Strolling Player is the story of a Salford-born, homework-hating bookie's son who broke the social barriers of British film and dodged typecasting to become a five-time Oscar nominee. This riveting account of the life and career of Albert Finney examines how one of Britain's greatest actors built a glittering career without sacrificing his integrity. It's also the story of an actor who went his own way, did his share of roistering and yet outlived his contemporaries to become one of our most durable international stars. Bon vivant, perennial rebel, self-effacing character star, charismatic charmer, mentor to a generation of working-class artists, a byword for professionalism, lover of horseflesh—and female flesh—Finney is all these things and more—as Gabriel Hershman's colourful and incisive biography reveals.
