Ronald Fraser (actor)

This article is about the actor, 1930-1997. For other uses, see Ronald Fraser.

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] Fraser was a familiar figure in West End clubs during the 1960s, having had a long-standing reputation as a heavy drinker.

Ronald Fraser
Fraser in Crooks in Cloisters 1964
Born	Ronald Gordon Fraser (1930-04-11)11 April 1930 Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England
Died	13 March 1997(1997-03-13) (aged 66) Hampstead, London, England
Nationality	British
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

Ronald 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

Film credits

^[3][2]

• Black Ice (1957) – Tom
• Bobbikins (1959) – Sailor Joe (uncredited)
• There Was a Crooked Man (1960) – Gen. Cummins
• The Sundowners (1960) – Ocker
• The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961) – L / Cpl. Macleish
• Don't Bother to Knock (1961) – Fred
• The Best of Enemies (1961) – Perfect
• Raising the Wind (1961)
• The Hellions (1961) – Frank
• The Pot Carriers (1962) – Red Band
• The Girl on the Boat (1962) – Colonel (uncredited)
• In Search of the Castaways (1962) – Guard at Dockyard Gate
• Private Potter (1962) – Doctor
• The Punch and Judy Man (1963) – Mayor Palmer
• The V.I.P.s (1963) – Joslin
• Girl in the Headlines (1963) – Sgt. Saunders
• The Beauty Jungle (1964) – Walter Carey
• Victim Five (1964) – Inspector Lean
• Crooks in Cloisters (1964) – Walt
• The Counterfeit Constable (1964) – Sergent Timothy Reagan
• Daylight Robbery (1964)
• Flight of the Phoenix (1965) – Sergeant Watson
• The Whisperers (1967) – Charlie Ross
• Fathom (1967) – Colonel Campbell
• Sebastian (1968) – Toby
• The Killing of Sister George (1968) – Leo Lockhart
• Sinful Davey (1969) – MacNab
• The Bed Sitting Room (1969) – The Army
• Too Late the Hero (1970) – Pvt. Campbell
• The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970) – Tom Hutchinson
• The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) – George (segment "Wrath")
• Ooh... You Are Awful (1972) – Reggie Campbell Peek
• Rentadick (1972) – Major Upton
• Swallows and Amazons (1974) – Uncle Jim
• Percy's Progress (1974) – Bleeker
• Paper Tiger (1975) – Sergeant Forster
• Hardcore (1977) – Marty
• Come Play With Me (1977) – Slasher
• The Wild Geese (1978) – Jock McTaggart
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) – Dr. Longet
• Tangiers (1985) – Jenkins
• Absolute Beginners (1986) – Amberley Drove
• Scandal (1989) – Justice Marshall
• Let Him Have It (1991) – Niven's Judge
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1993) – Dean

Television credits

^[3][2][1]

• The Invisible Man (1959) – Sharp
• Danger Man (1961) – Giuseppe Morelli
• The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon (1962) – Dr. James Mathers
• The Avengers (The Gravediggers) (1965) – Sir Horace Winslip
• Sword of Honour (1967) – Apthorpe
• The Misfit (1970–1971) – Basil Allenby-Johnson
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1973) – Horrocks
• Pygmalion (1973) – Col. Pickering
• Melissa (1974) – Felix Hepburn
• The Sweeney (1976) – Titus Oates
• Mr. Big (1977) – Mr. Oldenshaw
• Pennies From Heaven (1978) – Major Archibald Paxville
• The Famous Five (1978) – Mr. Barling
• Spooner's Patch (1979) as Inspector Spooner (1979)
• Brideshead Revisited (1981) – Red-Haired Man
• Minder (1985–1989) – Self-Inflicted Sid / Albert Goddard
• Lovejoy (1986–1991) – Michael Edwards / Drummer
• Life Without George (1987–1989) – Harold Chambers
• Doctor Who (The Happiness Patrol) (1988) – Joseph C.
• Taggart (1992) – Angus Collins
• The Blackheath Poisonings (1992) – Doctor Porter
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993) – Donald
• TFI Friday (1996) – Himself

Personal life

Fraser 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]