Ronald Gordon Fraser (11 April 1930 – 13 March 1997) was a British character actor, who appeared in numerous British plays, films and television shows from the 1950s to the 1990s.[1]
Ronald Fraser | |
|---|---|
 Fraser in Crooks in Cloisters 1964 | |
| Born | Ronald Gordon Fraser 11 April 1930 Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 13 March 1997 (aged 66) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1957–1997 |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Howe
(m. 1956; div. 1964) |
| Children | 2 |
His credits include The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), The Best of Enemies (1961), Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Avengers (1965), The Killing of Sister George (1968), The Misfit (1970–1971), Pygmalion (1973), Swallows and Amazons (1974), Come Play With Me (1977), The Wild Geese (1978), Spooner's Patch (1979), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Tangiers (1982), Absolute Beginners (1986), Minder (1985–1989), Scandal (1989), Let Him Have It (1991), Taggart (1992), and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993).[1]
Background
editRonald Fraser was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire,[2] the son of an interior decorator and builder from Scotland.[2] He attended Ashton-under-Lyne Grammar School.[3] He was further educated in Scotland and did national service as a lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders.[2] Whilst serving in Benghazi, North Africa, he appeared in the Terence Rattigan comic play French Without Tears.[2]
He trained as an actor at RADA, graduating in 1953.[4] He appeared at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre, and joined the Old Vic repertory company in 1954, making his first London appearance in The Good Sailor, a stage adaptation of Herman Melville's novel, Billy Budd.[2]
In the West End, he appeared in The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959),[5] The Ginger Man, The Singular Man, Androcles and the Lion (1961),[5] The Showing Up of Blanco Posnet (1961),[5] Purple Dust by Seán O'Casey, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Joseph Papp's production of The Pirates of Penzance and High Society. He also played Falstaff in a production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. His only Broadway show was the flop La Grosse Valise by Robert Dhéry, Gérard Calvi and Harold Rome.[2][5]
He appeared in numerous television roles from 1954, and in nearly 50 films from 1957, mostly in comedies.[2] He was notable as Basil "Badger" Allenby-Johnson in the 1970s television series The Misfit (1970–1971).[1] In 1996 Fraser voiced the chief judge in The Willows in Winter.[1]
Selected filmography
editFilm credits
editTelevision credits
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-1958 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Flute/Bill Meadows | 2 episodes |
| 1958-1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Various | 5 episodes |
| 1958-1973 | Armchair Theatre | 6 episodes | |
| 1959 | The Invisible Man | Sharp | Episode: "Jailbreak" |
| 1961 | Danger Man | Giuseppe Morelli | Episode: "The Brothers" |
| Spycatcher | Winters | Episode: "Stooping to Conquer" | |
| 1962 | Drama 61-67 | Raven | Episode: "Drama '62: The Lonesome Road" |
| Out of This World | Oscar Raebone | Episode: "The Tycoons" | |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | Dr. James Mathers | Episode: The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon | |
| 1962-1963 | ITV Television Playhouse | Various | 3 episodes |
| 1962-1974 | Comedy Playhouse | Various | 5 episodes |
| 1963 | Sykes and a... | 1 episode | |
| 1964 | Festival | Tom Broadbent | Episode: "John Bull's Other Island" |
| 1965 | ITV Sunday Night Drama | Harry Best | Episode: "Suspense Hour: Nightmare on Instalments" |
| Armchair Mystery Theatre | Ridgeway | Episode: "The Hunter" | |
| The Avengers | Sir Horace Winslip | Episode: "The Gravediggers" | |
| 1966 | This Man Craig | Councillor McLaren | Episode: "Sticks and Stones" |
| 1967 | Theatre 625 | Apthorpe | Episode: "Sword of Honor" |
| 1968 | The Troubleshooters | Wallace Nichols | Episode: "The Dispossessed" |
| 1968-1974 | BBC Play of the Month | Various | 3 episodes |
| 1968-1977 | ITV Playhouse | 4 episodes | |
| 1970-1971 | The Misfit | Basil Allenby-Johnson | |
| 1972 | Omnibus | Max Beerbohm | Episode: "Max Beerbohm Remembers" |
| 1973 | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Horrocks | Episode: "The Looting of the Specie Room" |
| 1976 | The Sweeney | Titus Oates | Episode: "Selected Target" |
| Star Maidens | Kipple | Episode: "The Perfect Couple" | |
| 1977 | Mr. Big | Mr. Oldenshaw | 2 episodes |
| The Dick Emery Show | 1 episode | ||
| 1978 | Pennies From Heaven | Major Archibald Paxville | Episode: "Painting the Clouds" |
| The Famous Five | Mr. Barling | Episode: "Five Go to Smuggler's Top" | |
| The Bass Player and the Blonde | Charlie | 3 episodes | |
| 1979 | Spooner's Patch | Inspector Spooner | |
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited | Red-Haired Man | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | The Lady Is a Tramp | First Tramp | 1 episode |
| 1985 | Screen Two | Barnaby Tucker | Episode: "In the Secret State" |
| The Practice | Dr. Reginald Biddy | 10 episodes | |
| 1985-1989 | Minder | Self-Inflicted Sid/Albert Goddard | 2 episodes |
| 1986-1991 | Lovejoy | Michael Edwards/Drummer | |
| 1987 | Q.E.D. | Dr. Watson | Episode: "Murder on Bluebell Lane" |
| Fortunes of War | Commander Sheppy | Episode: "Romania: January 1, 1940" | |
| 1987-1989 | Life Without George | Harold Chambers | |
| 1988 | City Lights | Uncle Jimmy | Episode: "The Melvin Diaries" |
| Doctor Who | Joseph C. | Serial: "The Happiness Patrol" | |
| 1990 | Arena | Chauffeur | Episode: "Oblomov" |
| The Comic Strip Presents | Geoffrey | Episode: "Oxford" | |
| The Play on One | Timothy Apcar | Episode: "Obituaries" | |
| Boon | Len Drumgold | Episode: "Burning Ambition" | |
| 1992 | Taggart | Angus Collins | Episode: "Violent Delights" |
| Virtual Murder | Van Helsing | Episode: "A Dream of Dracula" | |
| The Blackheath Poisonings | Doctor Porter | Miniseries | |
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Donald | Episode: "Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom" |
| 1994 | Class Act | Judge MacVitie | 1 episode |
| 1996 | The Net | Commander Kershaw | Episode: "A Blind Eye" |
| Madson | Walter Gardner | 1 episode | |
| The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders | Sir Richard Gregory | Episode 4 |
Personal life
editFraser was a resident of Hampstead, London. He was married from 1956 to 1964 to Elizabeth Howe, and the couple had two daughters.[2]
He died of a haemorrhage, aged 66, in London on 13 March 1997.[6][2]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 "Ronald Fraser". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hayward, Anthony (15 March 1997). "Obituary: Ronald Fraser". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Ashton-under-Lyne Grammar School - Famous Old Boys". ashtongrammar.co.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- ↑ "Rada Student & graduate profiles - Ronald Fraser". rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ronald Fraser Past productions". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- ↑ GRO Register of Deaths: Mar 1997 D44A 2501D 255 Camden, DoB = 11 April 1930 aged 66
External links
edit
- Ronald Fraser at IMDb
- Ronald Fraser at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ronald Fraser at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
- Ronald Fraser at Find a Grave