Albert Finney

While at RADA Finney made an early TV appearance playing Mr Hardcastle in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The BBC filmed and broadcast the RADA students' performances at the Vanbrugh Theatre in London on Friday 6 January 1956. Other members of the cast included Roy Kinnear and Richard Briers.[3][4]

In February 1956 John Fernald, principal of RADA, gave Finney his first major role in the Vanbrugh Theatre's student production of Ian Dallas' play The Face of Love, as Shakespeare's Troilus.[5] Finney graduated from RADA and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Finney was offered a contract by the Rank Organisation but turned it down to perform for the Birmingham Rep.[6] He was in a production of The Miser for Birmingham Rep, which was filmed for the BBC in 1956. Also for the BBC he appeared in The Claverdon Road Job (1957) and View Friendship and Marriage (1958).

At Birmingham he played the title role in Henry V.[7]

Finney made his first appearance on the London stage in 1958, in Jane Arden's The Party, directed by Charles Laughton, who starred in the production along with his wife, Elsa Lanchester.

He guest starred on several episodes of Emergency-Ward 10 and was Lysander in a TV version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959) directed by Peter Hall.

In 1959 Finney appeared at Stratford in the title role in Coriolanus, replacing an ill Laurence Olivier.[8]

Finney's first film appearance was in Tony Richardson's The Entertainer (1960), with Laurence Olivier. Finney and Alan Bates played Olivier's sons.

Finney made his breakthrough in the same year with his portrayal of a disillusioned factory worker in Karel Reisz's film version of Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), produced by Richardson. The film was a box-office success, being the third most popular film in Britain that year. It earned over half a million pounds in profit.[9]

Finney then did Billy Liar (1960) on stage and for British television.[10]

Finney had been chosen to play T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's production of Lawrence of Arabia after a successful and elaborate screen-test that took four days to shoot. However, Finney baulked at signing a multi-year contract for producer Sam Spiegel and chose not to accept the role.[11]

Finney created the title role in Luther, the 1961 play by John Osborne depicting the life of Martin Luther, a key early figure of the Protestant Reformation. He performed the role with the English Stage Company in London, Nottingham, Paris and New York.[12] The original West End run at the Phoenix ended in March 1962, after 239 performances there, when Finney had to leave the cast to fulfill a contractual obligation with a film company.[13]

Finney starred in the Academy Award-winning 1963 film Tom Jones, directed by Richardson and written by Osborne. The success of Tom Jones saw British exhibitors vote Finney the ninth most popular star at the box office in 1963.[14]

Finney followed this with a small part in The Victors (1963). He then made his Broadway debut in Luther in 1963. When that run ended he decided to take a year off and sail around the world. "People told me to cash in on my success while I was hot," he later said. "I'd been acting for about eight years and had only had one vacation ... Captain Cook had been a hero of mine when I was a kid, and I thought it would be exciting to go to some of the places in the Pacific where he'd been."[6]

The success of Tom Jones enabled Finney to produce his next film, Night Must Fall, in 1964, which he also starred in and which was directed by Reisz.

Finney in 1966

Finney undertook a season of plays at the Royal National Theatre, including Miss Julie by August Strindberg in 1965.[15][16] He returned to films with Two for the Road (1967) co starring Audrey Hepburn.

He and Michael Medwin formed a production company, Memorial Productions, which made Privilege (1967), directed by Peter Watkins; The Burning (1968), a short directed by Stephen Frears; and If.... (1968), directed by Lindsay Anderson. Memorial also did stage productions, such as A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which Finney performed in London and then Broadway.[17] Memorial also produced some in which Finney did not appear, such as Spring and Port Wine and The Burgular.

Memorial then made Charlie Bubbles (1968), which Finney starred in and also directed. Liza Minnelli made her feature debut in the movie.[18] Finney later called it "the most intense sense of creation I've ever had."[6]

As an actor only he made The Picasso Summer (1969). Finney played the title role in the musical Scrooge in 1970.

Finney then made Gumshoe (1971), the first feature directed by Stephen Frears, for Memorial. Memorial continued to produce films in which Finney did not appear: Spring and Port Wine (1970), with James Mason; Loving Memory (1971), an early directorial effort from Tony Scott; Bleak Moments (1971), the first feature from Mike Leigh; O Lucky Man! (1973) for Anderson; and Law and Disorder (1974); hot in Hollywood.

In 1972 Finney returned to the stage after a six-year absence with Alpha Beta, which he later filmed for TV with Rachel Roberts.[16]

Memorial Productions pulled out of producing and Finney focused on acting. "It was OK at first," he later said, "but in the end it was sitting in an office, pitching ideas to Hollywood and waiting for the phone to ring."[19]

Finney played Agatha Christie's Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot in the film Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Finney became so well known for the role that he complained that it typecast him for a number of years, "People really do think I am 300 pounds with a French accent", he said.[20][21]

He announced he intended to direct a film, The Girl in Melanie Klein, for Memorial, but it was not made.[22]

Finney decided to take time off from features and focus on stage acting, doing the classics at the National Theatre in London. "I felt that it needed commitment," he later said. "When you're making movies all the time, you stop breathing. You literally don't breathe in the same way that you do when you're playing the classics. When you have to deliver those long, complex speeches on stage, you can't heave your shoulders after every sentence. The set of muscles required for that kind of acting need to be trained. I really wanted to try and do justice to my own potential in the parts. I didn't want to be a movie actor just dropping in, doing Hamlet and taking off again. I wanted to feel part of the company."[6]

Finney was at the National for over three years during which he played in Hamlet, Macbeth, Tamburlaine, and plays by Chekhov.[6]

Finney made a TV movie Forget-Me-Not-Lane in 1975, which was written by Peter Nichols, and he also performed a cameo role in The Duellists (1977), the first feature directed by Ridley Scott. He also released an album through Motown.[23]

Finney had not played a lead role in a feature film in six years, and started to think about returning to cinema. The last two successful films he had made were Scrooge and Orient Express in which he was heavily disguised. "Most Americans probably think I weigh 300 pounds, have black hair and talk with a French accent like Hercule Poirot," said Finney. "So I thought they should have a look at me while I was still almost a juvenile and kind of cute."[6]

Finney decided to make six films in succession "so that I could relax and get back into it again. In order to feel really assured and comfortable in front of a camera, you've got to do it for a while."[6]

The first three were thrillers: Loophole (1981), with Susannah York; Wolfen (1981), directed by Michael Wadleigh; and Looker (1981), written and directed by Michael Crichton.[24]

He received excellent reviews for his performance in the drama Shoot the Moon (1982).[25] Finney said the role "required personal acting; I had to dig into myself. When you have to expose yourself and use your own vulnerability, you can get a little near the edge."[6]

Less well received was his performance as Daddy Warbucks in the Hollywood film version of Annie (1982), which was directed by John Huston. Finney said going into this film after Shoot the Moon was "marvelous. I use a completely different side of myself as Warbucks. 'Annie' is show biz; it's open, simple and direct. It needs bold, primary colors. I don't have to reveal the inner workings of the character, and that's a relief."[6]

Finney went into The Dresser (1983), directed by Peter Yates, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar Nomination. He then played the title role in the TV movie Pope John Paul II (1984), his American TV debut.

Huston cast Finney in the lead role of Under the Volcano (1984), which earned both men great acclaim, including another Oscar nomination for Finney.[26]

Finney played the lead role of Sydney Kentridge in The Biko Inquest, a 1984 dramatisation of the inquest into the death of Steve Biko which was filmed for TV following a London run.[27]

Finney performed on stage in Orphans in 1986, then did the film version , directed by Alan J. Pakula.[28] He had the lead in a TV mini series, The Endless Game (1989), written and directed by Bryan Forbes.[29]

Finney began the 1990s with the lead role in a film for HBO, The Image (1990). He received great acclaim playing the gangster boss in Miller's Crossing (1990), replacing Trey Wilson shortly before filming.

Finney also made an appearance at Roger Waters' The Wall – Live in Berlin (1990), where he played "The Judge" during the performance of "The Trial".[30]

Finney did The Green Man (1990) for British TV, based on a novel by Kingsley Amis.[31]

He followed it with The Playboys (1992) for Gillies MacKinnon; Rich in Love (1993) for Bruce Beresford; The Browning Version (1994) for Mike Figgis; A Man of No Importance (1994), for Suri Krishnamma; and The Run of the Country (1995) for Peter Yates.

He had the lead role in Dennis Potter's final two plays, Karaoke (1996) and Cold Lazarus (both 1996). In the latter he played a frozen, disembodied head.[32][33]

Finney did Nostromo (1997) for television, and Washington Square (1997) for Agnieszka Holland then made A Rather English Marriage (1998) with Tom Courtenay.[34] He had support roles in Breakfast of Champions (1999) and Simpatico (1999).

Finney had his biggest hit in a long while with Erin Brockovich (2000), alongside Julia Roberts for Steven Soderbergh.

Finney had a cameo in Soderbergh's Traffic (2000) and played Ernest Hemingway in Hemingway, the Hunter of Death (2001) for TV.

He had the lead in Delivering Milo (2001) and in 2002 his critically acclaimed portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm won him British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Best Actor.[26][35][36]

He also played the title role in the television series My Uncle Silas, based on the short stories by H. E. Bates, about a roguish but lovable poacher-cum-farm labourer looking after his great-nephew. The show ran for two series broadcast in 2001 and 2003.[37]

Finney had a key role in Big Fish (2001) directed by Tim Burton, and did another cameo for Soderbergh in Ocean's Twelve (2004). He sang in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005)[38] and the film of Aspects of Love (2005).

Finney was reunited with Ridley Scott in A Good Year (2006). He had support roles in Amazing Grace (2006), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). His last appearance in a feature was in Skyfall (2012).

Even with his success on the big screen, Finney never abandoned his stage performances. He continued his association with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London, where he performed in the mid-1960s in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

He received Tony Award nominations for Luther (1964) and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968),[26] and also starred on stage in Love for Love, Strindberg's Miss Julie, Black Comedy, The Country Wife, Alpha Beta, Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, Tamburlaine the Great, Another Time and, his last stage appearance, in 1997, "Art" by Yasmina Reza, which preceded the 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway run.

He won an Olivier Award for Orphans in 1986 and won three Evening Standard Theatre Awards for Best Actor.[39]

In 1994, Finney played a gay bus conductor in early 1960s Dublin in A Man of No Importance.[40]

A lifelong supporter of Manchester United, Finney narrated the documentary Munich, about the air crash that killed most of the Busby Babes in 1958, which was shown on United's TV channel MUTV in February 2008.[41]

Julia Roberts mentioned Finney in her Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actress in Erin Brockovich, calling him a "pleasure to act with".[49]

Finney received 13 BAFTA nominations (nine film, four TV), winning two:[26]

• 1960 Best British Actor for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
• 1960 Most Promising Newcomer for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning — Won
• 1963 Best British Actor for Tom Jones
• 1973 Best Actor for Gumshoe
• 1974 Best Actor for Murder on the Orient Express
• 1982 Best Actor for Shoot the Moon
• 1984 Best Actor for The Dresser
• 1990 Best Actor (BAFTA TV Awards) for The Green Man
• 1996 Best Actor (BAFTA TV Awards) for Karaoke/Cold Lazarus
• 1998 Best Actor (BAFTA TV Awards) for A Rather English Marriage
• 2000 Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich
• 2002 Best Actor (BAFTA TV Awards) for The Gathering Storm — Won
• 2003 Best Supporting Actor for Big Fish

In addition Finney received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2001.[50]

He won an Emmy Award, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Made for TV Movie, for his performance as Winston Churchill in HBO's The Gathering Storm.[36] He had previously been nominated for the HBO telefilm The Image (1990).[51]

He received nine Golden Globe Award nominations, winning three:[52]

• 1963 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Tom Jones
• 1963 Most Promising Newcomer (Male) for Tom Jones — Won
• 1970 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Scrooge — Won
• 1982 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Shoot the Moon
• 1983 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for The Dresser
• 1984 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Under the Volcano
• 2000 Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Erin Brockovich
• 2002 Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for The Gathering Storm – Won
• 2003 Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Big Fish

For his work on Broadway, Finney was nominated for two Tony Awards, both for Best Actor in a Play, for Luther in 1964, and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg in 1968.[26] For the London stage, he won the Laurence Olivier Award, for Best Actor, for Orphans in 1986.[53] He won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor three times, for A Flea in Her Ear in 1966, Tamburlaine the Great in 1976 and Orphans in 1986.[54]

Other awards include: a Golden Laurel for his work on Scrooge (1970) and for his work on Tom Jones, for which he was the 3rd Place Winner for the "Top Male Comedy Performance" for 1964. He was honoured by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as Best Actor for Under the Volcano (which he tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus),[55] the National Board of Review Best Actor award for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning,[56] and the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor award for Tom Jones.[57]

Finney won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, for Erin Brockovich, and as a member of the acting ensemble in the film Traffic. He was also nominated for The Gathering Storm, for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, but did not win.[58][59]

He won the Silver Berlin Bear award for Best Actor, for The Dresser, at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.[60]

He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, for Tom Jones, at the Venice Film Festival.[61]