Finlay Currie


William Finlay Jefferson Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen, and television. He received great acclaim for his roles as Abel Magwitch in the British film Great Expectations and as Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur.
In his career spanning seventy years, Currie appeared in seven films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Of those, Around the World in 80 Days and Ben-Hur are winners in the category.

Career

Currie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he later attended George Watson's College. He began his work as organist and choir director. In 1898 he got his first job in Benjamin Fuller's theatre group. He was in the cast of this group for almost 10 years.
His acting career began on the stage. He and his wife, Maude Courtney, did a song-and-dance act in the USA in the late 1890s. He made his first film in 1931. He appeared as a priest in the 1943 Ealing Second World War film Undercover. His most famous film role was the convict, Abel Magwitch, in David Lean's Great Expectations.
In the following years he appeared in Hollywood film epics, including such roles as Saint Peter in Quo Vadis, as Balthazar, one of the Three Magi, in the multi-Oscar-winning Ben-Hur, the Pope in Francis of Assisi, and as an aged, wise senator in The Fall of the Roman Empire. He appeared in People Will Talk with Cary Grant, and he portrayed Robert Taylor's embittered father, Sir Cedric, in MGM's Technicolor version of Ivanhoe. But Ivanhoe also gave Currie one of his most delightful roles, highlighting his comic capabilities, as well as a willingness to still do some action scenes, even in his 70s. In 1962, he starred in an episode of NBC's The DuPont Show of the Week, The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon, an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, Shannon's Way.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in February 1963, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre in London.
In 1966, Currie played Mr. Lundie, the minister, in the television adaptation of the musical Brigadoon. His last performance was for the television series The Saint'' which starred Roger Moore. Currie played a dying mafioso boss in the two-part episode "Vendetta for the Saint", which was shown posthumously in 1969.
Later in life, he became a much respected antiques dealer, specialising in coins and precious metals. He was also a longtime collector of the works of Robert Burns.

Personal life and death

He was married to the American actress Maude Courtney. They had a son, George Francis Courtney Currie, born on 26 September 1906, while his parents were on tour in Melbourne, Australia.
Currie died on 9 May 1968, in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, at age 90. His ashes were scattered in Breakspear Crematorium, Ruislip, Middlesex.

Complete filmography

  • The Old Man as Rennett
  • The Frightened Lady as Brooks
  • Rome Express as Sam, Publicist
  • The Good Companions as Monte Mortimer
  • Excess Baggage as Inspector Toucan
  • It's a Boy
  • Princess Charming as Baron Seegman
  • Orders Is Orders as Dave
  • Little Friend as Grove
  • Gay Love as Highams
  • My Old Dutch as Mo
  • Mr. Cinders as Henry Kemp
  • The Big Splash as Hartley Bassett
  • In Town Tonight as The Manager
  • Heat Wave as Captain
  • The Improper Duchess as Milton Lee
  • The Gay Adventure as Porter
  • Wanted! as Uncle Mart
  • Glamorous Night as Angus MacKintosh
  • Catch as Catch Can as Al Parsons
  • The Edge of the World as James Gray
  • Command Performance as Al, Arthur's Manager
  • Paradise for Two as Creditor
  • The Claydon Treasure Mystery as Rubin
  • Follow Your Star as Maxie
  • Around the Town as Sam Wyngold
  • The Royal Family of Broadway as Oscar Wolfe
  • Leviathan
  • Sun Up as Pap Todd
  • The Great Adventure as Texel
  • One Night, One Day... as James
  • Crook's Tour as Tourist on Desert Bus
  • 49th Parallel as The Factor
  • The Day Will Dawn as Capt. Alstad
  • Thunder Rock as Capt. Joshua Stuart
  • The Bells Go Down as District Officer MacFarlane
  • Warn That Man as Captain Andrew Fletcher
  • Theatre Royal as Clement J. Earle
  • Undercover as Father
  • They Met in the Dark as Merchant Captain
  • The Shipbuilders as McWain
  • Don Chicago as Bugs Mulligan
  • I Know Where I'm Going! as Ruairidh Mhór
  • The Trojan Brothers as W. H. Maxwell
  • School for Secrets as Sir Duncan Wills
  • In the Zone as Scotty
  • Spring Song as Cobb
  • Great Expectations as Magwitch
  • Musical Chairs as Samuel Plagett
  • Woman to Woman as Theatre Manager
  • You Can't Take It with You as Martin Vanderhof
  • The Brothers as Hector Macrae
  • The Great Adventure as Texel
  • So Evil My Love as Dr. Krylie
  • My Brother Jonathan as Dr. Hammond
  • Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill as Sir Joshua Varley
  • Sleeping Car to Trieste as Alastair MacBain
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie as the Marquis of Tullibardine
  • The History of Mr. Polly as Uncle Jim
  • Edward, My Son as Sir Lawrence Smythe
  • Whisky Galore! as Narrator
  • Treasure Island as Captain Billy Bones
  • Trio as Mr. McLeod
  • My Daughter Joy as Sir Thomas McTavish
  • The Black Rose as Alfgar
  • The Mudlark as John Brown
  • People Will Talk as Shunderson
  • Quo Vadis as Saint Peter
  • Walk East on Beacon as Professor Albert Kafer
  • Kangaroo as Michael McGuire
  • Ivanhoe as Cedric
  • Stars and Stripes Forever as Colonel Randolph
  • Treasure of the Golden Condor as MacDougal
  • The Broken Jug as Inspector Walter
  • The Lass Wi' the Muckle Mou as Sir Gideon Murray
  • as Hamish MacPherson
  • The End of the Road as Old "Mick-Mack"
  • Beau Brummell as McIver - Brummel's Publisher
  • Third Party Risk as Mr. Darius
  • Captain Lightfoot as Callahan
  • Make Me an Offer as Abe Sparta
  • Thunder Rock as Capt. Joshua Stuart
  • Footsteps in the Fog as Inspector Peters
  • King's Rhapsody as King Paul
  • Around the World in 80 Days as Andrew Stuart, Reform Club member
  • Zarak as the Mullah
  • Seven Waves Away as Mr. Wheaton
  • The Little Hut as the Reverend Bertram Brittingham-Bell
  • Saint Joan as Archbishop of Rheims
  • Campbell's Kingdom as Old Man
  • Dangerous Exile as Mr. Patient
  • The Naked Earth as Father Verity
  • Tempest as Count Grinov
  • 6.5 Special as Himself
  • Corridors of Blood as Supt. Matheson
  • Solomon and Sheba as King David
  • Ben-Hur as Balthasar / Narrator
  • Hand in Hand as Mr. Pritchard
  • Kidnapped as Cluny MacPherson
  • The Angel Wore Red as Bishop
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Capt. Sellers
  • Clue of the Silver Key as Harvey Lane
  • Edgar Wallace Mysteries – "Clue of the Silver Key" as Harvey Lane
  • Five Golden Hours as Father Superior
  • Francis of Assisi as the Pope
  • Joseph and His Brethren as Jacob
  • Go to Blazes as the Judge
  • The Inspector as De Kool
  • The Amorous Prawn as Lochaye
  • Cleopatra as Titus
  • Murder at the Gallop as Old Enderby
  • The Cracksman as Feathers
  • Billy Liar as Duxbury
  • West 11 as Mister Cash
  • The Three Lives of Thomasina as Grandpa Stirling
  • The Fall of the Roman Empire as Senator
  • Who Was Maddox? as Alec Campbell
  • The Battle of the Villa Fiorita as Emcee
  • Bunny Lake Is Missing as Doll Maker
  • Brigadoon as Mr. Lundie
  • Alice in Wonderland as Dodo
  • Vendetta for the Saint as Don Pasquale

    Partial television credits

  • Danger Man – Episode "That's Two of Us Sorry" as Jock
  • The Prisoner – Episode "The Chimes of Big Ben" as General
  • The Saint - Episode "Vendetta for the Saint" as Don Pasquale
  • Gideon's Way Episode "The Thin Red Line" as the General