Five-time Oscar nominee passed away this week at age 82
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This week the world lost a legendary actor in Albert Finney. He might’ve already been an icon as the handsome, rugged face of the British New Wave of cinema, but he soon transformed into an actor who loved disappearing into roles, whether behind pounds of makeup or thick accents. And in doing so he found himself in everything from Oscar favorites to star-studded blockbusters to auteur-driven indies. Here we’ve compiled 15 of his greatest roles, and that might not even begin to scratch the surface.
Continental Distributing
“Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” (1960)
Finney’s breakout role in “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” branded him as an “Angry Young Man,” an archetype that would grow out of the rebellious ‘60s and Britain’s rising lower class. From the film’s opening minutes, Finney looks like a British James Dean, and you can immediately sense his disdain at any sort of authority figure, giving a face to an entirely new generation of actor and persona.
United Artists
“Tom Jones” (1963)
Finney was then the face of the British culture’s explosion into America as the title character in “Tom Jones.” This most zany, swashbuckling and sexualized of films was made possible by Finney’s youthful, mischievous charisma. The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture, and he would score his first of five acting nominations, but would lose to Sidney Poitier.
Twentieth Century Fox
“Two for the Road” (1967)
One of Finney’s finest screen partners was Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen’s “Two for the Road.” And while this big studio foray for Finney was also one of his more romantic roles, it also showcased his versatility with accents and with smarmy wit.
Twentieth Century Fox
“Scrooge” (1970)
There have been dozens of actors who have portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge over the years ( we looked at 20 of them), but Finney’s portrayal is one of the best since he gets to play both a young and old man version of the classic Dickens character.
