‘World has lost a giant’ — Craig
ALBERT Finney was one of the most respected and versatile actors of his generation and the star of films as diverse as Tom
Jones and Skyfall.
He died in London on February 7, aged 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.
He burst to international fame in 1963 in the title role of Tom
Jones, playing a lusty, humorous rogue who captivated audiences with his charming, devilmaycare 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 Academy Award nominations. Other nominations followed for Murder On The Orient Express, The Dresser, Under the Volcano and Erin Brockovich.
In later years, he brought authority to bigbudget and highgrossing action movies, including the James Bond thriller Skyfall and two of the Jason Bourne films. He also won hearts as Daddy Warbucks in Annie.
His array of roles included 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 on learning of his former costar’s death.
Although Finney rarely discussed his personal life, he told the Manchester Evening
News in 2012 that he had been treated for kidney cancer for five years, undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.
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 told the paper.
The son of a bookmaker, Finney was born on May 9, 1936, and grew up in northern England on the outskirts of Manchester. He took to the stage at an early age, doing school plays and — despite his lack of connections and his workingclass 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.
Finney made his first professional turn at 19 and appeared in several TV movies the following year.
Soon some critics were hailing him as ‘‘the next Laurence Olivier’’. 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 Royal Academy graduate Peter O’Toole to take what became a careerdefining role.
But stardom came to Finney anyway in Tom Jones, in which he won over audiences worldwide with his goodnatured, funny and sensual portrayal of an 18th century English rogue.
That was the role that introduced Finney to American audiences, and few would forget the lusty, blueeyed leading man who helped the film win a best picture Oscar. Finney also earned his first lead actor nomination for his performance, and the smash hit turned him into a Hollywood leading man.
Finney had the good fortune to receive a healthy percentage of the profits from the surprise hit, giving him financial security while he was still in his 20s.
‘‘This is a man from very humble origins who became rich when he was very young,’’ said Quentin Falk, author of an unauthorised biography of Finney.
‘‘It brought him a lot of side benefits. He’s a man who likes to live as well as to act. He enjoys his fine wine and cigars. He’s his own man. I find that rather admirable.’’
The actor maintained a healthy scepticism about the British Establishment and even turned down a knighthood when it was offered, declining to become ‘‘Sir Albert’’.
Finney once said he did not believe in such honours.
‘‘Maybe people in America think being a ‘sir’ is a big deal,’’ he said.
‘‘But I think we should all be ‘misters’ together. I think the ‘sir’ thing slightly perpetuates one of our diseases in England, which is snobbery. And it also helps keep us ‘quaint,’ which I’m not a great fan of.’’
Instead of cashing in by taking lucrative film roles after Tom
Jones, Finney took a long sabbatical, travelling slowly through the United States, Mexico and the Pacific islands, then returned to the London stage to act in Shakespeare productions and other plays.
He won wide acclaim and many awards before returning to film in 1967 to costar with Audrey Hepburn in Two For The Road.
This was to be a familiar pattern with Finney alternating between film work and stage productions in London and New York.
He is survived by his third wife, Pene Delmage, son Simon and two grandchildren. — Los Angeles
Times