Albert Finney
In the decades following his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Albert Finney established himself across multiple facets of the performing arts, working as an actor on stage, screen, and television alike.
Born on 9 May 1936 in Salford, United Kingdom, Finney attended Buile Hill High School before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His professional pursuits extended well beyond performance: he also worked as a film producer, a screenwriter, a film director, and a television director, making him a figure whose contributions to the craft operated on several levels simultaneously. Outside of his professional work, he was known as an art collector.
Finney died on 7 February 2019, leaving behind a career that had spanned stage acting, film acting, and television acting across many decades. His training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art provided the foundation for a working life that moved fluidly between directing and performing, in front of cameras and before live audiences, in productions that drew on his range as both a creative and interpretive talent. The breadth of his roles — as actor, director, producer, and writer — reflects a sustained engagement with storytelling in multiple forms throughout his life.
Quotes by Albert Finney
Albert Finney's insights on:
I’m not bothered by the paparazzi and I don’t feel hemmed in, I’ve never felt that. My youth, mind you, there wasn’t quite the same attention to celebrities as there is now, but I’ve never felt that.
Well, I’ve always thought that my career was in England, really. I used to do more in the theatre, and I felt that I should be there. It’s not far is it? It’s amazing the way that special FX have taken a quantum leap in what they’re capable of doing.
There might’ve been wires, but I have this ability to make myself light. Well you know what, in ballet, when you kind of lift yourself here, it’s all up in the head.
I’m doing another Churchill. I did a Churchill for HBO and that was up to 1939 and there’s talk of the war years. They were going to do it this fall, but the script wasn’t going to be ready.
I don’t think that we necessarily lie. I mean, we make our living by pretending that we’re someone else. I don’t tell tall tales. I always tell the truth.
It’s true that old actors don’t die, their parts get smaller. You’re less likely to get the part, many parts, if you’re playing people your age as opposed to people who are younger. There are fewer parts around.
We’re given the springboard of the text, a plane ticket, told to report to Alabama, and there’s a group of people all ready to make a film and it’s a marvelous life.
I was in London. It’s a long way to go for a very long party, sitting there for six hours not having a cigarette or a drink. It’s a waste of time.