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 | An Exchange of Fire | Pavel Rhele | 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 |
Movie | The Statement | Commissaire Vionnet | 2003-12-12 |
Series | The Lost Prince | Asquith | 2003-01-19 |
Movie | Eroica | Josef Haydn | 2003-01-01 |
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 | Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?) | Mike's Dad | 1997-11-01 |
Movie | Limited Edition | John Rathbone | 1997-01-22 |
Movie | Virgin Mary | Monsignor | 1995-10-12 |
Movie | A Mind to Murder | Professor Etherege | 1995-01-01 |
Movie | Sparrow | Father Nunzio | 1994-02-04 |
Series | Charlemagne | Alcuin | 1993-02-28 |
Movie | Cthulhu Mansion | Chandu | 1992-01-01 |
Movie | Stalin | Sergei | 1992-11-21 |
Movie | The Other Side | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1992-08-29 |
Movie | Mountain of Diamonds | Garrick | 1991-01-01 |
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 |
Series | Lovejoy | Unknown | 1986-01-10 |
Movie | Nineteen Nineteen | Sigmund Freud (voice) | 1985-11-14 |
Movie | Lifeforce | Dr. Hans Fallada | 1985-06-21 |
Movie | Arch of Triumph | Col. Boris Morosov | 1985-05-29 |
Movie | In the Secret State | Frank Strange | 1985-03-10 |
Movie | Sakharov | Kravtsov | 1984-06-20 |
Movie | A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | 1984-10-09 |
Movie | The Key | Nino Rolfe | 1983-10-19 |
Series | Blackadder | The Witchsmeller Pursuivant | 1983-06-15 |
Movie | The Ploughman's Lunch | Matthew Fox | 1983-05-30 |
Movie | The Spanish Civil War | Narrator | 1983-01-07 |
Movie | The Return of the Soldier | William Grey | 1983-01-06 |
Movie | Enigma | Canarsky | 1982-10-15 |
Movie | Ring of Darkness | Paul | 1979-10-29 |
Series | Tales of the Unexpected | Unknown | 1979-03-24 |
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 |
Series | Count Dracula | Professor Van Helsing | 1977-12-22 |
Series | Another Bouquet | 1977-01-05 | |
Movie | Count Dracula | Abraham 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 | Shaft in Africa | Vincent Amafi | 1973-06-14 |
Movie | The Adventures Of Don Quixote | Sancho Panza | 1973-04-23 |
Movie | The Death of Adolf Hitler | Adolf Hitler | 1973-01-07 |
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 | Gumshoe | William Ginley | 1971-12-01 |
Series | Casanova | Casanova | 1971-11-16 |
Movie | Assault | Det. Chief Supt. Velyan | 1971-02-11 |
Movie | The Lie | Andrew Firth | 1970-10-29 |
Series | Play for Today | Unknown | 1970-10-15 |
Movie | The Body | Narrator | 1970-10-09 |
Movie | Cromwell | John Carter | 1970-09-16 |
Movie | The Molly Maguires | Davies | 1970-02-08 |
Movie | Julius Caesar | Brutus | 1969-04-13 |
Movie | The Piano Tuner | Wilfred Tilley | 1969-03-08 |
Movie | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Igor Bounin | 1968-11-14 |
Movie | Inspector Clouseau | Supt. Weaver | 1968-07-19 |
Movie | Twisted Nerve | Henry Durnley | 1968-12-20 |
Movie | I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Chaplain | 1967-12-18 |
Series | Les Misérables | Jean Valjean | 1967-10-22 |
Movie | Robbery | Robinson | 1967-08-01 |
Movie | The Jokers | Harrassed Man | 1967-05-15 |
Movie | Much Ado About Nothing | Dogberry | 1967-01-01 |
Movie | The Deadly Bees | H.W. Manfred | 1966-12-23 |
Movie | The Sandwich Man | Second Fish Porter | 1966-07-01 |
Movie | A Study in Terror | Inspector Lestrade | 1965-10-01 |
Movie | Othello | Iago | 1965-12-15 |
Series | BBC Play of the Month | Unknown | 1965-10-19 |
Movie | The Wild Affair | Drunk | 1965-12-05 |
Movie | The Comedy Man | Prout | 1964-09-03 |
Movie | Hot Enough for June | British Embassy Porter | 1964-01-01 |
Movie | The Informers | Leon Sale | 1963-11-29 |
Movie | Doctor in Distress | Corsetiere | 1963-07-30 |
Movie | The Longest Day | Pvt. Coke (uncredited) | 1962-09-25 |
Movie | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Booking Office Clerk | 1962-09-20 |
Movie | Life for Ruth | Teddy's Father | 1962-09-06 |
Series | Z-Cars | Unknown | 1962-01-02 |