Albert Finney in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Photograph: RONALD GRANT

King of kitchen sink - Albert Finney: a life in pictures

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1960

Albert Finney was born on 9 May 1936 in Salford in Lancashire to a family of bookmakers. After studying at Rada and a spell in the Royal Shakespeare Company, he came to national attention in this kitchen sink drama

Tom Jones, 1963

Directed by Tony Richardson, Finney was Oscar-nominated for the Henry Fielding adaptation. Pictured here with Susannah York

Luther, 1963

Finney backstage at the St James Theatre on Broadway

Photograph: John Dominis

Luther, 1963

Finney backstage at the St James Theatre on Broadway

Photograph: John Dominis

Two for the Road, 1967

With Audrey Hepburn

Photograph: British Film Institute

Charlie Bubbles, 1967

Finney starred and directed alongside Billie Whitelaw

If...., 1968

Finney was an uncredited producer on Lindsay Anderson’s classic, and its followup O Lucky Man! Here he is visiting Malcolm McDowell on set

Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Finney married Anouk Aimée at Kensington registry office in London in 1970. They were married for eight years

Scrooge, 1970

Finney won Golden Globe for best actor in a musical for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge

Gumshoe, 1971

With Fulton MacKay in Stephen Frears’ feature directing debut

Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Murder on the Orient Express, 1974

Finney played Poirot in the successful all-star Agatha Christie adaptation

Finney in his family bookmakers in Salford in April 1977

Photograph: Denis Thorpe/The Guardian

Wolfen, 1981

Pictured with Diane Venora

Shoot the Moon, 1982

With Diane Keaton in the Alan Parker-directed marital breakdown drama

Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Annie, 1982

Finney played Daddy Warbucks in the movie musical, with Aileen Quinn

The Dresser, 1983

Finney got another Oscar nomination for the backstage chamber drama, co-starring with Tom Courtenay

Under the Volcano, 1984

With Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Andrews in the adaptation of the Malcolm Lowry classic

Orphans, 1986

On stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Swiss Cottage in London

Photograph: Neil Libbert/The Observer

Finney in 1988

Photograph: Jane Bown/The Observer

Miller’s Crossing, 1990

Finney played mob boss Leo O’Bannon in the Coen bros’ period gangster classic

Art, 1997

Finney with Tom Courtenay in the play by Yasmina Reza, at the Wyndhams Theatre, London

Photograph: Alastair Muir

Erin Brockovich, 2000

Finney’s fifth and final Oscar nomination was for best supporting actor, here pictured with Julia Roberts

Finney and wife Pene Delmage arrive at the Odeon Leicester Square for the Bafta awards in 2001, where he received the Bafta Fellowship lifetime achievement award

Photograph: Alan Davidson

The Gathering Storm, 2002

Finney won multiple awards for his portrayal of Sir Winston Churchill in the TV drama

Photograph: BBC

Big Fish, 2003

Pictured here with Jessica Lange in Tim Burton’s comedy drama

Photograph: Moviestore/REX Shutterstock

Skyfall, 2012

Finney’s final film, as the Skyfall estate’s gamekeeper

THE GUARDIAN