Frank Finlay obituary

Frank Finlay did a lot of roles in his ninety years:

One of Britain's finest products of the stage, film, and television, actor Frank Finlay, with his dark and handsomely serious-to-mordant looks, was born on 6 August 1926, in Farnworth, England, the son of Josiah, a butcher, and Margaret Finlay. Of English, Irish, and Scottish descent, Frank attended St. Gregory the Great School and was actually training to follow in his father's footsteps as a butcher when his side interest in acting eventually won out. He became a member of the Farnworth Little Theatre and met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, a fellow member. They married in 1954, had three children (two sons, one daughter) and were married for over fifty years, until her death in 2005.
Finlay began his professional career on the repertory stage with roles in The Guilford Theatre Company's 1957 productions of Jessica and The Telescope. Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he built up a theatrical reputation at the Royal Court Theatre between 1958 and 1960, where he was seen to good advantage in such plays as Chicken Soup and Barley, Sugar in the Morning, Sergeant Musgrave's Dance, Roots, I'm Talking About Jerusalem, The Happy Haven, and Platonov. Making his Broadway debut in The Epitaph of George Dillon in 1959, he also sparked a noteworthy professional association with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, the highlight being his intense but subtle portrayal of Iago to Olivier's Othello in 1964.
Marking his film debut in a bit role in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner in 1962, Finlay sandwiched in a steady stream of British film parts, including Private Potter in 1962, Doctor in Distress in 1963, Agent 8 3/4 in 1964, The Comedy Man in 1964, A Study in Terror in 1965 as 'Jack the Ripper' Inspector Lestrade), The Jokers in 1967, The Deadly Bees in 1966, and Robbery in 1967, in between theater assignments. His greatest film opportunity occurred when he was given the right by Olivier to recreate his Iago role opposite the legendary actor in the masterful film adaptation of Othello in 1965. Finlay, Maggie Smith playing Desdemona, and Joyce Redman playing Emilia, all received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for their illustrious work supporting Olivier (who was also Oscar nominated). Frank went on to nab a Most Promising Newcomer nomination from the BAFTA committee as well. To date, this has been the actor's only Oscar recognition.
Frank's film output, aside from his dashing role as Porthos (photo, top) for director Richard Lester in an adaptation of Dumas' The Three Musketeers in 1973 and its sequels The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge in 1974 and The Return of the Musketeers in 1989, has been at an international level. His films include The Shoes of the Fisherman in 1968, Cromwell and The Molly Maguires in 1970, Shaft in Africa in 1973, The Wild Geese in 1978, Murder by Decree in 1979 (again as Inspector Lestrade), The Return of the Soldier in 1982, The Key in 1983, Lifeforce in 1985, Mountain of Diamonds in 1991, So This Is Romance? in 1997, Silent Cry in 2002, and, most notably, the Oscar-winning World War Two movie The Pianist in 2002), directed by Roman Polanski, in which he portrayed the patriarch of a displaced Jewish family that included Adrien Brody as his son.
Classical television notice came in middle age, with Frank's strong performances as Jean Valjean in the British television mini-series Les Miserables in 1967, and the title role in Casanova in 1971. He also went on to win stellar praise and a BAFTA award for his chilling portrayal of Adolf Hitler in ITV Sunday Night Theatre: The Death of Adolf Hitler in 1973. Finlay and Susan Penhaligon courted controversy in the dramtic series Bouquet of Barbed Wire in 1976, and were reunited in further controversy the following year with the follow-up Another Bouquet in 1977. More plentiful and prestigious BBC television work came with his roles as Shakespeare's Brutus and Shylock, not to mention his award-winning performances as Voltaire and Sancho Panza.
In Count Dracula in 1977, Finlay played Van Helsing to nemesis Louis Jourdan's velvety-voiced vampire; in A Christmas Carol in 1984), he was the dour, shackled Jacob Marley, who pays a ghostly visit to George C. Scott's crusty Ebenezer Scrooge; and, in Eroica in 2003, he portrayed composer Franz Josef Haydn alongside Ian Hart's Beethoven. Most recently, Frank appeared in the mini-series Four Seasons in 2008.
Throughout his prolific career on television and in film, Frank gave sterling performances on the stage in Much Ado About Nothing (as "Dogberry"), The Crucible, Saturday Sunday Monday, Filumena, Amadeus (as a most affecting Salieri), Mutiny (as Captain Bligh), Beyond Reasonable Doubt, and as the rigid father in the 1992 period production of The Heiress. Finlay died peacefully at home on 30 January 2016 from heart failure, following a short illness.

Rico's favorite is still Finlay as Porthos in The Three Musketeers.