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Watson, Wylie (1889-1966)
 

Actor

Main image of Watson, Wylie (1889-1966)

A versatile supporting player, Wylie Watson (born John Wylie Robertson) is best remembered for a performance from near the beginning of his film career, that of Mr Memory in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935). Here he managed to invest a small role with considerable pathos, so that, when a dying Mr Memory finally recites the secret plans he has been hired to memorize and then asks 'Am I right, sir?', it is a genuinely moving moment.

Later roles were less distinctive, but his repentant thief in Tawny Pipit (d. Charles Saunders, 1944) and his down-at-heel gangster in Brighton Rock (d. John Boulting, 1947) are worthy of mention.

Peter Hutchings, Encyclopedia of British Film

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FILM & TV CREDITS

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Selected credits

Thumbnail image of 39 Steps, The (1935)39 Steps, The (1935)

Classic Hitchcock thriller about spies, secrets and Scotland

Thumbnail image of Brighton Rock (1947)Brighton Rock (1947)

Graham Greene thriller with Richard Attenborough as a vicious gangster

Thumbnail image of Jamaica Inn (1939)Jamaica Inn (1939)

Hitchcock's last pre-Hollywood film, a tale of Cornish smugglers

Thumbnail image of London Belongs To Me (1948)London Belongs To Me (1948)

Eccentric comedy-thriller about a fake psychic and an accidental murder

Thumbnail image of Magnet, The (1950)Magnet, The (1950)

Lesser-known Ealing comedy about a young boy with a guilty conscience

Thumbnail image of Waterloo Road (1944)Waterloo Road (1944)

Soldier John Mills goes AWOL to investigate rumours about his wife

Thumbnail image of Whisky Galore! (1949)Whisky Galore! (1949)

Gently subversive Ealing comedy about whisky smuggling in the Hebrides

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