Finlay Currie

Born: 1878-01-19 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Died: 1968-05-09

Known For: Acting

Biography

Finlay Jefferson Currie (20 January 1878 – 9 May 1968) was a Scottish actor of stage, screen and television. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Currie's acting career began on the stage. He and his wife Maude Courtney (1884–1959) did a song and dance act in the US in the 1890s. He made his first film (The Old Man) in 1931. He appeared as a priest in the 1943 Ealing World War II movie Undercover. His most famous film role was as the convict Abel Magwitch in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946), based on the novel, 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. He later began to appear in Hollywood film epics, including the 1951 Quo Vadis (as Saint Peter), the multi-Oscar winning 1959 Ben-Hur, as Balthazar, one of the Three Wise Men, and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) as an aged, wise senator; He appeared in People Will Talk with Cary Grant; and he also portrayed Robert Taylor's embittered father in MGM's Technicolor 1952 version of Ivanhoe. In 1962, he starred in an episode of The DuPont Show of the Week (NBC) entitled The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon, an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, Shannon's Way. Currie's last role was as Mr. Lundie, the minister, in the 1966 television adaptation of the musical Brigadoon. In one of his very last performances, Currie plays a dying mafioso boss in the two part "Vendetta For The Saint" (1968) starring Roger Moore. Later in life he became a much respected antiques dealer, specialising in coins and precious metals. He had been a long time collector of the works of Robert Burns. Description above from the Wikipedia article Finlay Currie, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

1963

Cleopatra as Titus (uncredited)
Murder at the Gallop as Old Enderby
The Three Lives of Thomasina as Grandpa Stirling
Billy Liar as Duxbury
West 11 as Gash
The Cracksman as Feathers

1962

The Saint as Don Pasquale
Man of the World as Donald
Go to Blazes as Judge
The Inspector as De Kool
The Amorous Prawn as Lochaye

1961

Joseph and His Brethren as Jacob
Francis of Assisi as The Pope
Hand in Hand as Mr. Pritchard
Five Golden Hours as Father Superior
Clue of the Silver Key as Harvey Lane

1960

Danger Man as 'Jock'
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Captain Sellers
Kidnapped as Cluny MacPherson
The Angel Wore Red as Bishop

1959

Ben-Hur as Balthasar
Solomon and Sheba as David

1958

Corridors of Blood as Supt. Charles Matheson
Rockets Galore as Narrator (uncredited)
Tempest as Count Grinov
6.5 Special as Himself
The Naked Earth as Father Verity

1957

Saint Joan as Archbishop of Rheims
The Little Hut as The Rev. Bertram Brittingham-Brett
Campbell's Kingdom as Hyper-religious Old Barfly
Dangerous Exile as Mr. Patient
Seven Waves Away as Mr. Wheaton

1956

The Count of Monte Cristo
Around the World in 80 Days as Whist Partner
Armchair Theatre as Professor Syme
Zarak as The Mullah

1955

Footsteps in the Fog as Inspector Peters
Captain Lightfoot as Callahan
King's Rhapsody as King Paul

1954

Third Party Risk as Mr. Darius
Make Me an Offer! as Abe Sparta
The End of the Road as Old 'Mick-Mack'

1953

General Electric Theater as MacMorriss
Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue as Hamish MacPherson
Treasure of the Golden Condor as MacDougal

1952

Ivanhoe as Cedric
Kangaroo as Michael McGuire
Stars and Stripes Forever as Col. Randolph
Walk East on Beacon as Professor Albert Kafer

1951

Quo Vadis as Peter
People Will Talk as Shunderson

1950

Treasure Island as Capt. Billy Bones
The Black Rose as Alfgar
The Mudlark as John Brown
Trio as Mr. McLeod
My Daughter Joy as Sir Thomas McTavish

1949

Whisky Galore! as Narrator
The History of Mr. Polly as Uncle Jim

1948

So Evil My Love as Dr. Krylie
Bonnie Prince Charlie as The Marquis of Tullibardine
Sleeping Car to Trieste as Alastair McBain
My Brother Jonathan as Dr. Hammond
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill as Sir Joshua Varley
The Monkey's Paw as Sergeant-Major Morris

1947

The Brothers as Hector Macrae
Woman to Woman as Theatre Manager

1946

Great Expectations as Abel Magwitch
School for Secrets as Sir Duncan Wills
The Trojan Brothers as W.H. Maxwell
Spring Song as Cobb
In the Zone

1945

I Know Where I'm Going! as Ruairidh Mhór
Don Chicago as Bugs Mulligan

1943

The Bells Go Down as District Officer McFarlane
Undercover as Priest (uncredited)
They Met in the Dark as Merchant Captain
Warn That Man as Captain Andrew Fletcher
Theatre Royal as Clement J. Earle
The Shipbuilders as McWain

1942

Thunder Rock as Capt. Joshua Stuart
The Day Will Dawn as Capt. Alstad

1941

49th Parallel as The Factor

1940

Crook's Tour as Tourist on Desert Bus (uncredited)

1938

The Claydon Treasure Mystery as Rubin

1937

The Edge of the World as James Gray
Wanted! as Uncle Mart
Command Performance as Al, Arthur's Manager
Glamorous Night as Angus MacKintosh
Catch as Catch Can as Al Parson
Paradise for Two as Creditor

1936

The Improper Duchess as Milton Lee
The Gay Adventure as Porter

1935

Me and Marlborough as Marriage Celebrant (uncredited)
Mister Cinders as Henry Kemp
Heat Wave as Captain
The Big Splash as Hartley Bassett

1934

Little Friend as Grove
Gay Love as Highams
My Old Dutch as Mo
Princess Charming as Baron Seegman
It's a Boy as Publisher

1933

The Good Companions as Monte Mortimer
Excess Baggage as inspector Toucan
Orders Is Orders as Dave
No Funny Business as Mr Potterton

1932

The Frightened Lady as Brooks
Rome Express as Sam, Publicist

1931

The Old Man as Rennett