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