Finney, Albert, 1936–2019, English actor, studied Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London. He debuted in the theater in 1956, and appeared on the London and New York stage throughout his career. His best-known work, however, was in film, beginning with Laurence Olivier's The Entertainer (1960). Versatile and prolific, Finney appeared in more than 50 films, his 1960s leading-man roles giving way to character parts in the 1970s. Earlier roles include an unhappy workingman in the realist classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1961), the role that brought him star status and led him to be classed among English actors included in the “angry young men.” His role as the randy title character in Tom Jones (1963) also won him notice. Among his later films are Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Duelists (1977), the musical Annie (1982), The Dresser (1983), Under the Volcano (1984), Miller's Crossing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994), Washington Square (1997), and Erin Brockovich (2000). He also acted on television (including a Emmy-winning performance in 2002 as Winston Churchill) and directed plays and films.
See biographies by Q. Falk (1992, new ed. 2002) and G. Hershman (2017).
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