William Franklin Finley, a marvelously quirky, distinctive, and versatile character actor, was born on September 20, 1940, in New York City.
He attended Columbia University, where he first met future filmmaker Brian De Palma, and later began his acting career on the New York stage.
Finley made his film debut in De Palma's odd short movie Woton's Wake, and went on to play a deliciously rich and colorful array of strikingly idiosyncratic parts for De Palma, including a slow-witted stage hand in Murder a la Mod (1968),the disapproving friend of a guy who was about to be married in The Wedding Party (1969),the wicked titular villain in Dionysus in '69 (1970),and a seedy psychic in The Fury (1978).
In addition to his work with De Palma, Finley tackled a couple of equally memorable off-center roles in a pair of superior Tobe Hooper fright features: he was Marilyn Burns' deranged husband in Eaten Alive (1976) and a pathetic drunken carnival magician in The Funhouse (1981).
Finley was also fine as a geeky scientist in the exciting Chuck Norris horror/action hybrid Silent Rage (1982),and composed the theme song for Murder a la Mod and co-wrote the script for the offbeat teen coming-of-age comedy The First Time (1983).
In addition to his acting career, Finley had a small, yet chilling part as a creepy private investigator in the disappointing The Black Dahlia (2006).
William Finley died at age 71 on April 14, 2012, and was survived by his wife Susan and son Dashiell.
