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Albert Finney, who went from one of the shining lights of theatre to one of the leading lights of the British New Wave in cinema, has died, it was announced today. Originally from Manchester, he made his name in Shakespeare before taking the lead role in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, an electrifying performance that acted as a lightning rod for all the social changes Britain was about to go through in the nineteen-sixties.
He didn't stop there, following it up with Tom Jones, an Oscar winner he professed not to like, Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn, and his own directorial debut with the highly eccentric cult favourite Charlie Bubbles. By the seventies, he was starring in Scrooge, Gumshoe, Murder on the Orient Express (as Poirot) and a cameo in The Duellists, all interspersed with much work in the theatre. The eighties brought interesting flops like Wolfen, Looker, Annie and Orphans, but also triumphs like Shoot the Moon, The Dresser and Under the Volcano. The nineties had Miller's Crossing, Dennis Potter's last two series on television, and the new millennium had Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, two Jason Bourne films, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and his last appearance in James Bond blockbuster Skyfall. With a wide range and a healthy attitude to fame and work alike, he was rightly lauded. |
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