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.
Movie | Nothing Like a Dame | Self (archive footage) | 2018-05-02 |
Movie | Fifty Shades of Erotica | 2015-04-13 | |
Movie | The Waiting Room | Roger | 2007-08-18 |
Series | Johnny and the Bomb | Tom Maxwell | 2006-01-15 |
Movie | Lighthouse Hill | Alfred | 2004-05-04 |
Series | Life Begins | Eric Thornhill | 2004-02-16 |
Movie | Eroica | Josef Haydn | 2003-01-01 |
Movie | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | 2003-12-12 |
Series | The Lost Prince | Asquith | 2003-01-19 |
Movie | The Pianist | Father | 2002-09-17 |
Movie | The Martins | Mr Heath | 2001-09-14 |
Movie | Station Jim | Riorden Snr | 2001-12-30 |
Movie | For My Baby | 2000-10-19 | |
Series | Sins | Uncle Irwin Green | 2000-10-24 |
Series | The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns | General Bulstrode | 1999-11-07 |
Movie | Dreaming of Joseph Lees | Father | 1999-10-29 |
Series | How Do You Want Me? | 1998-02-24 | |
Movie | Stiff Upper Lips | Hudson Junior | 1998-06-12 |
Movie | Limited Edition | John Rathbone | 1997-01-22 |
Movie | Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?) | Mike's Dad | 1997-11-01 |
Movie | A Mind to Murder | Professor Etherege | 1995-01-01 |
Movie | Virgin Mary | Monsignor | 1995-10-12 |
Movie | Sparrow | Father Nunzio | 1994-02-04 |
Series | Charlemagne | Alcuin | 1993-02-28 |
Series | Heartbeat | Unknown | 1992-04-10 |
Movie | Cthulhu Mansion | Chandu | 1992-01-01 |
Movie | The Other Side | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1992-08-29 |
Movie | Stalin | Sergei | 1992-11-21 |
Series | The Burning Shore | Garrick | 1991-01-01 |
Movie | Mountain of Diamonds | Garrick | 1991-01-01 |
Series | Prime Suspect | Arnold Tennison | 1991-04-07 |
Movie | King of the Wind | Edward Coke | 1990-05-25 |
Movie | The Return of the Musketeers | Porthos | 1989-04-12 |
Movie | Casanova | Razetta | 1987-03-01 |
Series | Lovejoy | Unknown | 1986-01-10 |
Movie | Arch of Triumph | Col. Boris Morosov | 1985-05-29 |
Movie | Nineteen Nineteen | Sigmund Freud (voice) | 1985-11-14 |
Movie | Lifeforce | Dr. Hans Fallada | 1985-06-21 |
Movie | Sakharov | Kravtsov | 1984-06-20 |
Movie | A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | 1984-10-09 |
Movie | The Return of the Soldier | William Grey | 1983-01-06 |
Movie | The Key | Nino Rolfe | 1983-10-19 |
Movie | The Spanish Civil War | Narrator | 1983-01-07 |
Movie | The Ploughman's Lunch | Matthew Fox | 1983-05-30 |
Series | Blackadder | The Witchsmeller Pursuivant | 1983-06-15 |
Series | Wogan | Unknown | 1982-05-04 |
Movie | Enigma | Canarsky | 1982-10-15 |
Movie | Murder by Decree | Inspector Lestrade | 1979-02-01 |
Series | Tales of the Unexpected | Unknown | 1979-03-24 |
Movie | Ring of Darkness | Paul | 1979-10-29 |
Movie | Saturday, Sunday, Monday | Peppino | 1978-01-01 |
Movie | The Thief of Baghdad | Abu Bakar | 1978-01-10 |
Movie | The Wild Geese | Fr. Geoghagen | 1978-06-28 |
Series | Another Bouquet | 1977-01-05 | |
Series | Count Dracula | Professor Van Helsing | 1977-12-22 |
Movie | Count Dracula | Abraham van Helsing | 1977-12-22 |
Series | Bouquet of Barbed Wire | Peter Manson | 1976-01-06 |
Series | Laurence Olivier Presents | Peppino | 1976-12-05 |
Movie | 84 Charing Cross Road | Frank Doel | 1975-11-04 |
Movie | The Four Musketeers | Porthos | 1974-10-31 |
Movie | The Adventures Of Don Quixote | Sancho Panza | 1973-04-23 |
Movie | Shaft in Africa | Vincent Amafi | 1973-06-14 |
Movie | The Death of Adolf Hitler | Adolf Hitler | 1973-01-07 |
Movie | The Three Musketeers | Porthos / O'Reilly | 1973-12-11 |
Movie | Van der Valk and the Rich | Van der Valk | 1973-12-26 |
Movie | Danny Jones | 1972-05-01 | |
Movie | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock | 1972-04-16 |
Movie | Sitting Target | Marty Gold | 1972-05-01 |
Movie | Neither the Sea Nor the Sand | George Dabernon | 1972-11-01 |
Movie | Assault | Det. Chief Supt. Velyan | 1971-02-11 |
Series | Casanova | Casanova | 1971-11-16 |
Movie | Gumshoe | William Ginley | 1971-12-01 |
Movie | Cromwell | John Carter | 1970-09-16 |
Movie | The Molly Maguires | Davies | 1970-02-08 |
Movie | The Body | Narrator | 1970-10-09 |
Series | Play for Today | Unknown | 1970-10-15 |
Movie | The Lie | Andrew Firth | 1970-10-29 |
Movie | The Piano Tuner | Wilfred Tilley | 1969-03-08 |
Movie | Julius Caesar | Brutus | 1969-04-13 |
Movie | Twisted Nerve | Henry Durnley | 1968-12-20 |
Movie | Inspector Clouseau | Supt. Weaver | 1968-07-19 |
Movie | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Igor Bounin | 1968-11-14 |
Movie | Much Ado About Nothing | Dogberry | 1967-01-01 |
Movie | The Jokers | Harrassed Man | 1967-05-15 |
Movie | Robbery | Robinson | 1967-08-01 |
Movie | I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Chaplain | 1967-12-18 |
Series | Les Misérables | Jean Valjean | 1967-10-22 |
Movie | The Sandwich Man | Second Fish Porter | 1966-07-01 |
Movie | The Deadly Bees | H.W. Manfred | 1966-12-23 |
Series | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Unknown | 1965-10-07 |
Movie | A Study in Terror | Inspector Lestrade | 1965-10-01 |
Movie | The Wild Affair | Drunk | 1965-12-05 |
Series | BBC Play of the Month | Unknown | 1965-10-19 |
Movie | Othello | Iago | 1965-12-15 |
Movie | Hot Enough for June | British Embassy Porter | 1964-01-01 |
Movie | The Comedy Man | Prout | 1964-09-03 |
Movie | Doctor in Distress | Corsetiere | 1963-07-30 |
Movie | The Informers | Leon Sale | 1963-11-29 |
Series | Z-Cars | Unknown | 1962-01-02 |
Series | Studio Four | Unknown | 1962-01-22 |
Movie | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Booking Office Clerk | 1962-09-20 |
Movie | The Longest Day | Pvt. Coke (uncredited) | 1962-09-25 |
Movie | Life for Ruth | Teddy's Father | 1962-09-06 |