Warren Finnerty (April 9, 1925 – December 22, 1974) was an American actor best known for his Obie award-winning performance as the character "Leach" in the stage production The Connection (1959) and its film version.^[1]

Career

After making his film debut in Murder, Inc. (1960), and in the Off-Off Broadway production of The Brig in the 1960s, he made a few television appearances before starring in The Connection (1961), the film adaptation of the play in which he reprised his stage role.

He continued to work steadily in the 1960s and early 1970s, making appearances on television in Bonanza and Banacek, and in films such as The Pawnbroker (1964), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Easy Rider (1969) in which Finnerty plays a rancher whose lifestyle draws the admiration of Wyatt aka "Captain America," the character played by Peter Fonda,^[2] The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Kid Blue (1973) and Cockfighter (1974).

Finnerty died in 1974 in New York City from a heart attack at the age of 49.

Family

Finnerty's wife, Ruth, was a pianist and English educator at UC Berkeley Extension; the couple's son is the jazz musician Barry Finnerty.^[3]

Filmography