Frank Finlay
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
Father
The Pianist
Vincent Amafi
Shaft in Africa
Paul
Un ombra nell'ombra
Porthos / O'Reilly
The Three Musketeers
Canarsky
Enigma
Supt. Weaver
Inspector Clouseau
Fr. Geoghagen
The Wild Geese
Dr. Hans Fallada
Lifeforce
John Carter
Cromwell
Roger
The Waiting Room
Inspector Lestrade
Murder by Decree
William Ginley
Gumshoe
Nino Rolfe
La chiave
Chandu
La mansión de los Cthulhu
Commissaire Vionnet
The Statement
Davies
The Molly Maguires
Porthos
The Return of the Musketeers
Dearth
Dear Brutus
Drunk
The Wild Affair
George Dabernon
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
Iago
Othello
Father Nunzio
Storia di una capinera
Albert
Blood of the Lamb
Frank Strange
In the Secret State
Captain Manson
Mona
H.W. Manfred
The Deadly Bees
Marty Gold
Sitting Target
Robinson
Robbery
Father
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
Henry Durnley
Twisted Nerve
Harrassed Man
The Jokers
Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
Assault
Hudson Junior
Stiff Upper Lips
Mike's Dad
Mr. Right... zur falschen Zeit
Col. Boris Morosov
Arch of Triumph
John Rathbone
Tiré à part
Professor Etherege
A Mind to Murder
Abu Bakar
The Thief of Baghdad
Chaplain
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Edward Coke
King of the Wind
Matthew Fox
The Ploughman's Lunch
Rudi Wittfogel
For My Baby
Frank Doel
84 Charing Cross Road
Abraham van Helsing
Count Dracula
Alfred
Lighthouse Hill
Kravtsov
Sakharov
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Other Side
William Grey
The Return of the Soldier
Dogberry
Much Ado About Nothing
Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
The Longest Day
Second Fish Porter
The Sandwich Man
Garrick
La montagna dei diamanti
Andrew Firth
The Lie
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Van der Valk und die Reichen
Razetta
Casanova
Franco Angelo
The Hard Knock
Igor Bounin
The Shoes of the Fisherman
Jacob Marley
A Christmas Carol
Adolf Hitler
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Corsetiere
Doctor in Distress
Wilfred Tilley
The Piano Tuner
Josef Haydn
Eroica
Danny Jones
Shylock
The Merchant of Venice
Brutus
Julius Caesar
Nino Rolfe
L'uomo che guarda
Napoleon
Betzi
Porthos
The Four Musketeers
Riorden Snr
Station Jim
Narrator
The Spanish Civil War
Council foreman
The Spare Tyres
Narrator
The Body
Sigmund Freud (voice)
Nineteen Nineteen
Sancho Panza
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
Sergei
Stalin
Peppino
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
Mr Heath
The Martins
Monsignor
Gospa, The Miracle of Medjugorje
Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
British Embassy Porter
Hot Enough for June
Fifty Shades of Erotica
Prout
The Comedy Man
Teddy's Father
Life for Ruth
Capt. Patterson
Private Potter
Inspector Lestrade
A Study in Terror
Pavel Rhele
An Exchange of Fire
(archive footage)
Olivier Talks About Othello
Self (archive footage)
Nothing Like a Dame
Leon Sale
The Informers
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Van der Valk und das Mädchen
Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Pas de frontières pour l'inspecteur - Le bouc émissaire
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
91
Gender
Male
Birthday
1926-08-06
Place of Birth
Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Also Known As
프랭크 핀레이