In November 2011 it was announced that Albert Finney had joined the cast of the 23rd official Bond movie, Skyfall, although like Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes his role has note yet been revealed; it is though rumoured that he will appear as M’s boss.
Albert Finney was born on the 9th of May 1936 in Pendleton, Lancashire. He is the son of Alice Hobson and Albert Finney Sr. Following his early education at Tootal Drive Primary School and the Salford Grammar School; he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
In 1958, following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he launched his acting career with his first onstage appearance in Jane Arden’s The Party. He followed this with other roles including an appearance in the play Coriolanus where he starred opposite Vanessa Redgrave and Sir Laurence Olivier.
Finney’s first film appearance was in 1960’s The Entertainer. He received a BAFTA award for his second movie role—Saturday Night and Morning—in which he played the role of a disillusioned factory worker. His next film was Tom Jones (1963) which earned him his first Golden Globe award alongside a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. This was closely followed by the films Night must fall (1964), Two for the Road (1967), and Charlie Bubbles (1968).
In 1970, he won his second Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic. In the years that ensued, Finney starred in fewer movies choosing instead to focus on the theatre. He however earned critical recognition for his role in the movies Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Wolfen (1981) and Shoot the Moon (1982).
Finney won Berlin International Film Festival’s Silver Bear Award for best actor with the movie The Dresser (1983) and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his role as Geoffrey Firmin in the movie Under the Volcano (1984). For his performance in 2000’s Erin Brockovich he won two different awards and was nominated for over half a dozen others. In the same year, he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for his role in the movie Traffic (2000).
Finney is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has been the recipient of several awards some of which includes 3 Golden Globe, 2 BAFTA and an Emmy. Others include two Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Silver Berlin Bear award and the Volpi Cup. He has been nominated five times for an Academy Award the most recent of which was for Best Supporting Actor in the movie Erin Brockovich (2000).
Finney has been married three times. His 1957 marriage to his first wife Jane Wenham ended after four years with a son, Simon. He was married to Anouk Aimee, a French actress, from 1970 to 1978 and in 2006 he married Pene Delmage.
Finney was offered a CBE in 1980 and a Knighthood in 2000, both of which he declined.
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