You come on as a guest. You don't get the girl anymore. But that is our lives. You start off as the boyfriend, then you are the lover, then you are the husband, then you are the father, and then you are the grandfather.

After Charlie Bubbles (1968) which he also directed his film appearances became less frequent as he focused more on acting on stage. He won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Made for TV Movie for his performance as Winston Churchill in HBO's The Gathering Storm. This led to a series of "Angry Young Man" roles in kitchen sink dramas before he starred in the Academy Award-winning 1963 film Tom Jones.

Beginning in the theatre Finney was especially successful in plays by William Shakespeare before he switched to films. A recipient of BAFTA Golden Globe Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards Finney has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor four times for Tom Jones (1963) Murder on the Orient Express (1974) The Dresser (1983) and Under the Volcano (1984); and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Erin Brockovich (2000).