Person Biography:
Frank Finlay was born on August 6, 1926, in Farnworth, England, to Josiah and Margaret Finlay. He was the son of a butcher and was of English, Irish, and Scottish descent. Finlay attended St. Gregory the Great School and initially trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a butcher, but his 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 and had three children, two sons, and one daughter, until her death in 2005.
Finlay began his professional career on the repertory stage, graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He built a strong reputation at the Royal Court Theatre, where he was seen to good advantage in various plays. He made his Broadway debut in "The Epitaph of George Dillon" in 1959 and sparked a professional association with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, with a notable performance as "Iago" opposite Olivier's "Othello" in 1964.
Finlay's film debut came in a bit role in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962),followed by a steady stream of British film parts. His greatest film opportunity came when he was given the chance to recreate his Iago role opposite Olivier in the film adaptation of "Othello" (1965),for which he received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
Finlay continued to work in film and television, with notable roles as "Porthos" in "The Three Musketeers" (1973) and its sequels, as well as in "The Pianist" (2002),directed by Roman Polanski. He also had a successful television career, with strong performances in "Les Misérables" (1967) and "Casanova" (1971),as well as in various BBC-TV productions.
Finlay maintained a prolific career on stage, giving sterling performances in classic and contemporary plays, including "Much Ado About Nothing", "The Crucible", "Saturday Sunday Monday", "Filumena", "Amadeus", "Mutiny", and "The Heiress". He died on January 30, 2016, at the age of 89, due to heart failure in Surrey, England.
