Frank Finlay
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Aug 6, 1926
- Died
- Jan 30, 2016 (aged 89)
- Place of birth
- Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
- Credits
- 138
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
Filmography
Nothing Like a Dame
2018Movie
Self (archive footage)
Fifty Shades of Erotica
2015Movie
(archive footage)
Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
2008TV
Alexander 'Alex' Combe
Merlin
2008TV
Anhora
The Waiting Room
2007Movie
Roger
Johnny and the Bomb
2006TV
Tom Maxwell
Lighthouse Hill
2004Movie
Alfred
Life Begins
2004TV
Eric Thornhill
The Statement
2003Movie
Commissaire Vionnet
Eroica
2003Movie
Josef Haydn
The Lost Prince
2003TV
Asquith
The Pianist
2002Movie
Father
Station Jim
2001Movie
Riorden Snr
The Martins
2001Movie
Mr Heath
The Sins
2000TV
Uncle Irwin Green
For My Baby
2000Movie
Rudi Wittfogel
Longitude
2000TV
Admiral Wagner
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
1999TV
General Bulstrode
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
1999Movie
Father
Stiff Upper Lips
1998Movie
Hudson Junior
How Do You Want Me?
1998TV
Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?)
1997Movie
Mike's Dad
The Grand
1997TV
Edward Lawrence
Limited Edition
1997Movie
John Rathbone
The Miracle of Medjugorje
1995Movie
Monsignor
A Mind to Murder
1995Movie
Professor Etherege
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
1994TV
Professor Coram / Sergius
Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
1994TV
Alcuin
Sparrow
1994Movie
Father Nunzio
The Voyeur
1994Movie
Nino Rolfe
An Exchange of Fire
1993TV
Pavel Rhele
Stalin
1992Movie
Sergei
The Other Side
1992Movie
Arthur Conan Doyle
Heartbeat
1992TV
Howard Franklin
Cthulhu Mansion
1992Movie
Chandu
Mountain of Diamonds
1991Movie
Garrick
Mountain of Diamonds
1991TV
Garrick
Prime Suspect
1991TV
Arnold Tennison
The Burning Shore
1991TV
Garrick
King of the Wind
1990Movie
Edward Coke
The Return of the Musketeers
1989Movie
Porthos
Erebus: The Aftermath
1987TV
Justice Peter Mahon
Casanova
1987Movie
Razetta
Lovejoy
1986TV
Harold Plumb
Nineteen Nineteen
1985Movie
Sigmund Freud (voice)
Lifeforce
1985Movie
Dr. Hans Fallada
In the Secret State
1985Movie
Frank Strange
Screen Two
1985TV
Frank Strange
The Making Of Lifeforce
1985Movie
Self
Arch of Triumph
1984Movie
Col. Boris Morosov
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984Movie
A Christmas Carol
1984Movie
Jacob Marley
Sakharov
1984Movie
Kravtsov
Sherlock Holmes
1984TV
Professor Coram / Sergius
The Key
1983Movie
Nino Rolfe
Blackadder
1983TV
The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983Movie
Matthew Fox
The Spanish Civil War
1983TV
Self - Narrator
The Return of the Soldier
1983Movie
William Grey
Enigma
1982Movie
Canarsky
Mona
1982Movie
Captain Manson
Wogan
1982TV
Self
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
1981Movie
Shahriar
Dear Brutus
1981Movie
Dearth
Ring of Darkness
1979Movie
Paul
Tales of the Unexpected
1979TV
Arthur Pearson
Murder by Decree
1979Movie
Inspector Lestrade
Betzi
1978Movie
Napoleon
The Wild Geese
1978Movie
Fr. Geoghagen
The Thief of Baghdad
1978Movie
Abu Bakar
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
1978Movie
Peppino
Count Dracula
1977Movie
Abraham van Helsing
Count Dracula
1977TV
Professor Van Helsing
Another Bouquet
1977TV
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976TV
Peppino
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
1976TV
Peter Manson
84 Charing Cross Road
1975Movie
Frank Doel
Van der Valk and the Scapegoat
1975Movie
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter
1974Movie
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
The Four Musketeers
1974Movie
Porthos
Van der Valk and the Rich
1973Movie
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
The Three Musketeers
1973Movie
Porthos / O'Reilly
Shaft in Africa
1973Movie
Vincent Amafi
The Death of Adolf Hitler
1973Movie
Adolf Hitler
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
1973Movie
Sancho Panza
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
1972Movie
George Dabernon
Sitting Target
1972Movie
Marty Gold
Danny Jones
1972Movie
The Merchant of Venice
1972Movie
Shylock
Gumshoe
1971Movie
William Ginley
Casanova
1971TV
Giovanni Jacopo Casanova
Assault
1971Movie
Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
The Lie
1970Movie
Andrew Firth
Play for Today
1970TV
Dearth
The Body
1970Movie
Narrator
Cromwell
1970Movie
John Carter
The Molly Maguires
1970Movie
Davies
Blood of the Lamb
1969Movie
Albert
Julius Caesar
1969Movie
Brutus
The Piano Tuner
1969Movie
Wilfred Tilley
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969TV
Wilfred Tilley, Adolf Hitler
This Happy Breed
1969Movie
Frank Gibbons
Twisted Nerve
1968Movie
Henry Durnley
The Shoes of the Fisherman
1968Movie
Igor Bounin
Inspector Clouseau
1968Movie
Supt. Weaver
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
1967Movie
Chaplain
Les Misérables
1967TV
Jean Valjean
Robbery
1967Movie
Robinson
The Jokers
1967Movie
Harrassed Man
Much Ado About Nothing
1967Movie
Dogberry
The Spare Tyres
1967Movie
Council foreman
The Deadly Bees
1966Movie
H.W. Manfred
NET Playhouse
1966TV
Marcus Brutus
The Sandwich Man
1966Movie
Second Fish Porter
Othello
1965Movie
Iago
The Wild Affair
1965Movie
Drunk
BBC Play of the Month
1965TV
Marcus Brutus, Shylock, Sancho Panza, Voltaire
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965TV
The Man
A Study in Terror
1965Movie
Inspector Lestrade
The Wednesday Play
1964TV
Albert
The Comedy Man
1964Movie
Prout
Theatre 625
1964TV
Dr Dee
Hot Enough for June
1964Movie
British Embassy Porter
The Informers
1963Movie
Leon Sale
Doctor in Distress
1963Movie
Corsetiere
The Longest Day
1962Movie
Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1962Movie
Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
Life for Ruth
1962Movie
Teddy's Father
The Hard Knock
1962Movie
Franco Angelo
Studio 4
1962TV
Fernand Destayac
Z-Cars
1962TV
Private Potter
1962Movie
Capt. Patterson
You Can't Win
1961TV
George Lander
The Younger Generation
1961TV
Ross Mayer, George Tremaine
Drama 61-67
1961TV
Albert Hope
Target Luna
1960TV
Conway Henderson
Armchair Theatre
1956TV
Franco Angelo, Bosun, Patrick Kelly, David Field
Sunday Night Theatre
1950TV
Louis