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 | Sakharov | Kravtsov | 2025 |
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 |
Series | The Lost Prince | Asquith | 2003-01-19 |
Movie | Eroica | Josef Haydn | 2003-10-04 |
Movie | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | 2003-12-12 |
Movie | The Pianist | Father | 2002-09-17 |
Movie | The Martins | Mr Heath | 2001-09-14 |
Movie | Station Jim | Riorden Snr | 2001-12-30 |
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 |
Movie | Stiff Upper Lips | Hudson Junior | 1998-06-12 |
Series | How Do You Want Me? | 1998-02-24 | |
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 |
Series | Charlemagne, le prince à cheval | Alcuin | 1994-02-28 |
Movie | The Voyeur | Nino Rolfe | 1994-01-27 |
Movie | Sparrow | Father Nunzio | 1994-02-04 |
Movie | Cthulhu Mansion | Chandu | 1992-01-01 |
Movie | Stalin | Sergei | 1992-11-21 |
Movie | Mountain of Diamonds | Garrick | 1991-10-09 |
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 |
Movie | In the Secret State | Frank Strange | 1985-03-10 |
Movie | Lifeforce | Dr. Hans Fallada | 1985-06-21 |
Movie | Nineteen Nineteen | Sigmund Freud (voice) | 1985-11-14 |
Movie | A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | 1984-10-09 |
Movie | Arch of Triumph | Col. Boris Morosov | 1984-12-19 |
Movie | The Return of the Soldier | William Grey | 1983-01-06 |
Movie | The Key | Nino Rolfe | 1983-10-19 |
Movie | The Ploughman's Lunch | Matthew Fox | 1983-05-30 |
Movie | Enigma | Canarsky | 1982-10-15 |
Movie | Ring of Darkness | Paul | 1979-10-29 |
Movie | Murder by Decree | Inspector Lestrade | 1979-02-01 |
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 |
Movie | Count Dracula | Abraham van Helsing | 1977-12-22 |
Series | Count Dracula | Professor Van Helsing | 1977-12-22 |
Series | Bouquet of Barbed Wire | Peter Manson | 1976-01-06 |
Movie | 84 Charing Cross Road | Frank Doel | 1975-11-04 |
Movie | The Four Musketeers | Porthos | 1974-10-31 |
Movie | Van der Valk and the Rich | Van der Valk | 1973-12-26 |
Movie | The Three Musketeers | Porthos / O'Reilly | 1973-12-11 |
Movie | The Death of Adolf Hitler | Adolf Hitler | 1973-01-07 |
Movie | Shaft in Africa | Vincent Amafi | 1973-06-14 |
Movie | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock | 1972-04-16 |
Movie | Neither the Sea Nor the Sand | George Dabernon | 1972-11-01 |
Movie | Danny Jones | 1972-05-01 | |
Movie | Sitting Target | Marty Gold | 1972-05-01 |
Movie | Assault | Det. Chief Supt. Velyan | 1971-02-11 |
Series | Casanova | Casanova | 1971-11-16 |
Movie | Gumshoe | William Ginley | 1971-12-01 |
Movie | The Molly Maguires | Davies | 1970-02-08 |
Movie | The Lie | Andrew Firth | 1970-10-29 |
Movie | The Body | Narrator | 1970-10-09 |
Movie | Cromwell | John Carter | 1970-07-16 |
Movie | Julius Caesar | Brutus | 1969-04-13 |
Movie | The Piano Tuner | Wilfred Tilley | 1969-03-08 |
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 | I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Chaplain | 1967-12-18 |
Movie | Robbery | Robinson | 1967-08-01 |
Movie | The Sandwich Man | Second Fish Porter | 1966-07-01 |
Movie | The Deadly Bees | H.W. Manfred | 1966-12-23 |
Movie | A Study in Terror | Inspector Lestrade | 1965-10-01 |
Movie | The Wild Affair | Drunk | 1965-12-05 |
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 | The Informers | Leon Sale | 1963-11-29 |
Movie | Doctor in Distress | Corsetiere | 1963-07-30 |
Movie | Life for Ruth | Teddy's Father | 1962-09-06 |
Movie | The Longest Day | Pvt. Coke (uncredited) | 1962-09-25 |
Movie | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Booking Office Clerk (uncredited) | 1962-09-20 |
Series | Target Luna | Conway Henderson | 1960-04-24 |