Warren Finnerty

Warren Finnerty (April 9, 1925 – December 22, 1974) was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television. He is best remembered for his Obie Award-winning portrayal of "Leach" in the 1959 stage production of The Connection, a role he reprised in the 1961 film adaptation directed by Shirley Clarke.

Finnerty's screen debut came in Murder, Inc. (1960), and he also appeared in the Off-Off Broadway production of The Brig during the 1960s. Throughout that decade and into the early 1970s, he built a substantial body of work in film, with credits including The Pawnbroker (1964), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Easy Rider (1969), in which he played a rancher whose way of life draws the admiration of Peter Fonda's character, Wyatt, known as "Captain America." He continued appearing in films with The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Kid Blue (1973), and Cockfighter (1974). His television work included appearances on Bonanza and Banacek.

In 1973, Finnerty appeared on Broadway in the musical Boom Boom, marking his credited Broadway debut. He died on December 22, 1974, in New York City, of a heart attack at the age of 49.

Finnerty was married to Ruth Finnerty, a pianist and English educator at UC Berkeley Extension. The couple's son, Barry Finnerty, is a jazz musician.