Finlayson James

James « Jimmy » Finlayson est un acteur américain d'origine écossaise né le 27 août 1887 à Falkirk en Écosse au Royaume-Uni, mort le 9 octobre 1953 à Los Angeles en Californie aux États-Unis.

L'un des plus fameux comparses de Laurel et Hardy avec lesquels il a tourné une bonne trentaine de films et courts-métrages entre 1927 et 1940. Il jouait souvent le personnage opposé au duo comique répondant au nom de Finn ou de Jimmy. Sa technique de jeu préférée était le double take : technique du burlesque qui consiste à réagir en deux temps à une scène surprenante et qui marque la lenteur de compréhension d'un personnage. Débutant jeune sur les planches, il part en tournée aux États-unis dans les années 1910 et s'y installe. Au cinéma, il devient d'abord un Keystone cop, ces drôles de policiers très en vogue dans ces années là. 

En 1923, il est engagé dans le même studio que Laurel et Hardy et obtient un certain succès auprès de ces deux compères. En 1947, il joue son propre rôle dans Les périls de Pauline de George Marschall. Finlayson utilise l'expression « D'oh! » comme un juron raccourci pour remplacer le mot « Damn! ». Plus de 50 ans plus tard, Matt Groening, auteur des Simpson demande à Dan Castellaneta, voix de Homer Simpson, de prononcer un « grognement agacé » (annoyed grunt) et préfère qu'il prononce le « d'ooooooh » de Finlayson plus rapidement. Castellaneta le raccourcit en un plus rapide « d'oh! », désormais célèbre et ajouté en 2001 à l'Oxford English Dictionary, mais sans l'apostrophe.

Filmographie

• Hey Doctor (1918)
• The Dentist (1919)
• That Foolish Age (1919)
• Love's False Faces (1919)
• Why Beaches Are Popular (1919)
• Down on the Farm (1920)
• Married Life (1920)
• My Goodness (1920)
• Great Scott (1920)
• You Wouldn't Believe It (1920)
• Bungalow Troubles (1920)
• Don't Weaken (1920)
• A Small Town Idol (1921)
• Home Talent (1921)
• The Crossroads of New York (1922)
• The Counter Jumper (1922)
• Home Made Movies (1922)
• Ma and Pa (1922)
• Newly Rich (1922)
• Should Husbands Pay (1922)
• A Wise Duck (1922)
• The Barnyard (1923)
• Hollywood (1923)
• Where is my Wandering Boy this Evening? (1923)
• Pitfalls of a Big City (1923)
• The Handy Man (1923)
• Before the Public (1923)
• The Noon Whistle (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• White Wings (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Pick and Shovel (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Oranges and Lemons (1923)
• A Man About Town (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Roughest Africa (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Scorching Sanda (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• The Whole Truth (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Frozen Hearts (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• The Soilers (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Mother's Joy (1923) w/ Stan Laurel
• Sold at Auction (1923)
• Courtship of Miles Sandwich (1923)
• No Wedding Bells (1923)
• Near Dublin (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Smithy (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Zeb vs. Paprika (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Postage Due (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Brothers Under the Chin (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• The King of Wild Horses (1924)
• Wide Open Spaces (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Rupert of Hee-Haw (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Short Kilts (1924) w/ Stan Laurel
• Our Congressman (1924)
• Welcome Home (1925)
• Official Officers (1925) OUR GANG
• Innocent Husbands (1925) CHARLEY CHASE
• Mary, Queen of Tots (1925) OUR GANG
• Chasing the Chaser (1925) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Unfriendly Enemies (1925) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Yes, Yes Nanette (1925) directed by Stan Laurel, w/ Babe Hardy
• Moonlight and Noses (1925) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• The Caretaker's Daughter (1925) CHARLEY CHASE
• Hard Boiled (1925) CHARLEY CHASE
• In the Grease (1925)
• Welcome Home (1925)
• What's the World Coming To? (1926) w/ Stan Laurel and written by Stan Laurel
• Dizzy Daddies (1926) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Wife Tamers (1926) written by Stan Laurel
• Madame Mystery (1926) written/directed by Stan Laurel, w/ Babe Hardy
• Your Husband's Past (1926) written by Stan Laurel
• Don Key - Son of Burro (1926) written by Stan Laurel
• Never Too Old (1926) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Thundering Fleas (1926) OUR GANG, w/ Babe Hardy
• The Merry Widower (1926) directed by Stan Laurel
• One Hour Married (1926)
• Raggedy Rose (1926) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Should Husbands Pay (1926) written/directed by Stan Laurel
• Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes (1926) directed by Stan Laurel
• The Nickel Hopper (1926) written by Stan Laurel
• Anything Once (1926)
• Honorable Mr. Bugs (1927) written by Stan Laurel w/Babe Hardy
• Seeing the World (1927) OUR GANG, w/ Stan Laurel
• No Man's Law (1927) w/ Babe Hardy
• Love 'Em and Weep (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• With Love and Hisses (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Do Detectives Think? (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Flying Elephants (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Sugar Daddies (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• The Second Hundred Years (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Call of the Cuckoos (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Hats Off (1927) LAUREL & HARDY
• Should Tall Men Marry? (1928)
• Galloping Ghosts (1928) written by Stan Laurel, w/Babe Hardy
• Bachelor's Paradise (1928)
• Show Girl (1928)
• Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath (1928)
• Lady Be Good (1928)
• Two Weeks Off (1929)
• Liberty (1929) LAUREL & HARDY
• Big Business (1929) LAUREL & HARDY
• Men O'War (1929) LAUREL & HARDY
• The Hoose-Gow (1929) LAUREL & HARDY
• Hard to Get (1929)
• Fast Freight (1929) OUR GANG
• Wall Street (1929)
• Young Eagles (1930)
• Night Owls (1930) LAUREL & HARDY
• Ladrones (1930 LAUREL & HARDY
• For the Defense (1930)
• Raffles (1930)
• Dollar Dizzy (1930) CHARLEY CHASE
• Thunder Below (1930)
• Feet First (1930)
• The Dawn Patrol (1930)
• Another Fine Mess (1930) LAUREL & HARDY
• Pardon Us (1931) LAUREL & HARDY
• Chickens Come Home (1931) LAUREL & HARDY
• Politiquerias (1931) LAUREL & HARDY
• False Roomers (1931)
• A Melon-Drama (1931)
• Clean Upon the Curb (1931)
• Our Wife (1931) LAUREL & HARDY
• One Good Turn (1931) LAUREL & HARDY
• Catch As Catch Can (1931)
• Oh! Oh! Cleopatra (1931)
• Scratch As Catch Can (1931)
• So this is Harris (1931)
• One of the Smiths (1931) CHARLEY CHASE
• Stout Hearts and Willing Hands (1931)
• The Hasty Marriage (1931) CHARLEY CHASE
• Big Business Girl (1931)
• The Iceman's Ball (1932)
• Jitters the Butler (1932)
• Boy, Oh Boy (1932)
• Trouble from Abroad (1932)
• The Millionaire Cat (1932)
• Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) LAUREL & HARDY
• The Chimp (1932) LAUREL & HARDY
• Thunder Below (1932)
• So This is Harris (1932)
• Thru Thin and Thicket (1932)
• Union Wages (1932)
• Young Ironsides (1932) CHARLEY CHASE
• The Druggist's Dilemma (1933)
• The Gay Nighties (1933)
• Hokus Fokus (1933)
• Dick Turpin (1933)
• The Girl in Possession (1933)
• 9:45 (1933)
• Strictly in Confidence (1933)
• Me and My Pal (1933) LAUREL & HARDY
• His Silent Racket (1933) CHARLEY CHASE
• Fra Diavolo (1933) LAUREL & HARDY
• Mush and Milk (1933) OUR GANG
• What Happened to Harkness? (1934)
• Oh! No, Doctor (1934)
• Trouble in Store (1934)
• Father and Son (1934)
• Big Business (1934)
• Thicker Than Water (1935) LAUREL & HARDY
• Handle With Care (1935)
• Who's Your Father? (1935)
• Bonnie Scotland (1935) LAUREL & HARDY
• Manhattan Monkey Business (1935) CHARLEY CHASE
• Treasure Blues (1935)
• Life Hesitates at 40 (1936) CHARLEY CHASE
• Our Relations (1936) LAUREL & HARDY
• The Bohemian Girl (1936) LAUREL & HARDY
• Angel (1937)
• Wise Girl (1937)
• Way Out West (1937) LAUREL & HARDY
• Pick a Star (1937) LAUREL & HARDY
• All Over Town (1937)
• Toast of New York (1937)
• Carefree (1938)
• False Roomers (1938)
• Block-Heads (1938) LAUREL & HARDY
• The Flying Deuces (1939)
• Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
• A Small Town Idol (1939 remake)
• The Great Victor Herbert (1939)
• Flying Deuces (1939) LAUREL & HARDY
• Raffles (1940)
• Saps at Sea (1940) LAUREL & HARDY
• Foreign Correspondent (1940)
• A Chump at Oxford (1940) LAUREL & HARDY
• Nice Girl? (1941)
• One Night in Lisbon (1941)
• To Be or Not to Be (1942)
• Yanks Ahoy! (1943)
• Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
• The Perils of Pauline (1947)
• Thunder in the Valley (1947)
• Julia Misbehaves (1948)
• Grand Canyon Trail (1948)
• Royal Wedding (1950)
• Here Comes the Groom (1951)