Peter Finch

Peter Finch (born Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch on 28 September 1916 in London, England) was a distinguished English‑Australian actor whose career spanned more than four decades, encompassing stage, radio, film and even poetry. After emigrating to Sydney at age ten, he entered the world of vaudeville and radio, quickly becoming a leading voice in Australian broadcasting, winning consecutive Macquarie Awards in 1946 and 1947. His wartime service in the Australian Army (1941‑1945) saw him rise to sergeant and lend his talents to numerous propaganda shorts, while his post‑war work helped found the Mercury Theatre Company, cementing his reputation as a versatile performer. Encouraged by Laurence Olivier during a 1948 tour, Finch relocated to Britain, where a five‑year contract with Olivier launched him into the London stage, earning critical acclaim in productions such as Daphne Laureola and Othello. This theatrical success translated to screen, with notable early roles in The Wooden Horse (1950) and The Miniver Story (1950). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he became a mainstay of the Rank Organisation, delivering memorable performances in A Town Like Alice (1956), The Shiralee (1957) and The Nun's Story (1959), each earning BAFTA Best Actor honours. His later career reached a pinnacle with the Oscar‑winning, posthumously awarded performance as the tormented news anchor Howard Beale in Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976), a line—“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”—that entered popular culture. Finch’s personal life was as complex as his roles; he married three times—Tamara Tchinarova, Yolande Turner and Eletha Barrett—and fathered four children, navigating high‑profile affairs and a reputation for both brilliance and turmoil until his untimely death from a heart attack on 14 January 1977 in Beverly Hills, California.