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Celebrating television's This Is Your Life

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THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Finlay Currie, actor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of the BBC Television Theatre, having been led to believe he was there to appear as the mystery guest for a recording of What's My Line?

Finlay, who was born in Edinburgh, began his career as a boy singer in church choirs before emigrating to the United States in the 1890s, where he performed in minstrel shows and later established a song-and-dance act with his wife, Maude Courtney.

Returning to the UK in the mid-1920s, Finlay proved himself as a stage actor, appearing in several Edgar Wallace mysteries in the West End. Having made his film debut in 1931, he became a popular character actor, receiving great acclaim for his roles as Magwitch in David Lean's Great Expectations and later in the Hollywood epics Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur.

programme details...

• Edition No: 216
• Subject No: 217
• Broadcast date: Tue 26 Feb 1963
• Broadcast time: 7.55-8.25pm
• Recorded: Mon 28 Jan 1963 8.00pm
• Venue: BBC Television Theatre
• Series: 8
• Edition: 21

on the guest list...

• P Maj James Riach
• Kathleen Breck
• Ralph Smith
• John Laurie
• Stanley Eldridge
• Anthony Wager
• Cecil Parker
• George - son
Filmed tributes:
• Lou Vernon
• Brodie Mack
• Deborah Kerr
• David - grandson

related appearances...

• G H Elliott - May 1957
• Barbara Mullen - Mar 1964

production team...

• Researcher: Suzanne Twiston-Davies
• Writer: Peter Moore
• Director: Vere Lorrimer
• Producer: T Leslie Jackson

• names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

An Actor's Life For Me

spotlight on the stars

Screenshots and photographs of Finlay Currie This Is Your Life