Frank Finlay
Acting
Born: August 6, 1926 · Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Died: January 30, 2016 (aged 89)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
The Pianist
2002
Merlin
2008
The Longest Day
1962
Lifeforce
1985
Blackadder
1983
The Key
1983
A Christmas Carol
1984
The Three Musketeers
1973
The Voyeur
1994
The Wild Geese
1978
Sherlock Holmes
1984
The Four Musketeers
1974
Photos (2)
Movies (80)
The Pianist
Father
The Voyeur
Nino Rolfe
The Key
Nino Rolfe
The Longest Day
Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
Lifeforce
Dr. Hans Fallada
The Three Musketeers
Porthos / O'Reilly
The Wild Geese
Fr. Geoghagen
A Christmas Carol
Jacob Marley
The Four Musketeers
Porthos
Shaft in Africa
Vincent Amafi
Murder by Decree
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector Clouseau
Supt. Weaver
The Return of the Musketeers
Porthos
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
The Molly Maguires
Davies
Cromwell
John Carter
Fifty Shades of Erotica
(archive footage)
Hot Enough for June
British Embassy Porter
The Shoes of the Fisherman
Igor Bounin
Twisted Nerve
Henry Durnley
The Deadly Bees
H.W. Manfred
Eroica
Josef Haydn
The Statement
Commissaire Vionnet
A Study in Terror
Inspector Lestrade
Doctor in Distress
Corsetiere
Casanova
Razetta
Sparrow
Father Nunzio
The Jokers
Harrassed Man
Robbery
Robinson
Stalin
Sergei
The Thief of Baghdad
Abu Bakar
The Martins
Mr Heath
The Ploughman's Lunch
Matthew Fox
Julius Caesar
Brutus
The Return of the Soldier
William Grey
Enigma
Canarsky
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
Father
Stiff Upper Lips
Hudson Junior
Much Ado About Nothing
Dogberry
Othello
Iago
Arch of Triumph
Col. Boris Morosov
Mountain of Diamonds
Garrick
Sitting Target
Marty Gold
Count Dracula
Abraham van Helsing
The Comedy Man
Prout
For My Baby
Rudi Wittfogel
Cthulhu Mansion
Chandu
Ring of Darkness
Paul
Limited Edition
John Rathbone
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
The Informers
Leon Sale
Station Jim
Riorden Snr
Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
The Waiting Room
Roger
Gumshoe
William Ginley
In the Secret State
Frank Strange
Virgin Mary
Monsignor
Life for Ruth
Teddy's Father
King of the Wind
Edward Coke
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Chaplain
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
George Dabernon
The Merchant of Venice
Shylock
Assault
Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
The Sandwich Man
Second Fish Porter
A Mind to Murder
Professor Etherege
The Lie
Andrew Firth
Lighthouse Hill
Alfred
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984
Sakharov
Kravtsov
The Wild Affair
Drunk
Mona
Captain Manson
The Body
Narrator
Nineteen Nineteen
Sigmund Freud (voice)
Private Potter
Capt. Patterson
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
Sancho Panza
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
Shahriar
Van der Valk and the Scapegoat
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
Peppino
84 Charing Cross Road
Frank Doel
Van der Valk and the Rich
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
TV Shows (46)
Play for Today
2 eps
Play for Today
Dearth · 1 eps
Merlin
Anhora · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Marcus Brutus · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Shylock · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Sancho Panza · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Voltaire · 1 eps
Sherlock Holmes
Professor Coram / Sergius · 1 eps
The Wednesday Play
Albert · 1 eps
Screen Two
Frank Strange · 1 eps
Heartbeat
Howard Franklin · 1 eps
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Wilfred Tilley · 1 eps
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Adolf Hitler · 1 eps
Tales of the Unexpected
Arthur Pearson · 1 eps
Thirty-Minute Theatre
The Man · 1 eps
Blackadder
The Witchsmeller Pursuivant · 1 eps
Z-Cars
1 eps
Prime Suspect
Arnold Tennison · 4 eps
Theatre 625
Dr Dee · 1 eps
NET Playhouse
Marcus Brutus · 1 eps
Sunday Night Theatre
Louis · 1 eps
Lovejoy
Harold Plumb · 1 eps
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Professor Coram / Sergius · 1 eps
Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
Alcuin · 3 eps
The Grand
Edward Lawrence · 1 eps
Longitude
Admiral Wagner · 1 eps
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
General Bulstrode · 2 eps
Life Begins
Eric Thornhill · 20 eps
Laurence Olivier Presents
Peppino · 1 eps
The Lost Prince
Asquith · 2 eps
Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
Alexander 'Alex' Combe · 3 eps
Johnny and the Bomb
Tom Maxwell · 3 eps
How Do You Want Me?
12 eps
The Sins
Uncle Irwin Green · 7 eps
Mountain of Diamonds
Garrick · 4 eps
The Burning Shore
Garrick · 4 eps
Armchair Theatre
Franco Angelo · 1 eps
Armchair Theatre
Bosun · 1 eps
Armchair Theatre
Patrick Kelly · 1 eps
Armchair Theatre
David Field · 1 eps
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Peter Manson · 7 eps
Les Misérables
Jean Valjean · 10 eps
Another Bouquet
9 eps
Count Dracula
Professor Van Helsing · 2 eps
Erebus: The Aftermath
Justice Peter Mahon · 4 eps
Casanova
Giovanni Jacopo Casanova · 6 eps
