Albert Finney (1936-2019)

We at the Watchers are saddened to hear of the passing of Albert Finney, who died on 7th February at the age of 82. 

A versatile character actor, Finney became known as one of the first working-class actors to hit the scene in the 1960s as the trend for kitchen sink drama came in vogue. 

Born in Salford, Finney was educated at RADA and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company upon graduating, playing in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Coriolanus (where he took on the lead role to cover Laurence Olivier's illness). As well as these classical roles, Finney also originated the role of Billy in Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's Billy Liar.  

He made his film debut in 1960, playing Mick Rice in Tony Richardson's film adaptation of John Osborne's The Entertainer, starring Laurence Olivier. Also in 1960, he played disillusioned factory worker Arthur Seaton juggling relationships with two women in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night And Sunday Morning. Finney would proudly proclaim that he was the first man to be seen sleeping with another man's wife in an English film. He was nominated for two BAFTAs for this role, winning Most Promising Newcomer. 

In 1962, Finney was cast as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia following a successful (if elaborate, and expensive) four-day screen test. However, after all that, Finney declined the role (as he didn't want to sign a multi-year contract). The role went to Peter O'Toole, and made his career. However, the role that would shoot Finney into the stratosphere was just around the corner, playing the eponymous hero in Tony Richardson's Tom Jones (1963). Finney exudes a warmth and- it has to be said- a powerful sensuality as the high-spirited foundling. For this role, Finney was nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA, and two Golden Globes (winning Most Promising Newcomer). He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The film itself would win four Oscars, including Best Picture.  

Whilst his film career was taking off, Finney was still working on stage. He performed with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London in Much Ado About Nothing and The Cherry Orchard. He received two Tony Awards nominations for Best Actor in the 1960s for Luther (1964) and A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg (1968)

In 1966, Finney directed his first (and only) film: Charlie Bubbles. Based on a screenplay by Shelagh Delaney, this was something of a passion project for Finney who produced as well as starred in the film. Also starring Billie Whitelaw, Colin Blakely, and Liza Minnelli, advance reviews of the film were positive but it wasn't shown in either the UK or America until 1968. It was written off as a box office failure despite rave reviews and Finney never directed another film. In 1970, Finney took the lead role in the musical Scrooge, Leslie Bricusse's nusical version of A Christmas Carol. Something of a departure for Finney (especially given the kitchen sink dramas he'd made his name in), he nonetheless impressed and won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Over a decade later, he would return to musicals playing Daddy Warbucks in Annie.

1974 saw Finney receive his second Oscar nomination, for playing Hercule Poirot in Sidney Lumet's star-studded adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express. Whilst not the original choice to play the Belgian sleuth (both Alec Guinness and Paul Scofield were initially preferred), Finney makes the role his own, playing up the bon vivant side to the character. Whilst this tends to chafe with Poirot purists, Agatha Christie- who had previously disliked the film adaptations of her work, and had to be talked into allowing the film to be made- felt that Finney's performance came closest to her idea of the character (although she was reportedly unimpressed with the moustache). Murder On The Orient Express was the first of the all-star Christie adaptations and Finney was offered to reprise his role in the next one: Death On The Nile. However, due to the extensive and exhaustive make-up process, Finney declined and Peter Ustinov took the role instead. 

During the 1970s, Finney was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Revival for his roles in Hamlet and Christopher Marlowe's two-part play Tamburlaine The Great. In 2018, the Royal Mail issued a set of commemorative stamps to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Old Vic Theatre. Finney's performance as Hamlet is included as one of the eight productions included. In 1977, Finney played a small role in Ridley Scott's directorial debut The Duellists, playing Joseph Fouché, the Duc d'Otrante. In the director's commentary for the DVD release, Scott confirmed a longstanding rumour that Finney was paid with a case of champagne for the role! 

In 1983, Finney played the bombastic actor-manager known only as 'Sir' in the film adaptation of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser. As the ailing actor trying to get through King Lear with the help of his devoted dresser Norman (Tom Courtenay), Finney's performance is broad when it needs to be (his wonderful roaring of 'AND WHERE WAS THE STORM?' after the stagehands were going hell for leather with the sound effects is particularly enjoyable) and heartbreakingly vulnerable at other times. Both he and Courtenay would be nominated for Best Actor Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes for their performances. 

A year later, Finney would be nominated for his fourth (and final) Best Actor Oscar for a quietly devastating turn as the alcoholic English consul Geoffrey Firmin in Under The Volcano. As the 1980s came to a close, Finney won another Olivier Award for Best Actor In A New Play in the crime drama Orphans (written by Lyle Kessler), playing the father figure to two interdependent brothers. Finney would reprise his role for the 1987 film version, directed by Alan J. Pakula

Throughout the 1990s, Finney took on varied roles- from the stubborn crime boss Leo O'Bannon in the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990), jumping through a window then firing at two would-be assassins with a submachine gun to the strains of 'Danny Boy', to a closeted gay bus driver in A Man Of No Importance (1994). He took roles in Dennis Potter's last two TV dramas Karaoke (playing screenwriter Daniel Feeld) and Cold Lazarus (where he plays Feeld's frozen and disembodied head). He also made his final stage appearance in the original London cast of Yasmina Reza's 'Art' (1996) opposite his Dresser co-star Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott

In 2000, Finney played lawyer Ed Masry opposite Julia Roberts in the biographical drama Erin Brockovich. Initially turning the role down, he was persuaded to change his mind with an amended and truncated schedule. He and Roberts have a wonderful chemistry together, her passion butting up against his more world-weary attitude. Finney was nominated for his fifth Oscar for his role (and his first as Best Supporting Actor). He also received Best Supporting Actor nods for both a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and won the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Award. When Roberts won the Best Actress Oscar, she mentioned Finney and said she shared the award with him. The following year, he won a second SAG Award as part of the ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh's Traffic in which he played the White House Chief of Staff. 

In 2002, Finney appeared in the TV movie The Gathering Storm. Directed by Richard Loncraine, the film focuses on Winston Churchill's years out of government during the 1930s when the threat of Nazi Germany began to rear its head. It's an absolutely towering performance by Finney who goes beyond mere impersonation (although it's a damn good impersonation). Ably supported by a brilliant cast including Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, and Ronnie Barker as Churchill's valet Inches, it's definitely worth a watch. Finney won a BAFTA TV Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy for his astonishing turn. 

Throughout the 2000s, Finney appeared as the older version of Ewan McGregor's character in Big Fish (2003), made an uncredited appearance in Ocean's Twelve (2004), voiced a character in Corpse Bride (2005) and played Dr. Albert Hirsch, a shady physician, in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) [reprising the role in The Bourne Legacy five years later]. In 2007, Finney joined the ensemble cast for Sidney Lumet's final film Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. A crime thriller about two brothers whose plan to pull of a victimless crime goes badly awry, the cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Rosemary Harris, and Finney shines as the hardass patriarch. Finney's last film role was as Kincade the gamekeeper in the James Bond movie Skyfall (2012). 

Married three times, Finney turned down the offer of both a CBE (in 1980) and a knighthood (in 2000) on the grounds that he believed the honours system perpetuates snobbery. He was also Laurence Olivier's first choice to succeed him as head of the National Theatre, which he also declined. He lived life on his terms, at his pace, and recognised not only the ephemeral nature of acting but the value of such fleeting moments. 'What a lot of people spend their lives doing may not add up to a hill of beans, but their love, effort and devotion goes into doing it, and it becomes worthwhile.'

Finney's 'love, effort and devotion' are evident in every performance. The acting world has lost a legend. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.