PETER FINCH BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Peter Finch was born on September 28th, 1916 in South Kensington in London with the birth name Frederick George Peter Ingle-Finch.  His parents were George Finch and Alicia Gladys Fisher.  At the age of two his parents marriage ended in divorce which he later found out was caused by his mother being unfaithful to her husband.  It turned out that George Finch was not actually Peter's biological father but instead a man by the name of, Wentworth Edward Dallas "Jock" Campbell, an Indian Army officer. 
 
At the age of ten Peter Finch was sent to live in Australia and was raised by his great uncle.  He earned his high school education at North Sydney Intermediate High School and after school, Finch worked various odd end small jobs to help support himself.
 
He first became involved in acting when he worked for George Sorlie's traveling troupe after he had worked as a sideshow spruiker in vaudeville.  Soon he caught the attention of radio drama producer, Lawrence H. Cecil and was cast in a number of radio plays such as, "Children's Session" and "Muddle-Headed Wombat".
 
By the mid 1930's, Finch was being cast in silent films such as his debut in, "The Magic Shoes" (1935) followed by his feature film debut in, "Dad & Dave Come to Town" (1938).  Finch then took a brief break from acting in 1941 to join the Australian Army but while enlisted he still was able to act occasionally such was the case for his role in, "The Rats of Tobruk" (1944).
 
Upon being discharged he continued to work in Australia and increased his popularity working as a radio actor, producer as well as a writer.  He also co-founded the Mercury Theatre Company in 1946 and after a number of stage productions there, he began touring with the Old Vic Company and by 1948 he left Australia and relocated to London. 
 
Living in London and continuing to work as an actor came easy to him.  He appeared in more stage productions and soon did his first British film role in, "Train of Events" (1949).  It did not take long for Hollywood to come knocking and cast him in his first American made film, "The Miniver Story" (1950).  Although he began acting as a stage actor, he actually suffered from stage fright and as he began to work more in the industry he preferred to focus on films instead of the stage.
 
Finch continued working in England and establishing a name for himself there as one of the biggest film British stars.  He appeared on the big screen in such films as, "A Town Like Alice" (1956), "The Battle of the River Plate" (1956) and Australian films, "Robbery Under Arms" (1957) and "The Shiralee" (1957).
 
Later on in his career he earned two Oscar nominations for his roles in the films, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1971) and "Network" (1976).
 
Although Finch was a successful actor, his personal life was quite the opposite.  He was a hard alcoholic and was known to many as a womanizer and difficult man to get along with.  This showed true with his marriages.  He married three times throughout his lifetime.  His first wife was Tamara Tchinarova Finch whom he married in 1943 and after having one child the marriage ended in 1959.  He then married, Yolande Turner in 1959 and after having two children this marriage also ended in 1965.  His third wife was Eletha Finch whom he wed in 1973 and they also had one child together and remained together until he passed away at the age of sixty, on January 14th, 1977 in Los Angeles, California after suffering from a heart attack.  He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. 
 

Filmography

1976 Raid on Entebbe 
1976 Something to Hide
1974 The Abdication
1973 England Made Me
1973 The Nelson Affair
1973 Lost Horizon 
1971 Sunday Bloody Sunday 
1969 The Red Tent
1969 The Greatest Mother of Them All
1968 The Legend of Lylah Clare 
1967 Far from the Madding Crowd 
1967 Come Spy with Me 
1966 10:30 P.M. Summer 
1966 Judith 
1965 The Flight of the Phoenix 
1964 First Men in the Moon
1964 Girl with Green Eyes
1964 The Pumpkin Eater
1963 In the Cool of the Day 
1962 I Thank a Fool 
1961 No Love for Johnnie 
1961 The Sins of Rachel Cade 
1960 The Trials of Oscar Wilde 
1960 Kidnapped 
1959 The Nun's Story 
1959 Operation Amsterdam
1957 Windom's Way 
1957 Robbery Under Arms 
1957 The Shiralee 
1956 Pursuit of the Graf Spee 
1956 A Town Like Alice
1955 Simon and Laura
1955 Josephine and Men
1955 Passage Home
1955 The Dark Avenger
1954 Make Me an Offer
1954 The Detective
1954 Elephant Walk
1953 The Heart of the Matter 
1953 Gilbert and Sullivan 
1952 The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men 
1951 Captain Carvallo 
1950 The Wooden Horse 
1950 The Miniver Story 
1949 Train of Events 
1949 Massacre Hill 
1946 A Son Is Born
1944 The Fighting Rats of Tobruk 
1944 Red Sky at Morning 
1941 The Power and the Glory
1939 Mr. Chedworth Steps Out
1938 The Farmer Goes to Town