Albert Finney
Highest Rated: 100% The Dresser (1983)
Lowest Rated: 25% A Good Year (2006)
Birthday: May 9, 1936
Birthplace: Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK
Throughout his acting career, Albert Finney has impressed critics with his protean ability to step into a role and wear a character's persona no matter the age, nationality, or métier. In stage, film, and television productions over more than 40 years, Finney has portrayed a Polish pope, a Belgian detective, an Irish gangster, a British miser, a gruff American lawyer, a Scottish King, a German religious reformer, and an Roman warrior -- all with convincing authenticity. Finney was born on May 9, 1936, in the working-class town of Salford, Lancashire, England. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1955, he performed Shakespeare and quickly earned a coveted spot as understudy for the great Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare productions at Stratford-upon-Avon. On one occasion, he stepped into Olivier's shoes to play the lead role in Coriolanus, a play about the downfall of a proud Roman soldier, and won recognition that led to film roles.Finney's upbringing in Lancashire, a region of mills and smokestacks, exposed him to the kind of social injustice and economic hardship that helped prepare him for his role as a nonconformist factory worker in the 1960 film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a milestone in the development of British realist cinema. Critics -- who hardly noticed him in the bit-part role he played in his first film, The Entertainer -- universally praised his vibrant performance in Saturday Night. This success earned him the lead role in director Tony Richardson's 1963 film Tom Jones, adapted by screenwriter John Osborne from the Henry Fielding novel of the same name. As the wenching country boy Jones, Finney was a bawdy, rollicking, uproarious success, helping the film win four Academy awards.Rather than abandon live stage drama, Finney continued to pursue it with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London, performing in Shakespeare productions and plays by other authors. He won Tony nominations for Luther and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, as well as a best actor Oliver for Orphans. When he made his next film in 1967, he starred opposite Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen's Two for the Road, a comedy-drama about marital mayhem, and again won high critical praise.If there was a pattern to the types of roles he selected, it was that there was no pattern. For example, after playing a 20th century art enthusiast in 1969's Picasso Summer, he took on the role of a 19th century Dickens character in Scrooge (1970), then played a bickering husband in Alpha Beta (1973), Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), a Napoleon-era Frenchman in The Duellists (1978), a werewolf hunter in Wolfen (1981), and a plastic surgeon/murder suspect in the ludicrous Looker (1981).After winning an Academy award nomination for his performance in 1982's Shoot the Moon, Finney delivered another outstanding performance in Peter Yates' 1983 film The Dresser, which earned five Oscar nominations, including a nomination for Finney as best actor. In the film, Finney plays a boozing Shakespearean actor whose life strangely parallels the tragic life of one of the characters he portrays, King Lear. In 1984, Finney won still another Oscar nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination, for his role as a self-defeating alcoholic in director John Huston's Under the Volcano. In the same year, critics praised him highly for his dynamic portrayal of Pope John Paul II in an American TV production.Finney continued to take on diverse and challenging roles in the late 1980s and during the 1990s, primarily in small, independent productions. Among the films that earned him more accolades were the Coen brothers' gangster epic Miller's Crossing (1990) -- for which Finney replaced actor Trey Wilson after his untimely death -- as well as A Man of No Importance (1994), The Browning Version (1995), and Simpatico (1999). Also in 1999, he won the BAFTA TV award for best actor for his role in A Rather English Marriage.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92% | Skyfall | Kincade | $299.4M | 2012 |
| 56% | The Bourne Legacy | Dr. Albert Hirsch | $113.2M | 2012 |
| 88% | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Charles | $7M | 2007 |
| 92% | The Bourne Ultimatum | Dr. Albert Hirsch | $227.5M | 2007 |
| 68% | Amazing Grace | John Newton | $21.2M | 2007 |
| 25% | A Good Year | Uncle Henry | $7.4M | 2006 |
| No Score Yet | Tony Palmer's Classic Film of John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship | Actor | — | 2006 |
| 84% | Tim Burton's Corpse Bride | Finnis Everglot | $53.4M | 2005 |
| 55% | Ocean's Twelve | Gaspar La Marque | $125.5M | 2004 |
| 75% | Big Fish | Senior Ed Bloom | $66.3M | 2003 |
| 83% | The Gathering Storm | Winston Churchill | — | 2002 |
| No Score Yet | Delivering Milo | Elmore | — | 2001 |
| 92% | Traffic | Chief of Staff | $123.9M | 2000 |
| 84% | Erin Brockovich | Ed Masry | — | 2000 |
| 25% | Simpatico | Simms | — | 1999 |
| 26% | Breakfast of Champions | Kilgore Trout | — | 1999 |
| No Score Yet | A Rather English Marriage | Reggie Cunningham-Jarvis | — | 1998 |
| 81% | Washington Square | Dr. Austin Sloper | — | 1997 |
| 50% | The Run of the Country | Father | — | 1995 |
| 78% | The Browning Version | Andrew Crocker-Harris | — | 1994 |
| 86% | A Man of No Importance | Alfie Byrne | — | 1994 |
| 67% | Rich in Love | Warren Odom | — | 1993 |
| 92% | The Playboys | Constable Brendan Hegarty | — | 1992 |
| 91% | Miller's Crossing | Leo | — | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | The Image | Jason Cromwell | — | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Berlin | Actor | — | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | Green Man | Actor | — | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | The Endless Game | Alec Hillsden | — | 1989 |
| 67% | Orphans | Harold | — | 1987 |
| 71% | Under the Volcano | Geoffrey Firmin | — | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Pope John Paul II | Karol Wojty?a, Pope John Paul II | — | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | The Biko Inquest | Director Actor | — | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Observations Under the Volcano | Actor | — | 1984 |
| 100% | The Dresser | Sir | — | 1983 |
| 56% | Annie | Daddy Warbucks | — | 1982 |
| 83% | Shoot the Moon | George Dunlap | — | 1982 |
| 26% | Looker | Dr. Larry Roberts | — | 1981 |
| 75% | Wolfen | Dewey Wilson | — | 1981 |
| No Score Yet | Loophole | Mike Daniels | — | 1981 |
| 92% | The Duellists | Fouche | — | 1977 |
| 89% | Murder on the Orient Express | Hercule Poirot | — | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | Gumshoe | Eddie | — | 1971 |
| 74% | Scrooge | Ebenezer Scrooge | — | 1970 |
| No Score Yet | The Picasso Summer | George Smith | — | 1969 |
| 95% | If.... | Producer | — | 1968 |
| No Score Yet | Charlie Bubbles | Charlie Director | — | 1968 |
| 83% | Two for the Road | Mark Wallace | — | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | Night Must Fall | Danny | — | 1964 |
| No Score Yet | The Victors | Russian Soldier | — | 1963 |
| 85% | Tom Jones | Tom Jones | — | 1963 |
| 92% | Saturday Night And Sunday Morning | Arthur Seaton | — | 1961 |
| 77% | The Entertainer | Mick Rice | — | 1960 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet |
Masterpiece 1971-2014 |
Reggie Cunningham-Jarvis Silas Uncle Silas |
2003 2001 1999 |
QUOTES FROM Albert Finney CHARACTERS
Erin Brockovich says: Well, excuse me for not going to Law School.
Ed Masry says: Law School? At this point, I'd settle for Charm School.
Arthur Seaton says: All I want is a good time. The rest is propaganda.
William Bloom says: You know about icebergs, Dad?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were haulin' down it down to Texas for drinkin' water. They didn't count on there bein' a elephant frozen inside. The wooly kind. A mammoth.
William Bloom says: Dad!
Edward Bloom (senior) says: What?
William Bloom says: I'm tryin' to make a metaphor here.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Well, you shouldn't have started with a question, because most people wanna answer questions. You should've started with "the thing about iceberg is"
Sandra Bloom (Senior) says: I don't know if you're aware of this, Josephine, but African parrots, in their native homes of the Congo, they only speak French?
Josephine says: Really?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: You're lucky to get four words out of them in English, but if you were to walk through the jungle, you'd hear them speakin' the most elaborate French. Those parrots talk about everything. Politics, movies, fashion. Everything but religion.
William Bloom says: Why not religion, Dad?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: It's rude to talk about religion. You never know who you're gonna offend.
William Bloom says: Josephine actually went to Congo last year.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Oh, so you know.
Ebenezer Scrooge says: I think I'm going to like children.
Ebenezer Scrooge says: The trouble with you, Cratchit, is that all you think about is pleasure. Pleasure and spending money.
Ebenezer Scrooge says: If I could work my will, Nephew, every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips would be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.
Ebenezer Scrooge says: It's a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December.
Finis Everglot says: Everything will go as planned she will marry
Finis Everglot says: Everything will go as planned she will marry.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: I was dryin' out.
Joanna Wallace says: *a train drives past them, catching them by surprise* Sexy, wasn't it?
Joanna Wallace says: Sexy, wasn't it?
Mark Wallace says: *sarcastically* You're not frustrated at all.
Mark Wallace says: You're not frustrated at all.
Mark Wallace says: What kind of people just sit there without a word to say to each other?
Joanna Wallace says: Married people.
Mark Wallace says: I was waiting for what you wanted! You wanted a boiled egg, not me!
Joanna Wallace says: So I suppose Caroline has nothing to do with this?
Mark Wallace says: You were the one who wanted a child!
Joanna Wallace says: Why don't you wake her up and tell her that?!
Joanna Wallace says: Why don't you wake her up and tell her that?
Ed Masry says: PG&E is demanding 90. In other words, everybody. Do you understand? This is serious.
Erin Brockovich says: And, what, Ed? I'm not serious?
Ed Masry says: You're emotional, you're erratic. You say anything, you make this personal, and it isn't.
Erin Brockovich says: Not personal? That is my work! My sweat! My time away from my kids! If that's not personal, I don't know what is-- [starts to cough hardly]
Ed Masry says: Hey, come on. Come on. Go home. Get well. Because you're no good to me sick. I need you, all right? This case needs you.
Erin Brockovich says: Did you tell them that?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: You are in for a surprise.
William Bloom says: Am I?.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Havin' a kid changes everything. There's burpin', the midnight feedin', and the changin'.
William Bloom says: You do any of that?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: No. But I hear it's terrible. Then you spent years tryin' to corrupt and mislead this child, fill his head with nonsense, and still it turns out perfectly fine.
William Bloom says: You think I'm up for it?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: You learned from the best.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: I've been nothin' but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that it's your fallin', not mine.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Most men, they'll tell you a story straight through. It won't be complicated, but it won't be interestin' either.
Erin Brockovich says: How could you take this away from me?
Ed Masry says: No one's taking anything, will you let me--
Erin Brockovich says: Bullshit! You stuck me in Siberia dictating to some goddamn steno clerk so you could finish this thing without me!
Kincade says: Welcome to Scotland
Elmore Dahl says: You don't know what life is really like, kid.
Milo says: Good. I want to keep it that way. Take me back.
Elmore Dahl says: There's no way anyone can teach you about the pleasure of eating.You've got to do it yourself.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: It's rude to talk about religion. You never know who you're gonna offend.
Josephine says: Can I take you a picture?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Oh, you don't need a picture. Just look up the word "handsome" in the dictionary.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Oh, you don't need a picture. Just look up the word 'handsome' in the dictionary.
Leo says: [to Caspar] You haven't bought any license to kill bookies and today I ain't sellin' any. Now take your flunkie and dangle.
Finis Everglot says: [Bonejangles creeps up behind Finnis; his eye falls into Finnis' bowl] There's an eye in me soup.
Kincade says: So who are we going against?
James Bond says: There's no, 'we,' this isn't your fight.
Kincade says: Try and stop me you jumped up little shit.
Kincade says: What was it you said you did for a living again?
Kincade says: Welcome to Scotland!!
Kincade says: Welcome to Scotland!
Husband at Tube Station says: He's keen to get home
Husband at Tube Station says: He's keen to get home.
Kincade says: Welcome to Scotland.
Kincade says: Welcome to Scotland!
Dr. Albert Hirsch says: Welcome to the program.
Jason Bourne says: Why did you pick me?
Dr. Albert Hirsch says: You really don't remember, do you? We didn't pick you. You picked us. You volunteered. Right here. Right here, even after you were warned.
Ed Masry says: In a law firm you may want to re-think your wardrobe a little.
Erin Brockovich says: Well as long as I have one ass instead of two I'll wear what I like if that's all right with you. You might want to re-think those ties.
Victoria Everglot says: Oh, Hildegarde, what if....what if Victor and I don't....like each other?
Maudeline Everglot says: Ha! As if that has anything to do with marriage. Do you suppose your father and I "like" each other?
Victoria Everglot says: Surely you must, a little....
Maudeline Everglot says: Of course not!
Finis Everglot says: Of course not!
Maudeline Everglot says: Get those corsets laced properly. I can hear you speak without gasping.
Finis Everglot says: Marvelous news, Victoria, there'll be a wedding after all.
Victoria Everglot says: You found him?
Maudeline Everglot says: Make haste, my dear, our relatives will arrive at any moment. We must have you looking presentable for Lord Barkis.
Victoria Everglot says: Lord Barkis?
Maudeline Everglot says: He will make a fine husband.
Finis Everglot says: Aye. A fortuitous turn of events indeed.
Maudeline Everglot says: A far better prospect this time.
Victoria Everglot says: But I do not love him. You cannot make me do this!
Finis Everglot says: We must.
Victoria Everglot says: Please, I beg of you! There must be another way!
Finis Everglot says: Without your marriage to Lord Barkis, we shall be forced penniless into the street. We are destitute.
Victoria Everglot says: But...Victor....
Maudeline Everglot says: Victor Van Dort is gone, child.
Finis Everglot says: You shall marry Lord Barkis tomorrow. *with Maudeline* According to plan!
Ed Masry says: Do they teach beauty queens how to apologize? Because you suck at it.
Uncle Henry says: A man should acknowledge his losses just as gracefully as he celebrate his victories.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Fate has a cruel way to play with us, there is a time when a man must fight. And a moment when you must accept that he lost his destiny, which sailed the boat and that only a fool would ... Actually I've always been a fool
Edward Bloom (senior) says: Fate has a cruel way to play with us, there is a time when a man must fight. And a moment when you must accept that he lost his destiny, which sailed the boat and that only a fool would ... Actually I've always been a fool.
Leo says: Oh, come on Tommie. You know I don't like to think.
Tom Reagan says: Yeah, well think about whether you should start.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: (quoting his mother) 'The milkman dropped dead on our front porch'. See, if my momma was bangin' the milkman.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: [quoting his mother] The milkman dropped dead on our front porch. See, if my momma was bangin' the milkman.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: I was dryin' out.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: I was drying out.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: There comes a point when any reasonable man will swallow his pride and admit he made a mistake. The truth is... I was never a reasonable man.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up.
Edward Bloom (senior) says: They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up.
Josephine says: Is this a tall tale?
Edward Bloom (senior) says: It's not a short one!