Peter Finch

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Peter Finch filming A Woman Comes On Board in London in 1954

Peter Finch , actually Frederick Peter Ingle-Finch (born September 28, 1916 in London , Great Britain ; † January 14, 1977 in Los Angeles , USA ) was a British film and theater actor who achieved international fame from the 1950s. He received an Oscar posthumously in 1977 for the role of the crazy news anchor Howard Beale on Network .

biography

Peter Finch spent most of his childhood in France , India and Australia , the homeland of his parents. After graduating from high school, he took on numerous low-paying odd jobs in Sydney until he decided to become an actor in the early 1930s.

In 1935 Finch began acting and working on the radio. He made his screen debut three years later in Dad and Dave Come to Town . During one of his stage appearances, he was discovered by the acting legend Laurence Olivier and brought back to London. He later had an affair with Olivier's wife, actress Vivien Leigh .

Since Finch had severe stage fright , he concentrated increasingly on his film career from the mid-1940s. His first British production was Eureka Stockade from 1949. A year later he went to Hollywood , where he had a supporting role in the drama The Miniver Story . At the 1961 Berlinale he was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actor.

In the following years he could be seen in The Story of Robin Hood , Tale of a Nun , Jenseits des Ruwenzori , John Schlesinger's Die Herrin von Thornhill and The Flight of the Phoenix . In 1971 Finch worked again with Schlesinger for Sunday, Bloody Sunday , for which he received an Oscar nomination.

On January 14, 1977 Finch died of complications from a heart attack . A few months later he was awarded an Oscar for his portrayal of the mad television presenter Howard Beale in the Media Satire Network ; the award was received by his widow Eletha Finch. Finch and Heath Ledger are the only actors to date to receive the Oscar posthumously .

Peter Finch was married three times and has four children.

Filmography (selection)

Awards and nominations Oscar

Oscar

literature

  • Trader Faulkner: PETER FINCH: A BIOGRAPHY. (Paperback) Pan Macmillan (1980)
  • Elaine Dundy : Finch, Bloody Finch: The Life of Peter Finch. (Hardcover) Holt Rinehart & Winston 1980

Web links

Commons : Peter Finch  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Finch, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ingle-Finch, Frederick Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British theater and film actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH London , UK
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1977
Place of death Los Angeles , California, USA