 |
7 February
2019
Albert Finney, who memorably played James Bond's faithful
Scottish
gamekeeper Kincade in
Skyfall (2012)
has died at the age of 82.
Born in Salford
in 1936, Albert Finney trained as an actor at the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art, where he was in the same class as Alan Bates and
Peter O'Toole. Starting his acting career in the theatre
in the late 1950's, he originated the role of Billy Liar
on stage in 1960. Finney then capitalised on the growing interest in
working-class dramas, and was cast in a small role
opposite Laurence Olivier in John Osborne's The Entertainer
(1960), directed by Tony Richardson. This then led to him being cast as the lead in
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), where he played
factory worker and ‘angry young man’ Arthur Seaton. Finney then
screen-tested but later turned down the role of T.E. Lawrence in
David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The part
ultimately went to his RADA classmate Peter O'Toole. Director Tony
Richardson then cast him as the lead in the bawdy period-comedy
Tom Jones (1963) which was a massive world-wide hit,
winning four Oscars including Best Film.
In 1968 Finney
returned to Manchester to star in and direct Charlie Bubbles. Written by Shelagh
Delaney, another key figure in the 1960's ‘kitchen sink’
movement, Charlie Bubbles was a
comedy-drama about a successful writer returning to his home
town after achieving success in London. In the 1970's Finney
appeared in a variety of different roles including the musical Scrooge
(1970), Gumshoe (1971), and memorably as Hercule Poirot in
Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express (1974),
where he played opposite Sean Connery. Later screen roles
included ‘Sir’ in The Dresser (1983), for which Finney
was nominated for an Academy Award; and as Winston Churchill in
The Gathering Storm (2002), which earned him a BAFTA, Golden
Globe, and Emmy award as best actor. Finney twice turned down
official honours in the UK, declining to accept a C.B.E. in
1980, and later a knighthood in 2000. His final film role was as
Kincade in Skyfall (2012). |
