Finlay Currie

William Finlay Currie (20 January 1878 – 9 May 1968) 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, as Saint Peter in Quo Vadis (1951) and as Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur (1959).

In his career spanning 70 years, Currie appeared in seven films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, of which Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and Ben-Hur were winners.

Career Currie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

After emigrating to the United States in the late 1890s, Currie and his wife, Maude Courtney, did a song-and-dance act on the stage. He made his first film, The Old Man, in 1931. His most famous film role was the convict, Abel Magwitch, in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946). 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.

Currie 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.

Personal life and death Currie was married to American actress Maude Courtney. Ivanhoe (1952) as Cedric Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) as Colonel Randolph Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953) as MacDougal The Broken Jug (1953, TV Movie) as Inspector Walter The Lass Wi' the Muckle Mou (1953, TV Movie) as Sir Gideon Murray Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1953) as Hamish MacPherson The End of the Road (1954) as Old "Mick-Mack" Beau Brummell (1954) as McIver, Brummel's Publisher (uncredited) Third Party Risk (1954) as Mr. Darius Captain Lightfoot (1955) as Callahan Make Me an Offer (1955) as Abe Sparta Thunder Rock (1955, TV Movie) as Capt. Joshua Stuart Footsteps in the Fog (1955) as Inspector Peters King's Rhapsody (1955) as King Paul Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as Andrew Stuart, Reform Club member Zarak (1957) as the Mullah Seven Waves Away (1957) as Mr Wheaton The Little Hut (1957) as the Reverend Bertram Brittingham-Bell Saint Joan (1957) as Archbishop of Rheims Campbell's Kingdom (1957) as Old Man Dangerous Exile (1957) as Mr. Patient The Naked Earth (1958) as Father Verity Tempest (1958) as Count Grinov 6.5 Special (1958) as Himself Corridors of Blood (1958) as Supt Matheson Solomon and Sheba (1959) as King David Ben-Hur (1959) as Balthasar / Narrator Hand in Hand (1960) as Mr Pritchard Kidnapped (1960) as Cluny MacPherson The Angel Wore Red (1960) as Bishop The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) as Capt. Sellers Clue of the Silver Key (1961) as Harvey Lane Edgar Wallace Mysteries – "Clue of the Silver Key" (1961; US TV: The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre) as Harvey Lane Five Golden Hours (1961) as Father Superior Francis of Assisi (1961) as the Pope Joseph and His Brethren (1961) as Jacob Go to Blazes (1962) as the Judge The Inspector (1962) as De Kool The Amorous Prawn (1962) as Lochaye Cleopatra (1963) as Titus (uncredited) Murder at the Gallop (1963) as Old Enderby The Cracksman (1963) as Feathers Billy Liar (1963) as Duxbury West 11 (1963) as Mister Cash The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) as Grandpa Stirling The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) as Senator Who Was Maddox? (1964) as Alec Campbell The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965) as Emcee Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) as Dollmaker Brigadoon (1966, TV Movie) as Mr Lundie Alice in Wonderland (1966, TV Movie) as Dodo Vendetta for the Saint (1969) as Don Pasquale

Partial television credits The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou (1953) as Sir Gideon Murray Danger Man – Episodes: "The Gallows Tree" (1961) as Jock "That's Two of Us Sorry" (1965) as Jock (NOTE: apparently both times he appeared in that series, his character was named "Jock"! Dixon of Dock Green Episode "A Home of One's Own" (1962) as Mr Caldicott Alice in Wonderland (1966) as the Dodo Gideon's Way Episode "The Thin Red Line" (1966) as the General The Prisoner – Episode "The Chimes of Big Ben" (1967) as General The Saint – Episode "Vendetta for the Saint" (1968) as Don Pasquale (final television appearance)