Ronald Fraser (actor)
Ronald Gordon Fraser 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, The Best of Enemies, Flight of the Phoenix, The Avengers, The Killing of Sister George, The Misfit, Pygmalion, Swallows and Amazons, Come Play With Me, The Wild Geese, Spooner's Patch, Trail of the Pink Panther, Tangiers, Absolute Beginners, Minder, Scandal, Let Him Have It, Taggart, and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
Background
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, The Ginger Man, The Singular Man, Androcles and the Lion, The Showing Up of Blanco Posnet, 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.
In 1996 Fraser voiced the chief judge in The Willows in Winter.
Selected filmography
Film credits
Black Ice – TomBobbikins – Sailor Joe There Was a Crooked Man – Gen. CumminsThe Sundowners – OckerThe Long and the Short and the Tall – L / Cpl. Macleish Don't Bother to Knock – FredThe Best of Enemies – PerfectRaising the Wind The Hellions – FrankThe Pot Carriers – Red BandThe Girl on the Boat – Colonel In Search of the Castaways – Guard at Dockyard GatePrivate Potter – DoctorThe Punch and Judy Man – Mayor PalmerThe V.I.P.s – JoslinGirl in the Headlines – Sgt. SaundersThe Beauty Jungle – Walter CareyVictim Five – Inspector LeanCrooks in Cloisters – WaltThe Counterfeit Constable – Sergent Timothy ReaganDaylight Robbery Flight of the Phoenix – Sergeant WatsonThe Whisperers – Charlie RossFathom – Colonel CampbellSebastian – TobyThe Killing of Sister George – Leo LockhartSinful Davey – MacNabThe Bed Sitting Room – The ArmyToo Late the Hero – Pvt. CampbellThe Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer – Tom HutchinsonThe Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins – George Ooh... You Are Awful – Reggie Campbell PeekRentadick – Major UptonSwallows and Amazons – Uncle JimPercy's Progress – BleekerPaper Tiger – Sergeant ForsterHardcore – MartyCome Play With Me – SlasherThe Wild Geese – Jock McTaggartTrail of the Pink Panther – Dr. LongetTangiers – JenkinsAbsolute Beginners – Amberley DroveScandal – Justice MarshallLet Him Have It – Niven's JudgeThe Mystery of Edwin Drood – DeanTelevision credits
The Invisible Man – SharpDanger Man – Giuseppe MorelliThe Ordeal of Dr. Shannon – Dr. James MathersThe Avengers – Sir Horace WinslipSword of Honour – ApthorpeThe Misfit – Basil Allenby-JohnsonThe Rivals of Sherlock Holmes – HorrocksPygmalion – Col. PickeringMelissa – Felix HepburnThe Sweeney – Titus OatesMr. Big – Mr. OldenshawPennies From Heaven – Major Archibald PaxvilleThe Famous Five – Mr. BarlingSpooner's Patch as Inspector Spooner Brideshead Revisited – Red-Haired ManMinder – Self-Inflicted Sid / Albert GoddardLovejoy – Michael Edwards / DrummerLife Without George – Harold ChambersDoctor Who – Joseph C.Taggart – Angus CollinsThe Blackheath Poisonings – Doctor PorterThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – DonaldTFI Friday – HimselfPersonal life
Fraser was a resident of Hampstead, London. He was married from 1956 to 1964 to Elizabeth Howe, and the couple had two daughters.He died of a haemorrhage, aged 66, in London on 13 March 1997.