Tributes to the late Albert Finney immense social networking on Friday following the announcement that the acclaimed British star of stage and screen had passed on at 82 years.
James Bond makers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson said they were “heartbroken” at the loss of the actor, whose final screen appearance came as gamekeeper Kincade in 2012’s “Skyfall.” “It was a benefit to work with him and respect to have had him as a part of our Bond family,” said the pair in an announcement issued by means of the official James Bond Twitter account.
“Skyfall” director Sam Mendes told Variety: “It is frantically sad news that Albert Finney has gone. He truly was one of the greats – a splendid, wonderful, huge-hearted, life loving delight of a man. He will be exceptionally missed.”
British filmmaker and cinephile Edgar Wright expressed gratitude toward “the first Angry Young Man” for his performances in an variety of great jobs, from British drama “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” and Oscar-winner “Tom Jones” to the Coen siblings’ “Miller’s Crossing” and Sidney Lumet’s “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”
Director Ava DuVernay said seeing Finney’s performances in “Shoot the Moon” and after that “Annie” inside fourteen days of one another when she was 10 years of age had shown her “what acting means.”
London’s famous Old Vic Theater, where Finney frequently showed up in plays including William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in 1975. One of eight productions picked to praise the venue’s bicentennial in 2018 on an exceptional collection of British stamps — said the actor’s performances stood separated “as probably the best in our 200 history.” That production later transferred to the U.K’s. National Theater as the first staged in its then new Lyttelton Theater.
“We are exceptionally tragic to know about the loss of Albert Finney. His performances in plays by Shakespeare, Chekhov and other notorious writers all through the 60s, 80s stand separated as probably the best in our 200-year history.”
