Frank Finlay
Encyclopedia
Francis Finlay, CBE
(born 6 August 1926) is an English stage, film and television actor.
, Lancashire
, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic
, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild
. He was educated at St. Gregory the Great School but left at the age of fourteen and then trained as a butcher himself, gaining a City and Guilds Diploma in the trade. He met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, when they were both members of the Farnworth Little Theatre. They had three children, Stephen, Cathy and Daniel and they lived in Shepperton
, Middlesex
and were married until her death in 2005.
before graduating from RADA
. There followed several appearances at the Royal Court Theatre
, notably in the Arnold Wesker
trilogy. He is particularly associated with the National Theatre
, especially during the Olivier
years and the Chichester Festival Theatre
, where he played a wide variety of roles ranging from the First Gravedigger in Hamlet
to Josef Frank
in Weapons of Happiness
. He also had parts in The Party, Plunder, Saint Joan
, Hobson's Choice, "Amadeus", Much Ado About Nothing
(as Dogberry
),
The Dutch Courtesan
, The Crucible
, Mother Courage
, and Juno and the Paycock
.
Playing Iago
opposite Laurence Olivier
's title character
in John Dexter
's 1965 production of Othello
and the film adaptation
, Finlay's performance as the NCO
left theatre critics unmoved, but later received high praise for the film version and earned him an Academy Award nomination. Critic John Simon
wrote that the closeups in the film afforded Finlay the chance to give a more subtle and effective performance than he had onstage.
Finlay was also seen on Broadway
in Epitaph for George Dillon
(1958–59), and, also, in the National Theatre and Broadway productions of Filumena (opposite Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright
) in 1980.
in Dennis Potter
's BBC2 series of the same name. Following this in 1972, he won perhaps the greatest praise of his career for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler
in The Death of Adolf Hitler
.
He portrayed Richard Roundtree
's nemesis, Amafi, in Shaft in Africa
(1973) before playing Porthos
for director Richard Lester
in The Three Musketeers
(1973), The Four Musketeers
(1975) and The Return of the Musketeers
(1989). He has also appeared in several other films, including The Wild Geese
(1978).
He went on to star as the father in the once controversial Bouquet of Barbed Wire
and he was reunited with his Bouquet of Barbed Wire co-star, Susan Penhaligon
, when he played Van Helsing
in the BBC Count Dracula
with Louis Jourdan (1977).
He appeared in two Sherlock Holmes
films as Inspector Lestrade
, solving the Jack the Ripper
murders (A Study in Terror
and Murder by Decree
). He also played a role in an episode of the Granada Television
adaptation of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett
. In 1984, Finlay appeared on American television in A Christmas Carol
. He played Marley's Ghost opposite George C. Scott
's Ebenezer Scrooge
. He also guest-starred as "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant" in the first series of the The Black Adder
in 1983.
Finlay also played Sancho Panza
opposite Rex Harrison
's Don Quixote in the 1973 British
made-for-television film The Adventures of Don Quixote, for which he won a BAFTA award. He won another BAFTA award that year for his performance as Voltaire
in a non-musical BBC
TV production of Candide
.
In 1988, Finlay played the role of Justice Peter Mahon
in the award-winning New Zealand
television miniseries
Erebus: The Aftermath
.
In 2002 Finlay portrayed Adrien Brody
's character's father in the Roman Polanski
film The Pianist
(2002). His most recent appearances have been in the TV series Life Begins
and as Jane Tennison's father in the last two stories of Prime Suspect (2006 and 2007). In 2007 he guest-starred in the Doctor Who
audio adventure 100
. In November 2008 Finlay appeared in the eleventh episode of the BBC drama series Merlin
, as Anorah; Keeper of the Unicorns.
in the new years' honours list of 1984.
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bolton
July 2010
in Brighton
, Sussex
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 6 August 1926) is an English stage, film and television actor.
Personal life
Finlay was born in FarnworthFarnworth
Farnworth is within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton, 6 miles south-west of Bury , and northwest of Manchester....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild
British Catholic Stage Guild
The British Catholic Stage Guild, the main organisation for Roman Catholics in British entertainment, was founded in 1911. The aim of the Guild, as laid out in the 1931 Year Book, was "to establish and encourage spiritual, artistic and social intercourse among [Roman] Catholics connected with the...
. He was educated at St. Gregory the Great School but left at the age of fourteen and then trained as a butcher himself, gaining a City and Guilds Diploma in the trade. He met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, when they were both members of the Farnworth Little Theatre. They had three children, Stephen, Cathy and Daniel and they lived in Shepperton
Shepperton
Shepperton is a town in the borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England. To the south it is bounded by the river Thames at Desborough Island and is bisected by the M3 motorway...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
and were married until her death in 2005.
Stage career
Finlay began his stage career in repRepertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
before graduating from RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
. There followed several appearances at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, notably in the Arnold Wesker
Arnold Wesker
Sir Arnold Wesker is a prolific British dramatist known for his contributions to kitchen sink drama. He is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings...
trilogy. He is particularly associated with the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, especially during the Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
years and the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, where he played a wide variety of roles ranging from the First Gravedigger in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
to Josef Frank
Josef Frank (politician)
Josef Frank was a Czechoslovakian Communist politician.Between 1939 and 1945 he was imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp....
in Weapons of Happiness
Weapons of Happiness
Weapons of Happiness is a 1976 political play by Howard Brenton about a strike in a London crisp factory. The play makes use of a dramatic conceit whereby the Czech communist cabinet minister Josef Frank is imagined alive in the 1970s , and his hallucinations of life in Stalinist Czechoslovakia...
. He also had parts in The Party, Plunder, Saint Joan
Saint Joan (play)
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw, based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts...
, Hobson's Choice, "Amadeus", Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(as Dogberry
Dogberry
Dogberry is a self-satisfied night constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.In the play, Dogberry is the chief of the citizen-police in Messina. As is usual in Shakespearean comedy, and Renaissance comedy generally, he is a figure of comic incompetence...
),
The Dutch Courtesan
The Dutch Courtesan
The Dutch Courtesan is an early Jacobean stage play written by the dramatist and satirist John Marston circa 1604. It was performed by the Children of the Queen's Revels, one of the troupes of boy actors active at the time, in the Blackfriars Theatre in London.The play was entered into the...
, The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
, Mother Courage
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...
, and Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
.
Playing Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
opposite Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's title character
Othello (character)
Othello is a character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's origin is traced to the tale, "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor....
in John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
's 1965 production of Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
and the film adaptation
Othello (1965 film)
Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael...
, Finlay's performance as the NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
left theatre critics unmoved, but later received high praise for the film version and earned him an Academy Award nomination. Critic John Simon
John Simon (critic)
John Ivan Simon is an American author and literary, theater, and film critic.-Personal life:Simon was born in Subotica, Bačka, County of Bačka, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later, known as Yugoslavia . He is of Hungarian descent...
wrote that the closeups in the film afforded Finlay the chance to give a more subtle and effective performance than he had onstage.
Finlay was also seen on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in Epitaph for George Dillon
Epitaph for George Dillon
Epitaph for George Dillon is an early John Osborne play, one of two he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Creighton . It was written before Look Back in Anger, the play which made Osborne’s career, but opened a year after in Oxford in 1957 and moved to London’s Royal Court theatre, where Look...
(1958–59), and, also, in the National Theatre and Broadway productions of Filumena (opposite Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright
Joan Plowright
Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
) in 1980.
Television and film
His first major success on television was in the title role of CasanovaCasanova (1971 TV serial)
Casanova is a British television drama serial, written by television playwright Dennis Potter. Directed by Mark Cullingham and John Glenister, the serial was made by the BBC and screened on the BBC2 network in November and December 1971. It is loosely based on Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova's...
in Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
's BBC2 series of the same name. Following this in 1972, he won perhaps the greatest praise of his career for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in The Death of Adolf Hitler
The Death of Adolf Hitler
The Death of Adolf Hitler was a 1973 British television film starring Frank Finlay as Adolf Hitler and Caroline Mortimer as Eva Braun. The film details the last 10 days of Hitler's life as World War II comes to an end and Allied troops are closing in on the Führerbunker. Michael Sheard and Tony...
.
He portrayed Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
's nemesis, Amafi, in Shaft in Africa
Shaft in Africa
Shaft in Africa, released in 1973, is the third film in the blaxploitation trilogy of films that starred actor Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. John Guillermin directed and Stirling Silliphant did the screenplay. The cost went up to $2,142, 000, but the gross fell to $1,458,000...
(1973) before playing Porthos
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...
for director Richard Lester
Richard Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
in The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers (1973 film)
The Three Musketeers is a 1973 film based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser . It was originally proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for The Beatles, whom Lester had directed in two other films...
(1973), The Four Musketeers
The Four Musketeers (film)
The Four Musketeers is a 1974 Richard Lester film that follows upon his film of the year before, The Three Musketeers, and covers the second half of Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers...
(1975) and The Return of the Musketeers
The Return of the Musketeers
The Return of the Musketeers is a 1989 film adaptation loosely based on the novel Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is the third Musketeers film directed by Richard Lester, following 1973's The Three Musketeers and 1974's The Four Musketeers...
(1989). He has also appeared in several other films, including The Wild Geese
The Wild Geese
The Wild Geese is a British 1978 film about a group of mercenaries in Africa. It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger...
(1978).
He went on to star as the father in the once controversial Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Bouquet of Barbed Wire is a British television series based on a 1969 novel by Andrea Newman. The series – whose title comes from an incident that occurred to Newman and her mother while on a walk – was made by London Weekend Television for ITV in 1976...
and he was reunited with his Bouquet of Barbed Wire co-star, Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon is a British actress and writer, she is probably best known for her appearances in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and several ongoing roles in UK television series.-Early days:...
, when he played Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
in the BBC Count Dracula
Count Dracula (1977)
Count Dracula is a British television adaptation of the famous novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It first aired in December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book...
with Louis Jourdan (1977).
He appeared in two Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
films as Inspector Lestrade
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade....
, solving the Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murders (A Study in Terror
A Study in Terror
A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson...
and Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
). He also played a role in an episode of the Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
adaptation of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
. In 1984, Finlay appeared on American television in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1984 film)
A Christmas Carol is a 1984 made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge...
. He played Marley's Ghost opposite George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
's Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
. He also guest-starred as "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant" in the first series of the The Black Adder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
in 1983.
Finlay also played Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
opposite Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
's Don Quixote in the 1973 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
made-for-television film The Adventures of Don Quixote, for which he won a BAFTA award. He won another BAFTA award that year for his performance as Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
in a non-musical BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV production of Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
.
In 1988, Finlay played the role of Justice Peter Mahon
Peter Mahon (lawyer)
Peter Thomas Mahon QC was a New Zealand High Court Judge, best known for his Commission of Inquiry into the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 . His son, Sam Mahon is a well-known artist.-Military Service:...
in the award-winning New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Erebus: The Aftermath
Erebus: The Aftermath
Erebus: The Aftermath was a 1988 New Zealand television miniseries about Air New Zealand Flight 901, which crashed in Antarctica in 1979. The miniseries, a docudrama, was produced by Television New Zealand, and was broadcast in New Zealand and Australia...
.
In 2002 Finlay portrayed Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody is an American actor and film producer. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist . Winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 at age 29, he is the youngest actor to do so...
's character's father in the Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
film The Pianist
The Pianist (2002 film)
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
(2002). His most recent appearances have been in the TV series Life Begins
Life Begins
Life Begins is a British television drama first broadcast on ITV between February 2004 and October 2006, starring Caroline Quentin and Alexander Armstrong, Anne Reid and Frank Finlay.-History:...
and as Jane Tennison's father in the last two stories of Prime Suspect (2006 and 2007). In 2007 he guest-starred in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
audio adventure 100
100 (Doctor Who audio)
100 is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. As the 100th release, it is made of four one-part stories, by different authors, rather than the usual multi-part serial...
. In November 2008 Finlay appeared in the eleventh episode of the BBC drama series Merlin
Merlin (TV series)
Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
, as Anorah; Keeper of the Unicorns.
Awards
Finlay was made a Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the new years' honours list of 1984.
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bolton
University of Bolton
The University of Bolton is a university in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It has around 14,000 students across all sites and courses, with 700 academic and professional staff. Around 70% of its students come from Bolton and the North West region...
July 2010
Patron
Frank is a patron of The Academy of Creative Training a Drama schoolDrama school
A drama school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution ; which specialises in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and...
in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Private Potter Private Potter Private Potter is a 1962 British drama film directed by Caspar Wrede and starring Tom Courtenay, Mogens Wieth, Ronald Fraser, and James Maxwell.-Plot:... |
Captain Patterson | Film debut |
| 1962 | Life for Ruth Life for Ruth Life for Ruth is a 1962 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Michael Craig, Patrick McGoohan and Janet Munro.-Plot:John Harris finds himself ostracized and placed on trial for allowing his daughter Ruth to die. His religious beliefs forbade him to give consent for a blood... |
Teddy's Father | |
| The Longest Day The Longest Day (film) The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II.... |
Private Coke | ||
| The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a 1962 film, based on the short story of the same name.The screenplay, like the short story, was written by Alan Sillitoe.... |
Booking Office Clerk | ||
| 1963 | Doctor in Distress Doctor in Distress (film) Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series... |
Corsetiere | |
| The Informers The Informers (1963 film) The Informers is a 1963 British crime film produced and distributed in the UK by The Rank Organisation and distributed in the USA by Continental Film Distributors. It was directed by Ken Annakin, produced by William MacQuitty with the screenplay by Paul Durst and Alun Falconer from the novel... |
Leon Sale | ||
| The Wild Affair The Wild Affair The Wild Affair is a 1963 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Nancy Kwan, Gladys Morgan and Betty Marsden.-Cast:* Nancy Kwan as Marjorie Lee* Gladys Morgan as Mrs... |
Drunk | ||
| 1964 | Hot Enough for June Hot Enough for June Hot Enough for June is a 1964 British spy comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and featuring Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley, Leo McKern, John Le Mesurier and Roger Delgado. It was based on the 1960 novel "The Night of Wenceslas" by Lionel Davidson and directed by Ralph Thomas. It was... |
British Embassy Porter | |
| The Comedy Man The Comedy Man The Comedy Man is a 1964 British drama film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Kenneth More, Cecil Parker, Dennis Price and Billie Whitelaw... |
Prout | ||
| 1965 | Othello Othello (1965 film) Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael... |
Iago Iago Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,... |
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
| A Study in Terror A Study in Terror A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson... |
Inspector Lestrade Inspector Lestrade Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade.... |
Reprised the role fourteen years later in Murder by Decree Murder by Decree Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper... |
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| 1966 | The Sandwich Man The Sandwich Man The Sandwich Man is a 1966 British comedy film starring Michael Bentine, Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas and Ian Hendry. It was written by Bentine in conjunction with Robert Hartford-Davis... |
Fish Porter | |
| 1967 | The Deadly Bees The Deadly Bees The Deadly Bees is a 1966 British horror–thriller film based on H.F. Heard's 1941 novel A Taste for Honey. It was directed by Freddie Francis, and stars Suzanna Leigh, Guy Doleman, and Frank Finlay. It was released theatrically in the United States in 1967... |
H.W. Manfred | |
| The Jokers The Jokers The Jokers is a 1967 comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Michael Winner. The film stars Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed as brothers who hatch a plot to steal the Crown Jewels.... |
Harassed Man | ||
| Robbery | Robinson | ||
| The Spare Tyres The Spare Tyres The Spare Tyres is a 1967 British short comedy film directed by Michael J. Lane and featuring Terence Alexander, Judy Franklin, Pauline Yates, and Frank Finlay. Dennis and his wife move to a new house. Discovering a set of tyres in the garage, he spends the rest of the day trying to get rid of them.... |
Council Foreman | ||
| 1968 | Inspector Clouseau | Superintendent Weaver | |
| The Shoes of the Fisherman The Shoes of the Fisherman The Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1963 novel by the Australian author Morris West, as well as a 1968 film based on the novel.The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States for that year, according... |
Igor Bounin | ||
| Twisted Nerve Twisted Nerve Twisted Nerve is a 1968 British psychological thriller film about a disturbed young man, Martin, who pretends, under the name of Georgie, to be mentally retarded in order to be near Susan, a girl he has become infatuated with, killing those who get in his way.-Plot:The film opens with Martin... |
Henry Durnley | ||
| 1970 | The Molly Maguires The Molly Maguires (film) The Molly Maguires is a 1970 American film based on a novel by Arthur H. Lewis that was directed by Martin Ritt. It stars Richard Harris and Sean Connery.... |
Davies | |
| Cromwell Cromwell (film) Cromwell is a 1970 film, based on the life of Oliver Cromwell who led the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s. It features an all-star cast led by Richard Harris as Cromwell and Alec Guinness as King Charles I... |
John Carter | ||
| 1971 | Assault Assault (film) Assault is a 1971 British thriller film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Suzy Kendall, Frank Finlay and Freddie Jones, with Lesley-Anne Down making an early screen appearance. It is based on the novel The Ravine by Kendal Young, and tells about a police attempt to track down a dangerous... |
DCS Velyan | |
| Gumshoe Gumshoe (film) Gumshoe is a 1971 film, and was the directorial debut of British director Stephen Frears.Written by local author Neville Smith, the film is set in Liverpool with Albert Finney playing the role of Eddie Ginley. Ginley is a bingo-caller and occasional club comedian who dreams of being a private eye... |
William Ginley | ||
| 1972 | Sitting Target Sitting Target Sitting Target is a 1972 British film directed by Douglas Hickox and shot in London.-Plot:It is a violent crime thriller starring Oliver Reed as Harry Lomart, a convicted murderer, and Ian McShane as Birdy Williams, as two convicts planning a breakout. Before the two men can abscond to another... |
Marty Gold | |
| Danny Jones Danny Jones (film) Danny Jones is a 1972 British drama film directed by Jules Bricken and starring Frank Finlay, Jane Carr and Len Jones.-Cast:* Frank Finlay as Mr. Jones* Jane Carr as Angie Dickson* Len Jones as Danny Jones* Jenny Hanley as Sue... |
Mr. Jones | ||
| Neither the Sea Nor the Sand | George Dabernon | ||
| 1973 | Shaft in Africa Shaft in Africa Shaft in Africa, released in 1973, is the third film in the blaxploitation trilogy of films that starred actor Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. John Guillermin directed and Stirling Silliphant did the screenplay. The cost went up to $2,142, 000, but the gross fell to $1,458,000... |
Amafi | |
| The Three Musketeers The Three Musketeers (1973 film) The Three Musketeers is a 1973 film based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser . It was originally proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for The Beatles, whom Lester had directed in two other films... |
Porthos Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan... |
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| 1974 | The Four Musketeers The Four Musketeers (film) The Four Musketeers is a 1974 Richard Lester film that follows upon his film of the year before, The Three Musketeers, and covers the second half of Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers... |
Porthos | Sequel to The Three Musketeers |
| 1977 | Count Dracula Count Dracula (1977) Count Dracula is a British television adaptation of the famous novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It first aired in December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book... |
Professor Van Helsing | TV |
| 1978 | The Wild Geese The Wild Geese The Wild Geese is a British 1978 film about a group of mercenaries in Africa. It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger... |
Father Geoghagen | |
| 1979 | Ombra nell'ombra, Un | Paul | |
| Murder by Decree Murder by Decree Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper... |
Inspector Lestrade | ||
| 1982 | The Return of the Soldier The Return of the Soldier (film) The Return of the Soldier is a 1982 British film starring Alan Bates as Baldry and co-starring Julie Christie, Ian Holm, Glenda Jackson, and Ann-Margret about a shell-shocked officer's return from the First World War.... |
William Grey | |
| 1983 | Enigma Enigma (1983 film) Enigma is a 1983 motion picture directed by Jeannot Szwarc, and starring Martin Sheen, Sam Neill, Brigitte Fossey and Kevin McNally.-Plot:... |
Canarsky | |
| The Ploughman's Lunch The Ploughman's Lunch The Ploughman's Lunch is a 1983 film written by Ian McEwan and directed by Richard Eyre which featuring Jonathan Pryce, Tim Curry and Rosemary Harris.The film looks at the media world in Margaret Thatcher's Britain during the time of the Falklands War... |
Matthew Fox | ||
| Chiave, La | Nino Rolfe | ||
| 1984 | A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol (1984 film) A Christmas Carol is a 1984 made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge... |
Jacob Marley | |
| 1985 | 1919 1919 (film) 1919 is a 1985 British drama film directed by Hugh Brody and written by Michael Ignatieff together with Brody. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Paul Scofield as Alexander Scherbatov* Maria Schell as Sophie Rubin... |
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis... |
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| Lifeforce Lifeforce (film) Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:... |
Dr. Hans Fallada | ||
| 1989 | The Return of the Musketeers The Return of the Musketeers The Return of the Musketeers is a 1989 film adaptation loosely based on the novel Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is the third Musketeers film directed by Richard Lester, following 1973's The Three Musketeers and 1974's The Four Musketeers... |
Porthos | Final film in the Musketeers trilogy |
| 1990 | Mansión de los Cthulhu, La | Chandu | |
| King of the Wind King of the Wind (film) King of the Wind is a 1989 British adventure film directed by Peter Duffell and starring Richard Harris, Glenda Jackson and Frank Finlay. It is based on the novel King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. The film depicts the life of an Arab colt in eighteenth century Britain.-Cast:* Richard Harris ...... |
Edward Coke | ||
| 1993 | Sparrow Sparrow (1993 film) Sparrow is a 1993 Italian drama film directed by Franco Zeffirelli. It is an adaptation of Giovanni Verga's novel, Storia di una capinera and was filmed in Sicily in 1993... |
Father Nunzio | |
| 1995 | Gospa Gospa Gospa is a religious drama starring Martin Sheen and Morgan Fairchild about events surrounding pilgrimages to a small village in Hercegovina where six school children claim Gospa appeared in 1981 . The movie highlights Communists preying on Catholics and Croatians who suffer at the hands of... |
Monsignor | |
| 1997 | For My Baby | Rudi Wittfogel | |
| 1998 | Stiff Upper Lips Stiff Upper Lips Stiff Upper Lips is a broad parody of British period films, especially the lavish Merchant-Ivory productions of the 'eighties and early 'nineties... |
Hudson Junior | |
| So This Is Romance? | Mike's Father | ||
| 1999 | Dreaming of Joseph Lees Dreaming of Joseph Lees Dreaming of Joseph Lees is a 1999 British romantic drama film directed by Eric Styles and starring Rupert Graves, Samantha Morton and Nicholas Woodeson. It is an adaptation of a story written by Catherine Linstrum set in rural England in the late 1950s. The film was distributed by the Fox... |
Father | |
| 2001 | The Martins The Martins (film) The Martins is a comedy, produced in 2001, written and directed by Tony Grounds, starring Lee Evans and Kathy Burke.-Synopsis:Out of work scrounger Richard Martin lives with his dysfunctional family who are long suffering wife Kat, accident prone son and pregnant teenage daughter in a shabby house... |
Mr. Heath | |
| 2002 | The Pianist The Pianist (2002 film) The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman... |
Father | |
| Silent Cry Silent Cry (film) Silent Cry is a British thriller film directed by Julian Richards, starring Emily Woof, Douglas Henshall, Frank Finlay, Clive Russell, Kevin Whately, Craig Kelly and released in 2003.- Synopsis :... |
Dr. Robert Barrum | ||
| 2003 | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | |
| Eroica Eroica (2003 film) Eroica - The day that changed music forever is a BBC television film which dramatises the first performance of Beethoven's third symphony, the Eroica.... |
Joseph Haydn | ||
| 2004 | Lighthouse Hill Lighthouse Hill (film) Lighthouse Hill is a 2002 British comedy film directed by David Fairman and starring Jason Flemyng, Kirsty Mitchell and Frank Finlay.-Partial cast:* Jason Flemyng - Charlie Davidson* Kirsty Mitchell - Grace Angelini* Frank Finlay - Alfred... |
Alfred | |
| 2007 | The Waiting Room | Roger |