10 Outstanding Final Film Performances
3. Peter Finch - Network (1976)
English-Australian actor Peter Finch is the only actor on this list who is remembered most for his final film performance. Whilst the actor had built a respectable acting resume, working with some of the biggest names in the business, it was his final role as the crazed news anchor Howard Beale that has come to define his entire career.
On the brink of being fired, Howard announces that he plans to kill himself on air during his final show, only for the Network producers to utilise the horrific publicity to boost ratings.
The satirical film featured an all-star cast that included Oscar winners Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Robert Duvall, but it was Finch's powerful performance as the doomed anchorman that has since developed into one of cinema's most iconic film characters.
Network was a huge critical and commercial success. The film would later be nominated for ten Oscars, winning four. One of Network's four Oscar wins were given to Finch who posthumously won the Best Actor award, becoming the first person to do so in an acting category. In the 45 years since, only one actor has repeated this achievement.