Roy Kinnear, a renowned British character actor, embarked on his educational journey in Edinburgh, culminating in his attendance at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Following his national service, Kinnear's impressive career in the performing arts began, with appearances on stage, radio, and television in Scotland, laying the foundation for his subsequent rise to fame in Britain during the early 1960s.
As one of the original cast members of the groundbreaking television series That Was the Week That Was, Kinnear's household name status in Britain was solidified. Concurrently, he established himself as a formidable film actor, consistently portraying jovial yet occasionally sinister characters, such as Finney, Moriarty's cunning henchman, in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, released in 1975.
Kinnear's acting repertoire also featured the iconic role of Planchet in the Musketeer movies, a character that would ultimately contribute to his untimely demise in a riding accident during the filming of The Return of the Musketeers in 1989.