Frank Finlay was a British actor best known for his Oscar-nominated work as a supporting actor in the 1966 film Othello, starring Laurence Olivier and Anthony Nicholls. Finlay played the villain Iago in the classic Shakespearean story of a Moorish a general whose marriage is destroyed when a vengeful lieutenant convinces him that his wife has been unfaithful.

Finlay also appeared in the films The Longest Day, with John Wayne and Richard Burton; Inspector Clouseau, starring Alan Arkin; The Shoes of the Fisherman, with Anthony Quinn and Olivier; The Molly Maguires, with Sean Connery; Cromwell, with Alec Guinness; The Three Musketeers (and its sequel, The Four Musketeers), with Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch and Richard Chamberlain; The Wild Geese, with Burton and Roger Moore; Murder by Decree, with Christopher Plummer; Enigma, with Martin Sheen; For My Baby, with Alan Cumming; The Pianist, starring Adrien Brody; and The Statement, with Michael Caine and Tilda Swinton.

Finlay also had roles on television, including the series Merlin, as well as the miniseries Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness, and Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act, both starring Helen Mirren.

Additionally, he had roles in the telefilms Count Dracula; The Thief of Baghdad; A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott; Arch of Triumph, starring Anthony Hopkins; Casanova, with Richard Chamberlain and Faye Dunaway; Stalin, starring Robert Duvall; and In the Beginning, with Martin Landau and Jacqueline Bisset.

In 1984, he was honored with a CBE (Commander Order of the British Empire).

Finlay died January 30, 2016, in Weybridge, Surrey, England. He was 89.