Stage Career
Finlay began his stage career in rep before graduating from RADA. There followed several appearances at the Royal Court Theatre, notably in the Arnold Wesker trilogy. He is particularly associated with the National Theatre, especially during the Olivier years and the Chichester Festival Theatre, where he played a wide variety of roles ranging from the First Gravedigger in Hamlet to Josef Frank in Weapons of Happiness. He also had parts in The Party, Plunder, Saint Joan, Hobson's Choice, "Amadeus", Much Ado About Nothing (as Dogberry), The Dutch Courtesan, The Crucible, Mother Courage, and Juno and the Paycock.
Playing Iago opposite Laurence Olivier's title character in John Dexter's 1965 production of Othello and the film adaptation, Finlay's performance as the NCO left theatre critics unmoved, but later received high praise for the film version and earned him an Academy Award nomination. Critic John Simon wrote that the closeups in the film afforded Finlay the chance to give a more subtle and effective performance than he had onstage.
Finlay was also seen on Broadway in Epitaph for George Dillon (1958–59), and, also, in the National Theatre and Broadway productions of Filumena (opposite Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright) in 1980.
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