Warren Finnerty (April 9, 1925 – December 22, 1974) was an American actor best known for his

Obie award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

-winning performance as the character "Leach" in the stage production ''The Connection'' (1959) and its film version.

Career

After making his film debut in ''Murder, Inc.'' (1960), and in the Off-Off Broadway production of ''The Brig'' in the 1960s, he made a few television appearances before starring in ''The Connection'' (1961), the film adaption of the play in which he reprised his stage role. He continued to work steadily in the 1960s and early 1970s, making appearances on television in ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' and '' Banacek'', and in films such as ''

The Pawnbroker ''The Pawnbroker'' (1961) is a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant which tells the story of Sol Nazerman, a concentration camp survivor who suffers flashbacks of his past Nazi imprisonment as he tries to cope with his daily life operating a pawn sh ...

'' (1964), ''

Cool Hand Luke ''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison cam ...

'' (1967), ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

'' (1969) in which Finnerty plays a rancher whose lifestyle draws the admiration of Wyatt aka "Captain America," the character played by

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

, ''

The Panic in Needle Park ''The Panic in Needle Park'' is a 1971 American drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino (in his first lead role) and Kitty Winn. The screenplay was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the 1966 novel ...

'' (1971), '' Kid Blue'' (1973) and ''

Cockfighter ''Cockfighter'' (also known as ''Born to Kill'', ''Gamblin' Man'' and ''Wild Drifter'') is a 1974 drama film by director Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton and featuring Laurie Bird and Ed Begley Jr. The screenplay is based ...

'' (1974). Finnerty died in 1974 in New York City from a heart attack at the age of 49.

Family

Finnerty's wife, Ruth, was a pianist and English educator at

UC Berkeley Extension The University of California, Berkeley, Extension (UC Berkeley Extension) is the continuing education division of the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) campus. Founded in 1891, UC Berkeley Extension provides continuing education th ...

; the couple's son is the jazz musician

Barry Finnerty Michael Barry Finnerty (born December 3, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and arranger, known for his work as a touring and recording session musician for Miles Davis, The Crusaders, the Brecker Brothers, H ...

Filmography

References

External links

Warren Finnerty's New York Times obituary
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Warren Finnerty at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
1925 births 1974 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors 20th-century American male actors {{US-theat-actor-1920s-stub