Finlay Currie

William Finlay Currie was a renowned Scottish actor celebrated for both stage and screen performances, as well as television. His career spanned over an impressive 70 years, with some of his most acclaimed roles being Abel Magwitch in the British film Great Expectations (1946) and Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur (1959). He appeared in seven films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, with U.K. film Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and U.S. film Ben-Hur bagging the awards. He moved to the United States in the late 1890s and ventured into films with his first one in 1931, The Old Man. Some of his memorable roles include a priest in Undercover (1943), Queen Victoria's highland attendant John Brown in The Mudlark (1950), and Saint Peter in Quo Vadis (1951).

Currie's body of work in his 70s demonstrated his willingness to perform action scenes and his innate comic abilities. His work in television was also noteworthy, with roles in Alexander Reid's The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou and NBC's The DuPont Show of the Week. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1963. In his final years, Currie performed in the television adaptation of the musical Brigadoon and in the series The Saint. Besides his prolific acting career, Currie also had a passion for antiques, specialising in coins and precious metals, and was a collector of the works of Robert Burns. He died in 1968 in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, leaving a rich legacy in the world of acting.