Tom Jones actor Albert Finney remembered as British treasure
LONDON — Albert Finney, one of the most respected and versatile actors of his generation and the star of films as diverse as Tom Jones and Skyfall, has died. He was 82.
From his early days as a strikingly handsome and magnetic screen presence to his closing acts as a brilliant character actor, Finney was a British treasure known for charismatic work on both stage and screen.
Finney’s family said Friday that he “passed away peacefully after a short illness with those closest to him by his side.” He died Thursday from a chest infection at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, a cancer treatment centre.
Finney burst to international fame in 1963 in the title role of Tom Jones, playing a lusty, humorous rogue who captivated audiences with his charming, devil-may-care antics.
He excelled in many other roles, including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a 1960 drama that was part of the “angry young man” film trend.
Finney was a rare star who managed to avoid the Hollywood limelight despite more than five decades of worldwide fame. He was known for skipping awards ceremonies, even when he was nominated for an Oscar.
Tom Jones gained him the first of five Oscar nominations. Other nominations followed for Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser, Under the Volcano and Erin Brockovich. Each time he fell short.
In later years, he brought authority to bid-budget and highgrossing action movies, including the James Bond thriller Skyfall and two of the Bourne films. He also won hearts as Daddy Warbucks in Annie.
He played an array of roles, including Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, a southern American lawyer and an Irish gangster. There was no “Albert Finney” type character that he returned to again and again.
In one of his final roles, as the gruff Scotsman, Kincade, in Skyfall, he shared significant screen time with Daniel Craig as Bond and Judi Dench as M, turning the film’s final scenes into a master class of character acting.
“The world has lost a giant,” Craig said.
Although Finney rarely discussed his personal life, he said in 2012 that he had been treated for kidney cancer for five years.
He also explained why he had not attended the Academy Awards in Los Angeles even when he was nominated for the film world’s top prize.
“It seems silly to go over there and beg for an award,” he said.
The son of a bookmaker, Finney was born May 9, 1936, and grew up in northern England on the outskirts of Manchester. He took to the stage at an early age, doing a number of school plays and — despite his lack of connections and his working-class roots — earning a place at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He credited the headmaster of his local school, Eric Simms, for recommending that he attend the renowned drama school.
“He’s the reason I am an actor,” Finney said in 2012.
Finney made his first professional turn at 19 and appeared in several TV movies.
Soon, some critics were hailing him as “the next Laurence Olivier” — a commanding presence who would light up the British stage. In London, Finney excelled both in Shakespeare’s plays and in more contemporary offerings.
Still, the young man seemed determined not to pursue conventional Hollywood stardom. After an extensive screen test, he turned down the chance to play the title role in director David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia, clearing the way for fellow RADA graduate Peter O’Toole to take what became a career-defining role.
But stardom came to Finney anyway in Tom Jones.
That was the role that introduced Finney to North American audiences, and few would forget the sensual, blue-eyed leading man who helped the film win a Best Picture Oscar. Finney also earned his first Best Actor nomination for his efforts and the smash hit turned him into a Hollywood leading man.
He took a sabbatical to travel following his Tom Jones success but returned to excel on screen and on the stage.
He played Agatha Christie’s sophisticated sleuth Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express — earning his second Best Actor nomination. In 1983, he was reunited with his peer from the “angry young man” movement, Tom Courtenay, in The Dresser, a film that garnered both Academy Award nominations.
Finney was nominated again for his role as a self-destructive alcoholic in director John Huston’s 1984 film Under the Volcano.
Even during this extraordinary run of great roles, Finney’s life was not chronicled in People or other magazines, although the British press was fascinated with his marriage to the sultry French film star Anouk Aimee.
He played in a series of smaller, independent films for a number of years before returning to prominence in 2000 as a southern lawyer in the film Erin Brockovich, which starred Julia Roberts. The film helped introduce Finney to a new generation of moviegoers, and the chemistry between the aging lawyer and his young, aggressive assistant earned him yet another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor.
His work also helped propel Roberts to her first Best Actress Oscar. Still, Finney declined to attend the Academy Awards ceremony — possibly damaging his chances at future wins by snubbing Hollywood’s elite.
Finney is survived by his third wife, Pene Delmage, son Simon and two grandchildren.