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.
Acted in
Nothing Like a Dame
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Fifty Shades of Erotica
2015
Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
2008
as Alexander 'Alex' Combe
Merlin
2008
as Anhora
The Waiting Room
2007
as Roger
Johnny and the Bomb
2006
as Tom Maxwell
Lighthouse Hill
2004
as Alfred
Life Begins
2004
as Eric Thornhill
The Statement
2003
as Commissaire Vionnet
Eroica
2003
as Josef Haydn
The Lost Prince
2003
as Asquith
The Pianist
2002
as Father
Station Jim
2001
as Riorden Snr
The Martins
2001
as Mr Heath
Sins
2000
as Uncle Irwin Green
For My Baby
2000
as Rudi Wittfogel
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
1999
as General Bulstrode
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
1999
as Father
Stiff Upper Lips
1998
as Hudson Junior
How Do You Want Me?
1998
Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?)
1997
as Mike's Dad
Limited Edition
1997
as John Rathbone
Virgin Mary
1995
as Monsignor
A Mind to Murder
1995
as Professor Etherege
Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
1994
as Alcuin
Sparrow
1994
as Father Nunzio
The Voyeur
1994
as Nino Rolfe
An Exchange of Fire
1993
as Pavel Rhele
Stalin
1992
as Sergei
The Other Side
1992
as Arthur Conan Doyle
Heartbeat
1992
as Howard Franklin
Cthulhu Mansion
1992
as Chandu
Mountain of Diamonds
1991
as Garrick
Prime Suspect
1991
as Arnold Tennison
The Burning Shore
1991
as Garrick
King of the Wind
1990
as Edward Coke
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
as Porthos
Erebus: The Aftermath
1987
as Justice Peter Mahon
Casanova
1987
as Razetta
Lovejoy
1986
as Harold Plumb
Nineteen Nineteen
1985
as Sigmund Freud (voice)
Lifeforce
1985
as Dr. Hans Fallada
In the Secret State
1985
as Frank Strange
Arch of Triumph
1984
as Col. Boris Morosov
A Christmas Carol
1984
as Jacob Marley
Sakharov
1984
as Kravtsov
Sherlock Holmes
1984
as Professor Coram / Sergius
The Key
1983
as Nino Rolfe
Blackadder
1983
as The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
as Matthew Fox
The Spanish Civil War
1983
as Narrator
The Return of the Soldier
1983
as William Grey
Enigma
1982
as Canarsky
Mona
1982
as Captain Manson
Dear Brutus
1981
as Dearth
Ring of Darkness
1979
as Paul
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
as Arthur Pearson
Murder by Decree
1979
as Inspector Lestrade
Betzi
1978
as Napoleon
The Wild Geese
1978
as Fr. Geoghagen
The Thief of Baghdad
1978
as Abu Bakar
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
1978
as Peppino
Count Dracula
1977
as Abraham van Helsing
Count Dracula
1977
as Professor Van Helsing
Another Bouquet
1977
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976
as Peppino
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
1976
as Peter Manson
84 Charing Cross Road
1975
as Frank Doel
Pas de frontières pour l'inspecteur - Le bouc émissaire
1975
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
Van der Valk und das Mädchen
1974
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
The Four Musketeers
1974
as Porthos
Van der Valk and the Rich
1973
as Commissaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk
The Three Musketeers
1973
as Porthos / O'Reilly
Shaft in Africa
1973
as Vincent Amafi
The Death of Adolf Hitler
1973
as Adolf Hitler
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
1973
as Sancho Panza
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
1972
as George Dabernon
Sitting Target
1972
as Marty Gold
Danny Jones
1972
The Merchant of Venice
1972
as Shylock
Gumshoe
1971
as William Ginley
Casanova
1971
as Casanova
Assault
1971
as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
The Lie
1970
as Andrew Firth
Play for Today
1970
Play for Today
1970
as Dearth
The Body
1970
as Narrator
Cromwell
1970
as John Carter
The Molly Maguires
1970
as Davies
Blood of the Lamb
1969
as Albert
Julius Caesar
1969
as Brutus
The Piano Tuner
1969
as Wilfred Tilley
Twisted Nerve
1968
as Henry Durnley
The Shoes of the Fisherman
1968
as Igor Bounin
Inspector Clouseau
1968
as Supt. Weaver
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
1967
as Chaplain
Les Misérables
1967
as Jean Valjean
Robbery
1967
as Robinson
The Jokers
1967
as Harrassed Man
Much Ado About Nothing
1967
as Dogberry
The Spare Tyres
1967
as Council foreman
The Deadly Bees
1966
as H.W. Manfred
The Sandwich Man
1966
as Second Fish Porter
Othello
1965
as Iago
The Wild Affair
1965
as Drunk
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Marcus Brutus
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Sancho Panza
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Voltaire
A Study in Terror
1965
as Inspector Lestrade
Olivier Talks About Othello
1965
as (archive footage)
The Comedy Man
1964
as Prout
Hot Enough for June
1964
as British Embassy Porter
The Informers
1963
as Leon Sale
Doctor in Distress
1963
as Corsetiere
The Longest Day
1962
as Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1962
as Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
Life for Ruth
1962
as Teddy's Father
The Hard Knock
1962
as Franco Angelo
Studio Four
1962
as Fernand Destayac
Z-Cars
1962
Private Potter
1962
as Capt. Patterson
Target Luna
1960
as Conway Henderson