Albert Finney

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Albert Finney

Albert Finney (born 9 May 1936) is a British actor. He has received five Academy Awards nominations.

His most famous role was as Agatha Christie's master detective Hercule Poirot in the 1974 film "Murder On The Orient Express." Finney was so effective in the role that he complained that it typecast him for a number of years. "People really do think I am 300 pounds [136 kg] with a French accent" he said.

He was born in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

His first film was The Entertainer (1960), but his real breakthrough came with his portrayal of a disillusioned factory worker in Karel Reisz's film of Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. This led to a series of "angry young man" roles in kitchen sink dramas, most notably 1963's Tom Jones (for which he turned down the role of T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia). Albert Finney has often been called "A second Olivier".

His television roles include the lead in Dennis Potter's final two plays: Karaoke and Cold Lazarus. In the latter he played a frozen, disembodied head. His most recent TV credit is the leading role in My Uncle Silas, about a Cornish country gentleman, who's looking after his grand-nephew. It ran from 2000 until 2002, then again for a mini-series in 2003.

From 1970 to 1978, he was married to the French actress Anouk Aimée.

Finney's accolades are numerous. He's been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar four times, for "Tom Jones", "Murder On The Orient Express", "The Dresser", and "Under the Volcano". He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Erin Brockovich". He won the Silver Berlin Bear award for Best Actor for "The Dresser" at the 1984 Berlin International Film Festival. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in "The Image" and won an Emmy for his performance as Winston Churchill in the HBO movie, "The Gathering Storm". He's been nominated for two Tony Awards for his performance in the play's, "Luther" and "Joe Egg". He's received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in "Big Fish", "Erin Brockovich", "Under the Volcano", "The Dresser", "Shoot the Moon", "Tom Jones" and has won the Golden Globe for "The Gathering Storm", "Scrooge", and for "Tom Jones" as Most Promising Newcomer - Male. He was honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as Best Actor for "Under the Volcano" (which he tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus), the National Board of Review for Best Actor in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", and the New York Film Critics Circle for Best Actor in "Tom Jones". He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for "Tom Jones" at the Venice Film Festival. He has also received three nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, being nominated for his performance in "The Gathering Storm" and winning for his performances in "Erin Brockovich" and as a member of the acting ensemble in the movie "Traffic".