Frank Finlay
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.
133 acting credits
Acting · 133
Play for Today
1970
Heartbeat
1992
Merlin
2008
Wogan
1982
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
Sherlock Holmes
1984
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Z-Cars
1962
Blackadder
1983
Screen Two
1985
Theatre 625
1964
Prime Suspect
1991
The Pianist
2002
Sunday Night Theatre
1950
Lovejoy
1986
The Voyeur
1994
The Key
1983
Drama 61-67
1961
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
Fifty Shades of Erotica
2015
The Longest Day
1962
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
1999
Lifeforce
1985
Longitude
2000
Count Dracula
1977
Mountain of Diamonds
1991
Studio 4
1962
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976
The Grand
1997
The Wild Geese
1978
The Three Musketeers
1973
The Sins
2000
Life Begins
2004
The Younger Generation
1961
The Lost Prince
2003
How Do You Want Me?
1998
Armchair Theatre
1956
A Christmas Carol
1984
Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
2008
The Four Musketeers
1974
Johnny and the Bomb
2006
Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
1994
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1962
The Burning Shore
1991
Inspector Clouseau
1968
Murder by Decree
1979
Assault
1971
Robbery
1967
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
Enigma
1982
Stalin
1992
The Shoes of the Fisherman
1968
Cromwell
1970
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
1976
Twisted Nerve
1968
Casanova
1971
The Return of the Soldier
1983
The Statement
2003
Les Misérables
1967
Count Dracula
1977
The Spanish Civil War
1983
Target Luna
1960
The Martins
2001
Othello
1965
The Molly Maguires
1970
Casanova
1987
Shaft in Africa
1973
Erebus: The Aftermath
1987
Another Bouquet
1977
Hot Enough for June
1964
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
1999
The Deadly Bees
1966
The Thief of Baghdad
1978
Station Jim
2001
A Study in Terror
1965
The Informers
1963
Stiff Upper Lips
1998
Eroica
2003
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
Gumshoe
1971
Sitting Target
1972
Sparrow
1994
Nothing Like a Dame
2018
Van der Valk and the Scapegoat
1975
Arch of Triumph
1984
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
1967
Virgin Mary
1995
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
1978
Van der Valk and the Rich
1973
An Exchange of Fire
1993
Van der Valk: Gun Before Butter
1974
Much Ado About Nothing
1967
The Jokers
1967
In the Secret State
1985
Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?)
1997
Doctor in Distress
1963
King of the Wind
1990
Life for Ruth
1962
Ring of Darkness
1979
The Lie
1970
The Wild Affair
1965
The Sandwich Man
1966
A Mind to Murder
1995
Mountain of Diamonds
1991
The Comedy Man
1964
The Waiting Room
2007
Private Potter
1962
The Body
1970
Cthulhu Mansion
1992
Limited Edition
1997
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
1972
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984
The Merchant of Venice
1972
Sakharov
1984
Lighthouse Hill
2004
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
1973
Betzi
1978
Dear Brutus
1981
The Death of Adolf Hitler
1973
For My Baby
2000
Blood of the Lamb
1969
Mona
1982
The Spare Tyres
1967
Nineteen Nineteen
1985
Olivier Talks About Othello
1965
The Other Side
1992
84 Charing Cross Road
1975
The Hard Knock
1962
Julius Caesar
1969
Danny Jones
1972
The Making Of Lifeforce
1985
The Piano Tuner
1969
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
1981