Albert Finney of 'Tom Jones,' 'Erin Brockovich' Dead at 82

Five-time Oscar nominee Albert Finney, one of England's most celebrated actors and the "angry young man" of the movies, died Friday at 82 following a short illness, THR reports.

A family statement confirmed the death, "with those closest to him by his side." He had been diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007.

Finney, an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor, exploded into film with performances in "The Entertainer" (1961), "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" (1961), and his Oscar-nominated turn in "Tom Jones" (1963), quickly becoming one of the faces of the modern British cinema movement.

His film work was dizzyingly diverse, including playing Hercule Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), an actor on the decline in "The Dresser" (1983), an alcoholic British diplomat in "Under the Volcano" (1984), and tough-as-nails Ed Masry in "Erin Brockovich" (2000). He was nominated for the Oscar for all four.

Equally comfortable in weighty art films and lighter, more commercial fare, he also appeared in such films as "Scrooge" (1970), "Wolfen" (1981), "Looker" (1981), "Shoot the Moon" (1982), as Daddy Warbucks in "Annie" (1982), "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "Traffic" (2000), "Big Fish" (2003), and as evil Dr. Hirsch in "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007) and "The Bourne Legacy" (2012). His final on-screen appearance of any kind was in 2012's Bond flick "Skyfall."

Finney, was equally potent on TV in "The Biko Inquest" (1984), "A Rather English Marriage" (1998), and in his BAFTA and Emmy-winning performance as Winston Churchill in "The Gathering Storm" (2002). He appeared in the title role on the British series "My Uncle Silas" from 2001-2003.

Onstage, Finney was nominated for a Tony for both "Luther" (1964) and "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" (1968), and won an Olivier for "Orphans" (1986). He finished his theatrical career in 1997 with the London production of "Art."