Oscar-Nominated Actor Albert Finney Dies at 82

With a career beginning in theater, Oscar-nominated British actor Albert Finney began his first role on the big screen in 1960.

A statement from a family spokesman to BBC News reads,

Albert Finney, aged 82, passed away peacefully after a short illness with those closest to him by his side. The family request privacy at this sad time.”

According to The Guardian, in 2011 Finney was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He passed away from a chest infection at the Royal Marsden hospital.

BAFTA posted on twitter saying,

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Albert Finney. The recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship in 2001, Finney will be warmly remembered for his powerful performances in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Tom Jones, Big Fish and many more.”

Actor Rufus Sewell posted to social media after learning about Finney’s passing.

Very sad to hear about Albert Finney. I had the enormous privilege of working with him early on. Apart from being effortlessly great he was also a great all round example of how to behave. https://t.co/mZXeqmWrqJ

— Rufus Sewell (@FredrikSewell) February 8, 2019

David Morrissey responded as well saying,

One of the true great. Both on stage and screen. A powerhouse of an actor. A real hero of mine. RIP Albert Finney.”

In his career as an actor, he was nominated five times for an Oscar. His first acting role in a feature film was Mick Rice in The Entertainer. He once played Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, in the 2002 film The Gathering Storm. According to IMDB, his last acting role was in the James Bond film Skyfall, where he played Kincade.

He played Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1969 version of the Christmas story and starred in the original release of Annie as Daddy Warbucks. He also played the role of Dr. Albert Hircsh in the Bourne movies.

During his career, he won two Bafta Awards and received the British Academy Fellowship in 2001.

Finney was born in 1936 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. He married three times and had one child with his first wife Jane Wenham. During his career, he acted in more than 55 feature-length films and in 1980 declined at receiving a knighthood.