Finney, Albert 1936-

PERSONAL

Born May 9, 1936, in Salford, Lancashire, England; son of Albert, Sr. (a bookmaker) and Alice (maiden name, Hobson) Finney; married Jane Wenham (an actress), 1957 (divorced, 1961); married Anouk Aimee (an actress), August 7, 1970 (divorced, 1978); children: (first marriage) Simon (film technician). Education: Trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.

Career:

Actor, producer, director, and singer. Memorial Enterprises Ltd. (film production company), founder, 1965; Royal Court Theatre, London, associate artistic director, 1972-75; United British Artists, cofounder, 1983; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, associate member.

Member:

British Actors' Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild.

Awards, Honors:

Emile Little Award, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, 1955; Film Award, most promising newcomer to leading film roles, and Film Award nomination, best actor, both British Academy of Film and Television Arts, National Board of Review Award, best actor, and Jury Prize, best actor, Mar del Plata Film Festival, 1961, all for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning; New York Film Critics Circle Award, best actor, Volpi Cup, best actor, Venice Film Festival, 1963, Academy Award nomination, best actor, Film Award nomination, best British actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Golden Laurel Award nomination, top comedy performance, Producers Guild of America, Golden Globe Award nomination, best motion picture—actor, 1964, all for Tom Jones; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actor in a play, 1964, for Luther; Golden Globe Award, most promising newcomer—male, 1964; LL.D., University of Sussex, 1965; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actor in a play, 1968, for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg; Golden Globe Award, best motion picture actor—musical/comedy, Golden Laurel Award nomination, best comedy performance—male, 1971, both for Scrooge; Film Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1972, for Gumshoe; Academy Award nomination, best actor, 1974, Film Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1975, British Film Award, best actor, Evening Standard, 1976, all for Murder on the Orient Express; LL.D., University of Salford, 1979; Saturn Award nomination, best actor, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, 1982, for Wolfen; Film Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actor in a motion picture—drama, 1983, both for Shoot the Moon; Academy Award nomination, best actor, Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a motion picture—drama, Silver Berlin Bear, best actor, Berlin International Film Festival, 1984, Film Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1985, all for The Dresser; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best actor, 1984, Academy Award nomination, best actor, Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a motion picture—drama, ALFS Award, actor of the year, London Critics Circle Film Awards, 1985, all for Under the Volcano; Joseph Plateau Award, Flanders International Film Festival, 1985; London Evening Standard Award, best actor, 1986, Laurence Olivier Award, best actor in a new play, Society of London Theatre, 1987, both for Orphans; CableACE Award nomination, actor in a theatrical or dramatic special, National Cable Television Association, 1987, for The Biko Inquest; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special, 1990, for The Image; Television Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1991, for The Green Man; Boston Society of Film Critics Award, best actor, 1994, for The Browning Version; Television Award nominations, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1997, for Karaoke and Cold Lazarus; Dilys Powell Award, London Film Critics Circle Awards, 1999; Television Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1999, for A Rather English Marriage; Sierra Award nomination, best supporting actor, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, Third Place Award, best supporting actor, Boston Society of Film Critics, 2000, Academy Award nomination, best actor in a supporting role, Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture, Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination, best supporting actor, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role—drama, International Press Academy, Screen Actors Guild Award, outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role, Online Film Critics Society Award nomination, best supporting actor, ALFS Award, British supporting actor of the year, London Critics Circle Awards, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, best supporting actor, Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite supporting actor—drama, Film Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2001, all for Erin Brockovich; Academy Fellowship, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2001; Screen Actors Guild Award (with others), outstanding performance by the cast of a theatrical motion picture, 2001, for Traffic; Emmy Award, outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie, 2002, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a miniseries or motion picture made for television, Royal Television Society Award nomination, best actor—male, Golden Globe Award, best performance by an actor in a miniseries or motion picture made for television, Broadcasting Press Guild Award, best actor, Television Award, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2003, all for The Gathering Storm; Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture, Film Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Saturn Award nomination, best actor, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, best actor, 2004, all for Big Fish.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

(Stage debut) Decius Brutus, Julius Caesar, Birmingham Repertory Company, Birmingham, England, 1956.

(London debut) Belzanor, Caesar and Cleopatra, Old Vic Theatre, 1956.

Francis Archer, The Beaux Strategem, Birmingham Repertory Company, 1956-58.

Face, The Alchemist, Birmingham Repertory Company, 1956-58.

Malcolm, The Lizard on the Rock, Birmingham Repertory Company, 1956-58.

Title role, Henry V, Birmingham Repertory Company, 1956-58.

Title role, Macbeth, Birmingham Repertory Company, 1958.

Soya Marshall, The Party, New Theatre, London, 1958.

Edgar, King Lear, Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1959.

Cassio, Othello, Memorial Theatre, 1959.

Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Memorial Theatre, 1959.

Title role, Coriolanus, Memorial Theatre, 1959.

Ted, The Lily-White Boys, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1960.

Billy Fisher, Billy Liar, Cambridge Theatre, London, 1960.

Title role, Luther, Paris International Festival, Theatre des Nations, Paris, then Holland Festival, later Royal Court Theatre, all 1961.

Feste, Twelfth Night, Royal Court Theatre, 1962. (Broadway debut) Title role, Luther, St. James Theatre, 1963.

Title role, Henry IV, Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland, 1963.

Don Pedro, Much Ado About Nothing, Old Vic Theatre, 1965.

John Armstrong, Armstrong's Last Goodnight, Chichester Festival, Chichester, England, 1966.

Jean, Miss Julie, Chichester Festival, 1966.

Harold Gorringe, Black Comedy, Chichester Festival, 1966.

Bri, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1968.

Mr. Elliot, Alpha Beta, Royal Court Theatre, then Apollo Theatre, London, 1972.

Krapp, Krapp's Last Tape, Royal Court Theatre, 1973.

O'Halloran, Cromwell, Royal Court Theatre, 1973.

Phil, Chez Nous, Globe Theatre, London, 1974.

Title role, Hamlet, National Theatre, London, then Old Vic Theatre, both 1975, later Lyttelton Theatre, London, 1976.

Title role, Tamburlaine the Great, Olivier Theatre, London, 1976.

Narrator, Tribute to a Lady, Old Vic Theatre, 1976.

Mr. Horner, The Country Wife, Olivier Theatre, 1977.

Lopakhin, The Cherry Orchard, Olivier Theatre, 1978.

Title role, Macbeth, National Theatre, 1978.

Title role, Uncle Vanya, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1978.

Gary Essendine, Present Laughter, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1978.

John Bean, Has "Washington" Legs?, National Theatre, 1978.

John Armstrong, Armstrong's Last Goodnight, Old Vic Theatre, 1983.

Musgrave, Sergeant Musgrave's Dance, Old Vic Theatre, 1984.

The lawyer, The Biko Inquest, Riverside Studios, London, 1984.

Harold, Orphans, Hampstead Theatre Club, London, then Apollo Theatre, 1986.

J. J. Farr, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1987.

Another Time, Wyndham's Theatre, London, 1989, then Chicago, IL, 1991.

Reflected Glory, Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1992.

Stage Work:

Director, The Birthday Party, Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland, 1963.

Director, The School for Scandal, Glasgow Citizens Theatre, 1963.

Director, Armstrong's Last Goodnight, Old Vic Theatre, London, 1965.

Producer, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Comedy Theatre, London, 1967.

Director, The Freedom of the City, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1973.

Director, Loot, Royal Court Theatre, 1975.

Director, Armstrong's Last Goodnight, Old Vic Theatre, 1983.

Director, The Biko Inquest, Riverside Studios, London, 1984.

Director, Sergeant Musgrave's Dance, Old Vic Theatre, 1984.

Film Appearances:

Mick Rice, The Entertainer, Continental, 1959.

Arthur Seaton, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Continental, 1960.

Russian soldier, The Victors, Columbia, 1963.

Title role, Tom Jones, Lopert, 1963.

Danny, Night Must Fall, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1964.

Mark Wallace, Two for the Road, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1967.

Title role, Charlie Bubbles, Universal, 1968.

George Smith, The Picasso Summer, 1969.

Title role, Scrooge, National General, 1970.

Eddie Ginley, Gumshoe, Columbia, 1972.

Bleak Moments, 1972.

Mr. Frank Elliot, Alpha Beta, Memorial, 1973.

Hercule Poirot, Murder on the Orient Express (also known as Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express"), Paramount, 1974.

(Uncredited) Cameo appearance, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (also known as Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1975.

Fouche, The Duellists, Paramount, 1978.

Mike Daniels, Loophole (also known as Break In), 1980.

Dr. Larry Roberts, Looker, 1981.

Dewey Wilson, Wolfen, Warner Bros., 1981.

George Dunlap, Shoot the Moon, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

Daddy Warbucks, Annie, Columbia, 1982.

Sir, The Dresser, Columbia, 1983.

Geoffrey Firmin the Consul, Under the Volcano, Universal, 1984.

Himself, Observations Under the Volcano, 1984.

Himself, Notes from Under the Volcano, 1984.

Harold, Orphans, Lorimar, 1987.

Leo O'Bannion, Miller's Crossing, 1990.

Warren Odom, Rich in Love, 1992.

Constable Hegarty, The Playboys, 1992.

Andrew Crocker-Harris, The Browning Version, 1994.

Alfie Byrne, A Man of No Importance, 1994.

Danny's father, The Run of the Country, 1995.

Dr. Austin Sloper, Washington Square, Buena Vista, 1997.

Kilgore Trout, Breakfast of Champions, Buena Vista, 1999.

Darryl P. Simms and Ryan Ames, Simpatico, Fine Line Features, 1999.

Ed Masry, Erin Brockovich, Universal, 2000.

Chief of staff, Traffic (also known as Traffic—Die Macht des kartells), USA Films, 2000.

Joan of Arc: The Virgin Warrior, 2000.

Elmore, Delivering Milo, Hannover House, 2000.

Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway, the Hunter of Death, 2001.

Older Ed Bloom, Big Fish, Columbia, 2003.

(Uncredited) Gaspar LeMarque, Ocean's Twelve, Warner Bros., 2004.

Voice of Finis Everglot, Corpse Bride (also known as Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride"), Warner Bros., 2005.

Uncle Henry Skinner, A Good Year, Fox 2000 Pictures, 2006.

John Newton, Amazing Grace, Samuel Goldwyn Films, 2006.

Charles, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Capitol Films, 2007.

Film Work:

Producer, Gumshoe, Columbia, 1963.

Producer, Night Must Fall, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1964.

Producer and director, Charlie Bubbles, Universal, 1968.

Producer, if …, Paramount, 1969.

Producer, Bleak Moments, British Film Institute, 1972.

Producer, O Lucky Man!, Warner Bros., 1973.

Television Appearances; Series:

Tom Fletcher, Emergency-Ward 10 (also known as Calling Nurse Roberts), 1957.

Title role, My Uncle Silas, PBS, 2000.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Daniel Feeld, Karaoke, Bravo, 1996.

Daniel Feeld, Cold Lazarus, Bravo, 1996.

Doctor Monygham, Nostromo (also known as Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo" and Nostromo—Der Schatz in den Bergen), PBS, 1996.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Forget-Me-Not Lane, 1975.

Title role, Pope John Paul II (also known as The Pope), CBS, 1984.

Kentridge, The Biko Inquest, 1984.

Jason Cromwell, The Image, HBO, 1990.

Alec Hillsden, The Endless Game, Showtime, 1990.

Maurice Allington, The Green Man, Arts and Entertainment 1990.

Reggie Conyngham-Jervis, A Rather English Marriage, 1998.

Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm, 2002.

Title role, My Uncle Silas II, PBS, 2003.

Also appeared in View Friendship and Marriage; The Claverdon Road Job; The Miser.

Television Appearances; Specials:

A Tribute to John F. Kennedy from the Arts, ABC, 1963.

Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, Lights, Camera, Annie!, 1982.

A Simple Man, 1987.

The Wall: Live in Berlin (also known as The Wall: Berlin 90), 1990.

On the Set of "Washington Square," Polish TV, 1997.

Agnieszka Holland on the Set, 1997.

Reggie Conyngham-Jervis, A Rather English Marriage, PBS, 1998.

(Uncredited) Himself, Hollywood Screens Tests: Take One, AMC, 1999.

(Uncredited) Himself, Hollywood Screens Tests: Take Two, AMC, 1999.

Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years, 2000.

The 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 2000.

Spotlight on Location: Erin Brockovich (also kwon as The Making of "Erin Brockovich"), 2000.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards, 2001.

Television Appearances: Episodic:

Face to Face, BBC, 1962.

"David Frost's Night Out in London," ABC Stage 67, ABC, 1967.

Film Night, BBC, 1970.

"Northern Lights," Hollywood U.K., BBC, 1993.

"Albert Finney," The South Bank Show, ITV, 1996.

"The 'Billy Elliot' Boy," Omnibus, BBC, 2001.

Ed Masry, "Erin Brockovich," Intimate Portrait, Lifetime, 2003.

"Big Fish," HBO First Look, HBO, 2004.

"Pa den rode lober med Planet Voice," Planet Voice, 2005.

"Sobre 'Asesinato en el Orient Express,'" Ciclo Agatha Christie, 2005.

"Magic and Make-Believe," Space Top 10 Countdown, The Space Channel, 2007.

Television Work; Movies:

Director, The Biko Inquest, 1984.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Scrooge (original soundtrack), 1971.

Albert Finney's Album, Motown Records, 1977.

Music Videos:

Appeared in The Avalanches' "Since I Left You."

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Falk, Quentin, Albert Finney in Character, Robson Books, 1992.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, St. James Press, 1996.

International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 3: Actors, Directors and Designers, St. James Press, 1996.

Newsmakers, Issue 3, Gale Group, 2003.