Frank Finlay, 89, Is Dead; Was Iago to Olivier’s Othello
He was not on the list.
Frank Finlay, an Academy Award-nominated English actor known
for his screen appearances as Iago in “Othello” and Porthos in “The Three
Musketeers,” died on Jan. 30 at his home in Weybridge, England. He was 89.
His family announced his death, The Associated Press
reported.
In character roles on stage, screen and television, Mr.
Finlay was routinely praised by critics for his resonant voice, physical grace
and brooding, soulful mien.
He was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for
playing Iago to Laurence Olivier’s Othello in the 1965 film version of
Shakespeare’s play, directed by Stuart Burge and also starring Derek Jacobi as
Cassio. (The award that year went to Martin Balsam for “A Thousand Clowns.”)
Mr. Finlay was also known to an international audience as
Porthos, the lusty extrovert among the Three Musketeers, in the 1974 film of
that name. Directed by Richard Lester, it also starred Richard Chamberlain,
Michael York and Raquel Welch.
He reprised the role in two sequels, “The Four Musketeers”
(1975) and “The Return of the Musketeers” (1989).
Mr. Finlay portrayed the title character in “Casanova,” a
1971 BBC mini-series written by Dennis Potter. His other screen roles include
the father of Adrien Brody’s character in “The Pianist” (2002), the Holocaust
drama directed by Roman Polanski, and the father of Jane Tennison, the police
detective played by Helen Mirren, in the last two installments of “Prime
Suspect,” the popular British television drama.
Francis Finlay was born on Aug. 6, 1926, in Farnworth, in
the north of England. He left school at 14 and became a butcher’s apprentice,
but found he could not resist the lure of community theater. He later won a
scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where, bowing to the demands
of repertory theaters of the period, he took pains to cultivate plummy London
diction.
“It was still the time when the Reps were doing ‘Who’s for
tennis?’ plays,” Mr. Finlay told The Sydney Morning Herald in 1988. “So we
spent days trying to lose our North Country accents.”
Mr. Finlay went on to perform with the Royal National
Theater, of which Mr. Olivier was an artistic director, and the Royal
Shakespeare Company. He was named a Commander of the British Empire in 1984.
He appeared on Broadway in two short-lived plays, “Epitaph
for George Dillon,” by John Osborne and Anthony Creighton, in 1958, and
“Filumena,” by Eduardo De Filippo, in 1980.
Mr. Finlay’s wife, the former Doreen Shepherd, whom he
married in 1954, died in 2005; a son, Stephen, died in 2004. His survivors
include a daughter, Cathy; a son, Daniel; and several grandchildren.
Because Mr. Finlay was so often cast as a rogue or villain,
some of the productions with which he was associated were considered mildly
scandalous in their day. Among the prime culprits was “Casanova,” which
required the prostitutes his character patronized to appear on camera barely
clad — a sight not typically seen on British television in 1971.
In casting the prostitutes, a stumbling block arose.
“The BBC couldn’t get actresses who were prepared to take
their blouses off,” Mr. Finlay said in an interview quoted in his obituary on
Monday in the British newspaper The Telegraph.
Undaunted, the producers took to the streets and hired the
real thing.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1962 Life for Ruth
Henry – Teddy's father
The Longest Day Private
Coke Uncredited
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Booking Office clerk Uncredited
Private Potter Captain
Patterson
1963 Doctor in
Distress Corsetiere
The Informers Leon
Sale
1964 Hot Enough
for June British Embassy porter Uncredited
The Comedy Man Prout
1965 A Study in
Terror Inspector Lestrade Reprised the role fourteen years later
in Murder by Decree
The Wild Affair Drunk
Othello Iago San Sebastián International Film Festival
Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to
Leading Film Roles
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor -
Motion Picture
1966 The Sandwich
Man Second fish porter
The Deadly Bees H.W.
Manfred
1967 The Jokers Harassed man
Robbery Robinson
I'll Never Forget What's'isname Chaplain
The Spare Tyres Council
foreman Short
1968 Inspector
Clouseau Superintendent Weaver
The Shoes of the Fisherman Igor
Bounin
Twisted Nerve Henry
Durnley
1970 The Molly
Maguires Davies
Cromwell John
Carter
1971 Assault Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
Gumshoe William
Ginley
1972 Sitting
Target Marty Gold
Danny Jones Mr.
Jones
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand George Dabernon
1973 Shaft in
Africa Amafi
The Three Musketeers Porthos
/ O'Reilly
1974 The Four
Musketeers Porthos Sequel to The Three Musketeers
1977 Count Dracula
Abraham Van Helsing TV movie
1978 The Wild
Geese Father Geoghagen
1979 Murder by
Decree Inspector Lestrade
Ring of Darkness [it] Paul
aka Satan's Wife
1982 The Return of
the Soldier William Grey Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a
Supporting Role
Enigma Canarsky
1983 The
Ploughman's Lunch Matthew
Fox
The Black Adder The
Witchsmeller Pursuivant Episode:
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant"
The Key Nino
Rolfe
1984 A Christmas
Carol Jacob Marley's Ghost TV movie
Sakharov Kravtsov
TV movie
1985 1919 Sigmund Freud Voice
Lifeforce Dr.
Hans Fallada
1988 Erebus: The
Aftermath Justice Peter Mahon TV Mini-Series
1989 The Return of
the Musketeers Porthos Final film in the Musketeers
trilogy
1990 King of the
Wind Edward Coke
1992 Cthulhu
Mansion Chandu
1993 Sparrow Father Nunzio
1995 Gospa Monsignor
1996 Tiré à part John Rathbone
1997 For My Baby Rudi Wittfogel
So This Is Romance? Mike's
dad
The Road to Glory Yudah
Lieb Gold
Put K Slave
1998 Stiff Upper
Lips Hudson Junior
1998–1999 How
Do You Want Me? Astley Yardley 10 episodes
1999 Dreaming of
Joseph Lees Father
2000 Ghosthunter Charlie Fielding Short
2000 The Sins 'Uncle' Irwin Green BBC drama series
2001 The Martins Mr. Heath
2002 The Pianist Samuel Szpilman
Silent Cry Dr.
Robert Barrum
2003 Eroica Joseph Haydn TV
movie
The Statement Commissaire
Vionnet
The Lost Prince H.H.
Asquith TV movie
2004 Lighthouse
Hill Alfred
Life Begins Eric
ITV Series
2007 The Waiting
Room Roger
2008 Merlin Anhora Episode:
"The Labyrinth of Gedref"
