Christine Finn
Encyclopedia
Christine Finn was a British
actress, known primarily for her work for the Thunderbirds
television series of the 1960s, and the 1958–59 television serial Quatermass and the Pit
. She also performed on radio, the stage and film during her career from the 1940s through to the mid-1970s.
; she moved to England in 1946, just before the end of the British Raj
and worked for a while at a clerical job with the BBC
. Noticed for a performance with the BBC Staff Amateur Company, she was then sent to LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Her first professional work was a part in Edmond T. Gréville's film The Romantic Age (1949) followed by a juvenile lead in a tour of the play Random Harvest.
She joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre
for two years, ending with the role Lady Grey in Henry VI Part III at the Old Vic
. A television role followed as Mrs Crichton in Larger Than Life, and at London's Arts Theatre
she played Sybil Merton in Lord Arthur Saville's Crime. She returned to Birmingham to play David in The Boy David, then returned to London at the Central School of Speech and Drama
's Embassy Theatre
for Ophelia
in Hamlet
and Olivia in Twelfth Night.
A small part in the film The Large Rope (1953) and a tour of Angels in Love came before she joined the Bristol Old Vic
. Her theatre work led to a role in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
in November 1958, directed by Rudolph Cartier
, in which she played Hermia. Cartier cast her shortly afterwards for the leading female role, Barbara Judd, in the science fiction
horror serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59).
Finn's career as a film actress, other than providing voices for two films based on the Thunderbirds television series did not develop further. When Hammer Film Productions
came to make a film version of Quatermass and the Pit, they didn't feel that she was quite the actress that they wanted and cast actress Barbara Shelley
, who was taller and more fitting in with the Hammer image. Writer Nigel Kneale
(Quatermass
series) preferred Finn's performance.
Finn also performed as a voice actor, having supplied the voices for Tin-Tin
, Grandma Tracy and other characters in the popular Thunderbirds television series. She starred in a number of radio plays
from the end of the 1950s to the middle of the 1970s. In the last several years of her career she performed with voice actor Peter Tuddenham
.
1963
1967
1970
1971
1973
1974
1953
1954
1959
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, known primarily for her work for the Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
television series of the 1960s, and the 1958–59 television serial Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial, originally transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the character would reappear in a 1979 ITV production simply entitled Quatermass...
. She also performed on radio, the stage and film during her career from the 1940s through to the mid-1970s.
Life and work
Finn was born and raised in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; she moved to England in 1946, just before the end of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and worked for a while at a clerical job with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Noticed for a performance with the BBC Staff Amateur Company, she was then sent to LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Her first professional work was a part in Edmond T. Gréville's film The Romantic Age (1949) followed by a juvenile lead in a tour of the play Random Harvest.
She joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre is a theatre and theatre company based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England...
for two years, ending with the role Lady Grey in Henry VI Part III at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
. A television role followed as Mrs Crichton in Larger Than Life, and at London's Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
she played Sybil Merton in Lord Arthur Saville's Crime. She returned to Birmingham to play David in The Boy David, then returned to London at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
's Embassy Theatre
Embassy Theatre (London)
The Embassy Theatre is a theatre at 64, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London.- Early years :The Embassy Theatre was opened as a repertory company in September 1928 on the initiative of Sybil Arundale and Herbert Jay., when the premises of Hampstead Conservatoire of Music were adapted by architect...
for Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...
in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Olivia in Twelfth Night.
A small part in the film The Large Rope (1953) and a tour of Angels in Love came before she joined the Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic
The Bristol Old Vic is a theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, King Street, in Bristol, England. The theatre complex includes the 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, along with a 1970s studio theatre , offices and backstage facilities...
. Her theatre work led to a role in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
in November 1958, directed by Rudolph Cartier
Rudolph Cartier
Rudolph Cartier was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, exclusively for the BBC...
, in which she played Hermia. Cartier cast her shortly afterwards for the leading female role, Barbara Judd, in the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
horror serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59).
Finn's career as a film actress, other than providing voices for two films based on the Thunderbirds television series did not develop further. When Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
came to make a film version of Quatermass and the Pit, they didn't feel that she was quite the actress that they wanted and cast actress Barbara Shelley
Barbara Shelley
Barbara Shelley is an English film and television actress.She is now retired, but was at her busiest in the late 1950s and 1960s when she became Hammer Horror's number one female star, with The Gorgon , Dracula, Prince of Darkness , Rasputin, the Mad Monk , andQuatermass and the Pit among her...
, who was taller and more fitting in with the Hammer image. Writer Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
(Quatermass
Bernard Quatermass
Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading up the British Experimental Rocket Group...
series) preferred Finn's performance.
Finn also performed as a voice actor, having supplied the voices for Tin-Tin
Tin-Tin Kyrano
Tin-Tin Kyrano is a character in the mid-1960s British television show Thunderbirds. In the original TV series and its original movie adaptations, Tin-Tin, like the other characters, is portrayed using a marionette, and Christine Finn provided her voice....
, Grandma Tracy and other characters in the popular Thunderbirds television series. She starred in a number of radio plays
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
from the end of the 1950s to the middle of the 1970s. In the last several years of her career she performed with voice actor Peter Tuddenham
Peter Tuddenham
Peter Tuddenham was a British actor, best known for providing the voices of Zen, Orac and Slave, computers on the science fiction TV show Blake's 7....
.
Radio work
1959- Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, with Catherine LaceyCatherine LaceyCatherine Lacey was an English actress who made her film debut in 1938 as the secretive nun who wears high heels in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes . She was an established stage character player before she was 30...
, John Humphry, Sylvia ColeridgeSylvia ColeridgeSylvia Coleridge was a British stage, radio and television actress.-Career:Her acting credits include: Out of the Unknown, The Avengers, Paul Temple, The Lotus Eaters, Ace of Wands, The Tomorrow People, Z Cars, Public Eye, Sutherland's Law, Dixon of Dock Green, The Onedin Line, Doctor Who Sylvia...
.
1963
- No Highway by Nevil ShuteNevil ShuteNevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...
, with Nicolette Bernard and Virginia Winter.
1967
- Sort of Soufflé by Peter BryantPeter BryantPeter Bryant was the fourth producer of the BBC science fiction programme Doctor Who. He was born in London....
, with Peter TuddenhamPeter TuddenhamPeter Tuddenham was a British actor, best known for providing the voices of Zen, Orac and Slave, computers on the science fiction TV show Blake's 7.... - That's Enough for the Present by John HollisJohn HollisJohn Hollis was an English actor. He played the role of Lobot in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and the German porter at the chateau in The Dirty Dozen...
, with Peter Tuddenham and Sheila GrantSheila GrantSheila Grant is a fictional character from British soap opera, Brookside played by Sue Johnston. Sheila appeared in Brookside from the first episode in 1982 until the characters departure in 1990.-Character:...
1970
- All Made Out of Ticky-Tacky by Gaie Houston, with Francis de WolffFrancis de WolffFrancis de Wolff was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television....
and Peter Tuddenham
1971
- The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, with Dorothy Lane, John Rye and Peter Tuddenham
1973
- A Way With Women by Michael Brett, with Peter Tuddenham and Jan Edwards
- The Bashful Canary by Sheila Hodgson, with Miriam MargolyesMiriam MargolyesMiriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
and Peter Tuddenham
1974
- Bang, Bang You're Dead adapted by Jill HyemJill HyemFormerly an actress, Jill Hyem became a successful British radio and television writer.Her radio plays include "The Ropewalk" , "Remember Me" and "Now She Laughs, Now She Cries"....
from a short story by Muriel SparkMuriel SparkDame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
, with Elizabeth MorganElizabeth Morgan (actor)Elizabeth Morgan is a British actress, primarily in supporting roles, in films, television, and onstage. She was often credited as "Liz Morgan".-External links:...
, Alan Dudley, David Timson, Grizelda Harvey, Hector RossHector Ross-Selected filmography:* Night Beat * Bonnie Prince Charlie * Happy Go Lovely * I'm a Stranger * The Steel Key * The Fur Collar * Delayed Flight -External links:...
, Carole BoydCarole BoydCarole Boyd is a British actress. She has had a career in theatre, television and radio, and plays Lynda Snell in BBC Radio 4's The Archers....
, John Rye, Sean ArnoldSean ArnoldSean Arnold is an English actor.He is best-known for his roles as Mr Llewelyn inGrange Hill in the 1970s and 1980s, and as Barney Crozier in the 1980s BBC television series Bergerac....
and Peter Jefferson
Theatre work
1952- Beauty and the Beast by Nicholas Stuart GrayNicholas Stuart GrayNicholas Stuart Gray was a British actor and playwright, perhaps best known for his work in children's theatre in England. He was also an author of children's fantasy; he wrote a number of novels, a dozen plays, and many short stories...
(Opened 22 December) played Mickey (Mercury Theatre, London)
1953
- Henry VI Part III as Lady Grey in from Shakespeare's Henry VI - Parts One, Two & Three (The Old Vic, London)
- Hamlet (26 March) (Embassy, London)
1954
- Winter Journey (Tuesday 23 February for three weeks) played Nancy Stoddard, an actress (Bristol, Theatre Royal)
- The Shoemakers Holiday (Tuesday 16 March 1954 to Saturday 3 April) played Rose, Sir Roger Oatley's daughter (Bristol, Theatre Royal)
- The School for Wives (Tuesday 6 April 1954 to Saturday 1 May) played Agnes (Bristol, Theatre Royal)
- Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot. (Tuesday 11 May to Saturday 29 May) played one of the women of Canterbury (Bristol, Theatre Royal)
- Salad Days (Tuesday 1 June to Saturday 19 June) played Fiona (Bristol, Theatre Royal)
- The Living Room by Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
. Tuesday 22 June 1954 to Saturday 10 July) played Rose Pembertson (Bristol, Theatre Royal) - Salad Days 5 August (Vaudeville Theatre, London)
1959
- Sganarelle and Tartuffe by Molière, (Opened 18 March) (The Old Vic)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (The Old Vic)
- The Tempest or The Enchanted Isle (Opened 9 June) (The Old Vic)