Curry's entertainment career began at the age of seven, when he auditioned for
Jess Yates, the executive producer of
Yorkshire Television's
Junior Showtime. Curry was a regular performer on the show from 1969 to 1974, and attended the Jean Pearce School of Dancing in
Leeds throughout the early 1970s. He became a co-presenter of
Junior Showtime alongside
Kathryn Apanowicz. He was also a main character in a six-part comedy drama series about brass bands,
Sounding Brass, for
ATV. In 1976, Curry appeared in the
Alan Parker film
Bugsy Malone, playing Oscar. He also performed in pantomimes and
variety shows during this period. Curry did not enjoy school, and he found it to be an "annoying distraction" from performing. Curry has appeared in many pantomimes throughout the UK. His first was a television pantomime in 1972,
Babes in the Wood, starring
Little and Large and
Susan Maughan, in which Curry and
Bonnie Langford were the two babes.
1980–1989 Curry joined the
Harrogate Theatre Company and appeared in several plays over three years in the early 1980s. In 1981, he co-hosted the series
Get Set For Summer on
BBC1 with main hosts
Peter Powell and
Lucie Skeaping. The series returned the following year as
Get Set, but eventually became
The Saturday Picture Show with Curry as the main host, running until 1986. Curry's co-hosts over the years included
Maggie Philbin and
Cheryl Baker. In 1984, Curry was the question master for the final series of the
BBC children's quiz show
Screen Test.
Blue Peter: 1986–1989 On 23 June 1986, Curry moved to
London to join the children's television programme
Blue Peter replacing
Simon Groom. Curry's co-hosts during his time with the programme were
Janet Ellis,
Peter Duncan,
Caron Keating,
Yvette Fielding and
John Leslie. Curry spent three weeks in
Malawi witnessing distressing scenes of people from surrounding villages suffering with blindness and chronic eye problems. He had an eye operation when he was a young child and has to wear spectacles, due to only seeing clearly through one eye, so was enthusiastic about raising money for the charity
Sightsavers, which was the
Blue Peter appeal for 1986. He travelled across the
Soviet Union for the programme's 1987 summer expedition, and was known for his history features on the show, his cooking disasters and his performing. During the 1980s, the team of Curry, Keating and Fielding was popular with viewers, and they worked together on the programme's Christmas song and dance specials.
1990–1999 Curry played the role of a TV host in a 1990 episode of the
ITV drama ''
London's Burning. During this period, he also appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy series Bread. He played one of the two leading roles in the London West End production of The Woman in Black in 1994, and starred in the centenary production of Charley's Aunt. Curry has also appeared in a UK tour of Noises Off and in the stage musical version of Singin' in the Rain''. In addition, he has appeared at the
Theatre Royal,
Windsor in several
Alan Ayckbourn plays. Curry joined the
BBC Radio 5 commentary team for their coverage of
Wimbledon in the early 1990s. He is the regular Master of Ceremonies for the
AEGON Classic, a pre-Wimbledon women's tennis tournament at the Priory Club,
Edgbaston. until the network ended broadcasting on 27 March 1994. Curry presented the
DIY BBC One daytime series
Change That from 1996 to 1998. He has also co-presented a daily, live food series on the
Carlton Food Network called
Taste Today with
Ruth Langsford and later,
Anthea Turner. This series saw Curry travel to
Italy,
Cyprus,
India and
Singapore, covering various food topics.
2000–2009 Catchphrase (2002) In 2002, Curry presented the final series of the original run of the television quiz show
Catchphrase. The show was cancelled after this series, but revived in 2013 with
Stephen Mulhern presenting the show. In 2007, Curry appeared as Kevin in Last of the Summer Wine episode "Will the Nearest Alien Please Come In?".
2010–present From 9 January 2012, until the late summer of that year, Curry presented the breakfast radio show,
Curry For Breakfast on
Talk Radio Europe, an English language talk/variety network in southern
Spain, where he has a home. He played a leading role in
Wife Begins at Forty, for
Ray Cooney at the
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre,
Guildford and
the Mill, at
Sonning in 2011 and 2012 and returned to
Sonning in 2013 in the comedy, ''Who's Under Where?''. He has presented and performed in several BBC
Children in Need television shows, once playing
Cliff Richard in a
Eurovision Song Contest tribute, singing "
Congratulations" and "
Power To All Our Friends". Curry has also contributed to ITV's ''
Piers Morgan's Life Stories'', discussing his friendship with actress
Beverley Callard. He featured on the
BBC One quiz show
Pointless in December 2012 alongside
Peter Duncan as contestants. He has also appeared as a guest on a celebrity edition of
Antiques Roadshow, and won the BBC Children In Need
Strictly Come Dancing special. From May to August 2014, Curry played Siegfried Farnon in the stage adaptation and UK tour of
All Creatures Great and Small. In 2016, Curry played the role of the Wizard in the
West End musical
Wicked. == Personal life ==