molly Maguires
Movie • 1970
Davies
The Return of the Musketeers
Movie • 1989
Porthos
Dear Brutus
Movie • 1981
Dearth
The Wild Affair
Movie • 1965
Drunk
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
Movie • 1972
George Dabernon
Othello
Movie • 1965
Iago
Sparrow
Movie • 1994
Father Nunzio
Blood of the Lamb
Movie • 1969
Albert
In the Secret State
Movie • 1985
Frank Strange
Mona
Movie • 1982
Captain Manson
The Deadly Bees
Movie • 1966
H.W. Manfred
Sitting Target
Movie • 1972
Marty Gold
Robbery
Movie • 1967
Robinson
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
Movie • 1999
Father
Twisted Nerve
Movie • 1968
Henry Durnley
The Jokers
Movie • 1967
Harrassed Man
Assault
Movie • 1971
Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
Stiff Upper Lips
Movie • 1998
Hudson Junior
Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?)
Movie • 1997
Mike's Dad
Arch of Triumph
Movie • 1984
Col. Boris Morosov
Limited Edition
Movie • 1997
John Rathbone
A Mind to Murder
Movie • 1995
Professor Etherege
The Thief of Baghdad
Movie • 1978
Abu Bakar
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Movie • 1967
Chaplain
King of the Wind
Movie • 1990
Edward Coke
The Ploughman's Lunch
Movie • 1983
Matthew Fox
For My Baby
Movie • 2000
Rudi Wittfogel
84 Charing Cross Road
Movie • 1975
Frank Doel
Count Dracula
Movie • 1977
Abraham van Helsing
Lighthouse Hill
Movie • 2004
Alfred
Sakharov
Movie • 1984
Kravtsov
The Other Side
Movie • 1992
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Return of the Soldier
Movie • 1983
William Grey
Much Ado About Nothing
Movie • 1967
Dogberry
The Longest Day
Movie • 1962
Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
The Sandwich Man
Movie • 1966
Second Fish Porter
Mountain of Diamonds
Movie • 1991
Garrick
The Lie
Movie • 1970
Andrew Firth
Van der Valk and the Rich
Movie • 1973
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Casanova
Movie • 1987
Razetta
The Hard Knock
Movie • 1962
Franco Angelo
The Shoes of the Fisherman
Movie • 1968
Igor Bounin
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 1984
Jacob Marley
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Movie • 1973
Adolf Hitler
Doctor in Distress
Movie • 1963
Corsetiere
The Piano Tuner
Movie • 1969
Wilfred Tilley
Eroica
Movie • 2003
Josef Haydn
Danny Jones
Movie • 1972
Julius Caesar
Movie • 1969
Brutus
The Merchant of Venice
Movie • 1972
Shylock
The Voyeur
Movie • 1994
Nino Rolfe
Betzi
Movie • 1978
Napoleon
The Four Musketeers
Movie • 1974
Porthos
Station Jim
Movie • 2001
Riorden Snr
The Spare Tyres
Movie • 1967
Council foreman
The Body
Movie • 1970
Narrator
Nineteen Nineteen
Movie • 1985
Sigmund Freud (voice)
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
Movie • 1973
Sancho Panza
Stalin
Movie • 1992
Sergei
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
Movie • 1978
Peppino
The Martins
Movie • 2001
Mr Heath
Virgin Mary
Movie • 1995
Monsignor
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Movie • 1962
Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
Hot Enough for June
Movie • 1964
British Embassy Porter
Fifty Shades of Erotica
Movie • 2015
(archive footage)
The Comedy Man
Movie • 1964
Prout
Life for Ruth
Movie • 1962
Teddy's Father
Private Potter
Movie • 1962
Capt. Patterson
A Study in Terror
Movie • 1965
Inspector Lestrade
Olivier Talks About Othello
Movie • 1965
(archive footage)
Nothing Like a Dame
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
The Informers
Movie • 1963
Leon Sale
Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter
Movie • 1974
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Van der Valk and the Scapegoat
Movie • 1975
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
Movie • 1981
Shahriar
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Movie • 1984
The Making Of Lifeforce
Movie • 1985
Self
How Do You Want Me?
TV • 1998
Life Begins
TV • 2004
Eric Thornhill
Z-Cars
TV • 1962
Tales of the Unexpected
TV • 1979
Arthur Pearson
Prime Suspect
TV • 1991
Arnold Tennison
Heartbeat
TV • 1992
Howard Franklin
Sherlock Holmes
TV • 1984
Professor Coram / Sergius
Lovejoy
TV • 1986
Harold Plumb
Blackadder
TV • 1983
The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Play for Today
TV • 1970
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
TV • 1976
Peter Manson
Wogan
TV • 1982
Self
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Marcus Brutus
Count Dracula
TV • 1977
Professor Van Helsing
Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
TV • 2008
Alexander 'Alex' Combe
Another Bouquet
TV • 1977
The Sins
TV • 2000
Uncle Irwin Green
Les Misérables
TV • 1967
Jean Valjean
Johnny and the Bomb
TV • 2006
Tom Maxwell
Casanova
TV • 1971
Giovanni Jacopo Casanova
Laurence Olivier Presents
TV • 1976
Peppino
Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
TV • 1994
Alcuin
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
TV • 1999
General Bulstrode
The Lost Prince
TV • 2003
Asquith
Merlin
TV • 2008
Anhora
The Burning Shore
TV • 1991
Garrick
Target Luna
TV • 1960
Conway Henderson
Play for Today
TV • 1970
Dearth
Erebus: The Aftermath
TV • 1987
Justice Peter Mahon
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Shylock
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Sancho Panza
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Voltaire
An Exchange of Fire
TV • 1993
Pavel Rhele
Longitude
TV • 2000
Admiral Wagner
Theatre 625
TV • 1964
Dr Dee
The Younger Generation
TV • 1961
Ross Mayer
The Younger Generation
TV • 1961
George Tremaine
The Spanish Civil War
TV • 1983
Self - Narrator
Studio 4
TV • 1962
Fernand Destayac
Drama 61-67
TV • 1961
Albert Hope
The Grand
TV • 1997
Edward Lawrence