Ronald Fraser

Ronald Fraser

1930-04-11 – 1997-03-13 (age 66) Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, UK
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Biography

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

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)

Ronald Fraser was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, the son of an interior decorator and builder from Scotland. He attended Ashton-under-Lyne Grammar School. He was further educated in Scotland and did national service as a lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders. Whilst serving in Benghazi, North Africa, he appeared in the Terence Rattigan comic play French Without Tears.

He trained as an actor at RADA, graduating in 1953. 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.

In the West End, he appeared in The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959), The Ginger Man, The Singular Man, Androcles and the Lion (1961), The Showing Up of Blanco Posnet (1961), 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.

He appeared in numerous television roles from 1954, and in nearly 50 films from 1957, mostly in comedies. He was notable as Basil "Badger" Allenby-Johnson in the 1970s television series The Misfit (1970–1971). In 1996 Fraser voiced the chief judge in The Willows in Winter.

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Known For

The Flight of the Phoenix
The Flight of the Phoenix

1965

as Sergeant Watson

The Wild Geese
The Wild Geese

1978

as Sgt. Jock McTaggart

Scandal
Scandal

1989

as Justice Marshall

Absolute Beginners
Absolute Beginners

1986

as Amberley Drove

Come Play with Me
Come Play with Me

1977

as Slasher

Trail of the Pink Panther
Trail of the Pink Panther

1982

as Dr. Longet

In Search of the Castaways
In Search of the Castaways

1962

as Guard at Dockyard Gate

Too Late the Hero
Too Late the Hero

1970

as Private Campbell

Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather

1995

as Sir Gregory Parsloe

The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s

1963

as Joslin

Fathom
Fathom

1967

as Col. Douglas Campbell, Chief of HADES

The Sundowners
The Sundowners

1960

as Ocker

Let Him Have It
Let Him Have It

1991

as Niven's Judge

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins

1971

as George (segment "Wrath")

Sebastian
Sebastian

1968

as Toby

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
Percy's Progress
Percy's Progress

1974

as Bleeker

The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George

1968

as Leo Lockhart

The Best of Enemies
The Best of Enemies

1961

as Perfect