Actor Albert Finney has died at the age of 82 on February 7. The actor was at Royal Marsden Hospital in Brompton, London, having been admitted for a chest infection, succumbing from said infection.
Finney’s career spanned over the course of six decades and has received countless awards for his performances. He was a five-time Academy Award nominee, unfortunately never winning the top prize any of those times. He was nominated for Best Actor in Tom Jones (which won Best Picture that year), Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser, and Under the Volcano, while also being nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Erin Brokovich.
His role as the titular character in Tom Jones is arguably his most famous role, hailed as one of the greatest comedies of all-time and one of the rare films in the genre to actually get a Best Picture win. The British Film Institute also named the film as one of the Greatest British Films of the 20th Century in 1999. Unfortunately, I never got the honor of seeing the film - availability on Netflix and other similar sites was limited in previous years. Though, the film recently got released for the Criterion Collection last year, so I do hope to get around to it fairly soon.
Of all his Academy Award nominated performances, the only two films I’ve actually seen were Murder on the Orient Express and Erin Brokovich. Both films - while primarily serious in tone - contain Finney in roles that are more fun to watch. In Erin Brokovich, Finney is extremely lively as lawyer Ed Masry, with a sometimes wonderfully sarcastic performance and acting as a perfect foil for Julia Roberts’ rage-filled performance as the titular character.
In Orient Express - an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name - Finney plays one of the most famous detectives in all of literature, Hercule Poirot, as he tries to solve a murder that occurs while aboard a train ride to England. Finney makes for an intriguing protagonist to watch, with his willingness to do what it takes to crack the case making for a fun whodunit mystery.
The first film I ever saw Finney in was Tim Burton’s Big Fish, in a Golden Globe-nominated role as Edward Bloom, a man who recounted his countless tall tales and adventures to his son as he lies on his deathbed. The film itself is enjoyable, even if a little over-dramatic and heavy-handed at times, but Finney gave a tragic, subdued performance that did tug at the heartstrings that helped carry the movie.
One of Finney’s greatest later performances though was as Charles Hanson in Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. In the film his two sons (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) rob him and ultimately cause more harm than they suspect, and Finney’s Charles becomes obsessed with finding out the details behind the robbery and who conducted it, in a role that harkens back in some degree to his detective days as Poirot in Orient Express. His aggressive, obsessive nature makes for one of the film’s finest performances and an excellent supporting turn for the legendary actor.
Finney was also known for his roles as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, and as the titular character in Scrooge (a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol). He also had many supporting and minor roles in plenty of other well-known films, including Miller’s Crossing, Traffic, Corpse Bride, The Bourne Ultimatum, and his final role in the James Bond film Skyfall - a small, yet well-done role that was a fitting end to a great career.
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