Albert Finney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Finney

Albert Finney (May 9th, 1936 – February 7th, 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began to work in the theatre as a Shakespearean actor before switching to film. Finney quickly attained prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson, who had previously directed him in plays. He maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television.

He is known for his roles in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (also 1960), Tom Jones (1963), Two for the Road (1967), Scrooge (1970), Annie (1982), The Dresser (1983), Miller's Crossing (1990), A Man of No Imprtance (1994), Erin Brockovich (2000), Big Fish (2003), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), The Bourne Legacy (2012), and the James Bond film Skyfall (2012).

A recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Finney was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor four times, for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984); he was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Erin Brockovich (2000). His performance as Winston Churchill in the BBC–HBO television biographical film The Gathering Storm (2002) saw him receive a number of accolades.

Early life

Finney was born in the Charlestown area of Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire, England, the son of Albert Finney, Sr, a bookmaker, and Alice (née Hobson) Finney. He was educated at Tootal Drive Primary School, Salford Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Career

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.[3] Finney graduated from RADA and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His career began in the theatre, and he 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. Then, in 1959, he appeared at Stratford in the title role in Coriolanus, replacing an ill Laurence Olivier.

His first film appearance was a role in Tony Richardson's The Entertainer (1960), with Laurence Olivier, and he 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 (also 1960). This led to his starring in the Academy Award-winning 1963 film Tom Jones. Prior to this, 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.The success of Tom Jones saw British exhibitors vote Finney the ninth most popular star at the box office in 1963.

After Charlie Bubbles (1968), which he also directed, his film appearances became less frequent as he focused more on acting on stage. During this period, one of his high-profile film roles was as Agatha Christie's Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot in the 1974 film Murder On The Orient Express. 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.

While being known for his dramatic roles, Finney appeared and sang in two musical films: Scrooge and the Hollywood film version of Annie, which was directed by John Huston, who then directed him once again in Under The Volcano two years later. He also sang in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

Finney made several television productions for the BBC in the 1990s, including The Green Man (1990), based on a novel by Kingsley Amis, the acclaimed drama A Rather English Marriage (1998) (with Tom Courtenay), and the lead role in Dennis Potter's final two plays, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus in 1996 and 1997. In the latter he played a frozen, disembodied head.

Finney also made an appearance at Roger Waters' The Wall Concert in Berlin, where he played "The Judge" during the performance of "The Trial".

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 Chekov's The Cherry Orchard. He received Tony Award nominations for Luther (1964) and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), 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.[8] Finney also directed and played the lead role of Sidney 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.[9] In 1994 he played a gay Dublin bus driver in A Man of No Importance.

In 2002 his critically acclaimed portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm won him BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Best Actor.

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 from 2000 until 2003.

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.

Personal life

By his first wife, Jane Wenham, he had a son, Simon, who works in the film industry as a camera operator.

From 1970 to 1978, he was married to French actress Anouk Aimée.

In May 2011, Finney disclosed that he had been receiving treatment for kidney cancer.

On 7 February 2019, Finney died at the age of 82 following a short illness.

Awards and honours

Finney turned down the offer of a CBE in 1980, and a knighthood in 2000. He criticised the honours system for "perpetuating snobbery".

He received five Oscar nominations, but never won. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor four times, for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984); and once for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Erin Brockovich (2000).

Julia Roberts mentioned Finney in her Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actress in Erin Brockovich, thanking him and "sharing" the Oscar with him.

Finney received 13 BAFTA nominations (9 film, 4 TV), winning two:

• 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 Fellowship in 2001.

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. He had previously been nominated for the HBO telefilm The Image (1990).

He received nine Golden Globe nominations, winning three:

• 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. For the London stage, he won the Olivier Award, for Best Actor, for Orphans in 1986. 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.

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), the National Board of Review Best Actor award for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and the New York Film Critics' Circle Best Actor award for Tom Jones.

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.

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

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

Filmography

Film

• Year Title Role Notes
• 1960 The Entertainer Mick Rice
• Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Arthur Seaton
• 1963 Tom Jones Tom Jones
• 1963 The Victors Russian Soldier
• 1964 Night Must Fall Danny
• 1967 Two for the Road Mark Wallace
• 1968 Charlie Bubbles Charlie Bubbles Also director
• 1969 The Picasso Summer George Smith
• 1970 Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge
• 1971 Gumshoe Eddie Ginley
• 1974 Murder on the Orientt express Hercule Poirot
• 1975 The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother Man In Opera Audience Uncredited cameo
• 1977 The Duellists Fouche
• 1981 Looker Dr. Larry Roberts
• Wolfen Dewey Wilson
• Loophole Daniels
• 1982 Annie Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
• Shoot the Moon George Dunlap
• 1983 The Dresser Sir
• 1984 Under the Volcano Geoffrey Firmin
• 1987 Orphans Harold
• 1990 Miller's Crossing Leo O'Bannon
• Roger Waters – The Wall (Live in Berlin) The Judge
• 1992 The Playboys Hegarty
• 1993 Rich in Love Warren Odom
• 1994 The Browning Version Andrew Crocker-Harris
• A Man of No Importance Alfred Byrne
• 1996 Nostromo Dr. Monyghan
• 1997 Washington Square Dr. Austin Sloper
• 1999 Breakfast of Champions Kilgore Trout
• Simpatico Simms
• 2000 Erin Brockovich Ed Masry
• Traffic White House Chief of Staff
• 2001 Delivering Milo Elmore Dahl
• 2003 Big Fish Edward Bloom, Sr.
• 2004 Ocean's Twelve Gaspar LeMarc (uncredited)
• 2005 Corpse Bride Finis Everglot (voice)
• 2006 A Good Year Uncle Henry Skinner
• Amazing Grace John Newton
• 2007 The Bourne Ultimatum Dr. Albert Hirsch
• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Charles Hanson
• 2012 The Bourne Legacy Dr. Albert Hirsch
• Skyfall Kincade

Television

• Year Title Role Notes
• 1959 Emergency Ward 10 Tom Fletcher 4 episodes
• 1984 Pope John Paul II Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II Television movie
• 1989 The Endless Game Agent, Alec Hillsden TV miniseries (2 episodes)
• 1990 The Image Jason Cromwell Television movie
• Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
• The Green Man Maurice Allington 3 episodes
• Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• 1996 Karaoke Daniel Feeld 4 episodes
• Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• Cold Lazarus Daniel Feeld 4 episodes
• Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• 1997 Nostromo Dr. Monygham 4 episodes
• 1998 A Rather English Marriage Reggie Television movie
• Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• 2001–2003 My Uncle Silas Uncle Silas 9 episodes
• 2002 The Gathering Storm Winston Churchill Television movie
• British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
• Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
• Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
• Awards and nominations
• Year Association Category Nominated work Result
• 1961 BAFTA Awards Best British Actor Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Nominated
• BAFTA Awards Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Won
• National Board of Review Best Actor Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Won
• Mar del Plata International Film Festival Best Actor Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Won
• 1964 Academy Awards Best Actor Tom Jones Nominated
• BAFTA Awards Best British Actor Tom Jones Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Tom Jones Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards New Star of the Year – Actor Tom Jones Won
• 1971 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Scrooge Won
• 1972 BAFTA Awards Best Actor Gumshoe Nominated
• 1975 Academy Awards Best Actor Murder on the Orient Express Nominated
• BAFTA Awards Best Actor Murder on the Orient Express Nominated
• 1976 Olivier Awards Best Actor in a Revival Hamlet and Tamburlaine the Great Nominated
• 1982 Saturn Awards Best Actor Wolfen Nominated
• 1983 BAFTA Awards Best Actor Shoot the Moon Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Shoot the Moon Nominated
• 1984 Academy Awards Best Actor The Dresser Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama The Dresser Nominated
• 1985 Academy Awards Best Actor Under the Volcano Nominated
• BAFTA Awards Best Actor The Dresser Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Under the Volcano Nominated
• London Critics Circle Film Awards Actor of the Year Under the Volcano Won
• 1986 Olivier Awards Best Actor Orphans Won
• 1990 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie The Image Nominated
• 1991 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor on Television The Green Man Nominated
• 1994 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor The Browning Version Won
• 1997 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor on Television Cold Lazarus Nominated
• BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor on Television Karaoke Nominated
• 1999 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor on Television A Rather English Marriage Nominated
• 2000 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Erin Brockovich Nominated
• 2001 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Erin Brockovich Nominated
• BAFTA Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role Erin Brockovich Nominated
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama Erin Brockovich Nominated
• Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actor Erin Brockovich Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Erin Brockovich Nominated
• London Critics Circle Film Awards British Supporting Actor of the Year Erin Brockovich Won
• Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actor Erin Brockovich Nominated
• Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Erin Brockovich Nominated
• Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Traffic Won
• Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Erin Brockovich Won
• 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie The Gathering Storm Won
• 2003 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor on Television The Gathering Storm Won
• Broadcasting Press Guild Awards Best Actor The Gathering Storm Won
• Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film The Gathering Storm Won
• Satellite Awards Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film The Gathering Storm Nominated
• Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie The Gathering Storm Nominated
• 2004 BAFTA Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role Big Fish Nominated
• Golden Globe Awards Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Big Fish Nominated
• Saturn Awards Best Actor Big Fish Nominated
• 2007 Gotham Awards Best Ensemble Cast Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Won
• 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Cast Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Nominated
• London Critics Circle Film Awards British Supporting Actor of the Year Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Nominated