Peter Finch
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- This article is about the actor. For the poet see Peter Finch (poet), for the Grey's Anatomy character see Peter Finch (Grey's Anatomy)
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| Peter Finch | |||||||||||||||
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 from I Thank a Fool (1962) |
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| Born | Frederick George Peter Ingle-Finch September 28, 1916 South Kensington, London, England |
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| Died | January 14, 1977 (aged 60) Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Tamara Tchinarova (1943-1959) Yolande Turner (1959-1965) Eletha Finch (1973-1977) |
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Peter Finch (September 28, 1916 – January 14, 1977) was an English-born Australian actor.
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[edit] Biography
Born Frederick George Peter Ingle-Finch in London, he lived as a child in France and India.[citation needed] The family finally settled in Australia, his parents' native country, where he grew up in Sydney.
[edit] Career
After finishing school, Finch took several badly paid jobs until he tried acting in 1935. He worked in both radio and theater before landing his first film in 1938, Dad and Dave Come to Town.
Finch's forte, however, remained in stage roles. He was noticed by Laurence Olivier in the late 1940's. Olivier, at the time a powerful force in London theater circles, encouraged Finch to return to London for a role in Daphne Laureola at the Old Vic. During this time, his closeness to the Olivier family led to an affair with Olivier's beautiful but increasingly instable wife, Vivien Leigh. The affair began in 1948, and continued on and off for several years, ultimately falling apart due to her deteriorating mental condition.[1]
Ironically, in spite of his stage experience, Finch, like his mentor Olivier, suffered from stage fright. In between stage parts, Finch turned to films. His first role in a British-made film was in Eureka Stockade (1949) (set in Australia).
Finch made his Hollywood film debut in 1950, in the sequel to the wartime blockbuster "Mrs. Miniver", The Miniver Story. This film was poorly received critically. Finch first appeared in a major role in 1956's A Town Like Alice.
In 1972, his role of the homosexual Jewish doctor in Sunday Bloody Sunday earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
At the time of his death, he was doing a promotional tour for the 1976 film Network in which he made an over-the-top portrayal of the crazed television anchor man Howard Beale. He was posthumously nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role, and went on to win the award, which was accepted by his widow. Although James Dean, Spencer Tracy, and Massimo Troisi had also been posthumously nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, Peter Finch was the first (and only) actor ever to win the award posthumously. He was also the first Australian actor to win the Best Actor award. Finch also won five Awards of the British Film Academy. In 1980, noted author and film/theatre industry insider Elaine Dundy wrote his biography titled Finch, bloody Finch: A biography of Peter Finch.
[edit] Personal life
Peter Finch was married three times.[citation needed] His first wife was Tamara Tchinarova and his second wife Yolande Turner. Both marriages ended in divorce. His third wife was Eletha Finch. He had four children from his three marriages.[citation needed]
Finch died from a heart attack on January 14, 1977 at the age of 60. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Dad and Dave Come to Town | Bill Ryan | |
| 1939 | Mr. Chedworth Steps Out | Arthur Jacobs | |
| 1941 | The Power and the Glory | Frank Miller | |
| 1944 | The Rats of Tobruk | Peter Linton | |
| Red Sky at Morning | Michael | ||
| 1946 | A Son Is Born | Paul Graham | |
| 1949 | Train of Events | Philip (segment The Actor) | |
| Eureka Stockade | Humffray | ||
| 1950 | The Miniver Story | Polish officer | |
| The Wooden Horse | Australian in Hospital | ||
| 1952 | The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men | Sheriff of Nottingham | |
| 1953 | The Heart of the Matter | Father Rank | |
| The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan | Richard D'Oyly Carte | ||
| 1954 | Father Brown | Flambeau | |
| Elephant Walk | John Wiley | ||
| Make Me an Offer | Charlie | ||
| 1955 | Josephine and Men | David Hewer | |
| Passage Home | Captain Lucky Ryland | ||
| Simon and Laura | Simon Foster | ||
| The Dark Avenger | Comte De Ville | ||
| 1956 | The Battle of the River Plate | Capt. Langsdorff, Admiral Graff Spee | |
| A Town Like Alice | Joe Harman | BAFTA Award | |
| 1957 | Windom's Way | Alec Windom | Nominated - BAFTA Award |
| Robbery Under Arms | Captain Starlight | ||
| The Shiralee | Jim Macauley | ||
| 1959 | The Nun's Story | Dr. Fortunati | Nominated - BAFTA Award |
| Operation Amsterdam | Jan Smit | ||
| 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde | Oscar Wilde | BAFTA Award |
| Kidnapped | Alan Breck Stewart | ||
| 1961 | No Love for Johnnie | Johnnie Byrne | BAFTA Award |
| The Sins of Rachel Cade | Colonel Henry Derode | ||
| 1962 | I Thank a Fool | Stephen Dane | |
| 1963 | In the Cool of the Day | Murray Logan | |
| 1964 | First Men in the Moon | Bailiff's man | uncredited |
| Girl with Green Eyes | Eugene Gaillard | ||
| The Pumpkin Eater | Jake Armitage | ||
| 1965 | The Flight of the Phoenix | Capt. Harris | |
| 1966 | 10:30 P.M. Summer | Paul | |
| Judith | Aaron Stein | ||
| 1967 | Come Spy with Me | Cameo appearance | uncredited |
| Far from the Madding Crowd | William Boldwood | ||
| 1968 | The Legend of Lylah Clare | Lewis Zarken | |
| 1969 | The Greatest Mother of Them All | Sean Howard | |
| The Red Tent | General Umberto Nobile | ||
| 1971 | Sunday, Bloody Sunday | Dr. Daniel Hirsh | BAFTA Award Golden Globe Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor |
| 1972 | Something to Hide | Harry Field | |
| 1973 | England Made Me | Erich Krogh | |
| Bequest to the Nation | Adm. Lord Horatio Nelson | ||
| Lost Horizon | Richard Conway | ||
| 1974 | The Abdication | Cardinal Azzolino | |
| 1976 | Network | Howard Beale | Academy Award for Best Actor BAFTA Award Golden Globe |
| 1977 | Raid on Entebbe | Yitzhak Rabin | TV movie - Nominated - Emmy Award |
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
Academy Award for Best Actor 1976 for Network |
Succeeded by Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl |
[edit] References
- ^ Brooks, Richard. "Olivier worn out by love and lust of Vivien Leigh", The Sunday Times - Britain, August 07, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Peter Finch at the Internet Movie Database
- Peter Finch at Find A Grave
- Peter Finch at the National Film and Sound Archive
- Australian Dictionary of Biography
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Finch, Peter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ingle-Finch, Frederick George Peter |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | South Kensington, London, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 14, 1977 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
