ALBERT FINNEY (Edward Bloom) has been honored with five Academy Award® nominations during his more than 40 years in the entertainment industry. He was nominated for Best Actor for Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser and Under the Volcano. For his portrayal of attorney Edward Masry in Erin Brockovich, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he recently won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the HBO presentation “The Gathering Storm,” in which he portrayed Winston Churchill.
Other plaudits include a Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Scrooge, the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival for The Dresser and the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival for Tom Jones. He also received Golden Globe nominations for Under the Volcano, The Dresser and Shoot the Moon.
Finney made his film debut in a small role opposite Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer. This performance was followed with the role of a sexy, boorish young blade in Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. Finney's varied film performances include turns as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, a gang boss in Miller's Crossing, a police sergeant tortured by his obsession for a young, unmarried mother in The Playboy and a retired demolitions worker in Rich in Love.
His many other films include Washington Square, The Run of the Country, The Browning Version, Orphans, Wolfen, Charlie Bubbles and Two for the Road. More recently, Finney starred opposite Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte in the screen version of the 1973 Kurt Vonnegut novel, Breakfast of Champions and in the Sam Shepard adaptation Simpatico.
Born and raised in Salford, England, Finney was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts when he was 17 years old. At age 20, he made his stage debut with the Birmingham Repertory Company in a production of “Julius Caesar.” During his two years with the BRC, his played the title roles in “Macbeth” and “Henry V.”
After making his West End debut with Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester in “The Party,” Finney appeared in Royal Shakespeare productions in Stratford-on- Avon for their 1959 centenary season and understudied Laurence Olivier in “Coriolanus.”
In 1960, Finney began a long association with the Royal Court Theatre when he appeared in “The Lily White Boys” and in 1965 he joined the National Theatre Company at the old Vic, where he appeared in “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Country Wife” and “The Cherry Orchard,” among others. His additional theatre credits include “Billy Liar,” “Armstrong's Last Goodnight,” “Love for Love,” “Miss Julie,” “Black Comedy,” “Alpha Beta,” “Krapp’s Last Tape,” “Cromwell,” “Tamburlaine The Great,” “Another Time” and most recently, the critically acclaimed “Art.”
His theatre awards include a Best Actor Olivier award for “Orphans” and “A Flea in Her Ear,” and Tony nominations for “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” and “Luther.” He received the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in “Luther.”
On television, Finney has starred in many memorable productions, including Dennis Potter's miniseries “Karaoke” and “Cold Lazarus” and Joseph Conrad's “Nostromo.” He received a Best Actor Emmy nomination for the telefilm “The Image,” in which he played a successful news anchor whose difficult private life belies his public face. He also has appeared in “The Green Man,” “View Friendship and Marriage,” “The Miser,” “Picasso Summer,” “Alpha Beta,” “The Biko Inquest,” “The Endless Game” and the title role in “Pope John Paul II.” He recently starred opposite Tom Courtney and Joanna Lumley in the BBC production “A Rather English Marriage.”
In addition to his acting career, Finney partnered with Michael Medwin to form Memorial Enterprises, the company that produced such films as If ... and O Lucky Man, both of which were directed by Lindsay Anderson and brought stardom to Malcolm McDowell. Memorial also produced Gumshoe directed by Stephen Frears as well as A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Finney also directed the film Charlie Bubbles.
Movie Database
In Theaters
(1166 votes)
(49 votes)
(299 votes)
(9 votes)
(2 votes)
(24 votes)