Albert Finney, Jr. (born 9 May 1936) is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films during the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film, and television.
[edit] Personal life
Finney was born in Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire, to Alice Hobson and Albert Finney, Sr., a bookmaker.[1] He was educated at Tootal Drive Primary School, Salford Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. [2]
He has a son by his first wife, Jane Wenham: Simon, who works in the film business as a technician.
From 1970 to 1978 he was married to French actress Anouk Aimée.
Finney is close friends with his one time classmate Peter O'Toole. He is also good friends with Gene Wilder, whom he met through chance, and accepted a quick cameo in Wilder's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother.[citation needed]
[edit] Career
Finney's career began in the theatre; he made his first appearance on the London stage in 1958 in Jane Arden's The Party, directed by Charles Laughton. His first film was The Entertainer (1960) opposite Laurence Olivier, but he made his breakthrough with his portrayal of a disillusioned factory worker in Karel Reisz's film version of Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. This led to a series of "angry young man" roles in kitchen sink dramas, before he starred in the Academy Award-winning 1963 film Tom Jones, for which he turned down the role of T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. After he starred in and directed Charlie Bubbles in 1968, his film appearances became less frequent. One of his more high profile later roles was as Agatha Christie's Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot in the 1974 film Murder On The Orient Express. Finney was so well-known for the role that he complained that it typecast him for a number of years. "People really do think I am 300 pounds with a French accent" he said. Finney also found success with the Hollywood film version of Annie, which was a huge hit.
Finney made several television productions for the BBC in the 1990s, including The Green Man (1990), based on a story by Kingsley Amis, the acclaimed drama A Rather English Marriage (1998) (with Tom Courtenay), and the lead role in Dennis Potter's final two plays, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus in 1996 and 1997. In the latter he played a frozen, disembodied head. Finney also made an appearance at Roger Waters' The Wall Concert in Berlin, where he played "The Judge" during the performance of "The Trial." In 2002, he played Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm, for which he won BAFTA and Emmy awards as Best Actor. Finney also had a voice-over role as Finnis Everglot in Tim Burton's 2005 film Corpse Bride.
He also played the leading role in the television series My Uncle Silas, about a Cornish country gentleman looking after his great-nephew. The series ran from 2000 until 2002, then again for a mini-series in 2003.
[edit] Awards and nominations
Albert Finney turned down the offer of a CBE in 1980 and a knighthood in 2000.[3]
He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor four times, for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984). He was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Erin Brockovich (2000).
Finney received a BAFTA award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles in 1961 for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). He was also nominated for Best British Actor for the same film. Despite being nominated 15 more times, he finally won for The Gathering Storm. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in the HBO telefilm The Image (1990), and won an Emmy, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film, for his performance as Winston Churchill in HBO's The Gathering Storm in 2002.
He has received Golden Globe nominations for his performances in:
Additionally, he has won Golden Globes for The Gathering Storm, Scrooge, and for Tom Jones.
- For The Gathering Storm, he won "Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television" for 2003.
- For his role in Scrooge, his portrayal of both the old miser and the young Ebenezer Scrooge earned him "The Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy" for 1971.
- For Tom Jones, he shared a win as "Most Promising Newcomer - Male" for 1964.
In 1971 he was nominated for a Golden Laurel for his work on Scrooge. For his work on Tom Jones, he was the 3rd Place Winner for the "Top Male Comedy Performance" for 1964. He was honoured by the Los Angeles Film Critics' Association as Best Actor for Under the Volcano (which he tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus), the National Board of Review for Best Actor in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and the New York Film Critics' Circle for Best Actor in Tom Jones.
Finney has also received three nominations from the Screen Actors' Guild Awards, being nominated for his performance in The Gathering Storm, winning for his performances in Erin Brockovich, and as a member of the acting ensemble in the film Traffic. He won the Silver Berlin Bear award for Best Actor for The Dresser at the 1984 Berlin International Film Festival.
Finney been nominated for two Tony Awards for his performances in the plays, "Luther" and "Joe Egg". He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for Tom Jones at the Venice Film Festival.
In 2001 Julia Roberts mentioned Albert Finney in her Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actress in Erin Brockovich, thanking him and sharing the Oscar with him.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] References
[edit] External links
