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 (1946), 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)

References