
Actor
Ronald Fraser
Born April 11, 1930 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, UKDied March 13, 199763 films
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.
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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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The best way into Ronald Fraser's work
First watchThe Flight of the Phoenix19657.2as Sergeant WatsonA cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the…View filmEssential films
Ranked by acclaim and reachFilmography
63 films as actor- 1999The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Phantom Train of DoomDonald Parks
- 1996The Willows in WinterChief Judge
- 1995Heavy WeatherSir Gregory Parsloe
- 1993The Mystery of Edwin Drood
- 1992The Blackheath PoisoningsDoctor Porter
- 1991Let Him Have ItNiven's Judge
- 1990ObituariesTimothy Apcar
- 1990OxfordGeoffrey
- 1989ScandalJustice Marshall
- 1988Doctor Who: The Happiness PatrolJoseph C
- 1987Murder on the Bluebell LineDr Watson
- 1986Absolute BeginnersAmberley Drove
- 1985In the Secret StateBarnaby Tucker
- 1982Trail of the Pink PantherDr. Longet
- 1982TangiersJenkins
- 1981PygmalionColonel Pickering
- 1978The Wild GeeseSgt. Jock McTaggart
- 1977GhostsEngstrand
- 1977The Bass Player and the BlondeCharlie
- 1977Come Play with MeSlasher
- 1977HardcoreMarty
- 1975Paper TigerSergeant Forester
- 1975A Man in the ZooCurator
- 1974The Wood DemonSerbryakov
- 1974Percy's ProgressBleeker
- 1974Fallen AngelsWilly Banbury
- 1974Swallows and AmazonsUncle Jim
- 1973Pygmalion
- 1973A Bit of a LiftAlec
- 1972RentadickMajor Upton
- 1972Ooh...You Are AwfulReggie Campbell Peek
- 1971The Magnificent Seven Deadly SinsGeorge (segment "Wrath")
- 1970The Rise and Rise of Michael RimmerTom Hutchinson
- 1970Too Late the HeroPrivate Campbell
- 1969Sinful DaveyMacNab
- 1968The Killing of Sister GeorgeLeo Lockhart
- 1968The Fifty-Seventh SaturdayMr. McCarthy
- 1968The Brahmin WidowMajor-General Peter Howard
- 1968LutherTetzel
- 1968SebastianToby
- 1967FathomCol. Douglas Campbell, Chief of HADES
- 1967The WhisperersCharlie Ross
- 1965The Flight of the PhoenixSergeant Watson
- 1964Daylight RobberyTaxi driver
- 1964The Counterfeit ConstableSergent Timothy Reagan
- 1964The Beauty JungleWalter Carey
- 1964Code 7, Victim 5Inspector Dickie Lean
- 1964Crooks in CloistersWalter Dodd
- 1963Girl in the HeadlinesSergeant Saunders
- 1963The V.I.P.sJoslin
- 1963The Punch and Judy ManMayor Palmer
- 1962In Search of the CastawaysGuard at Dockyard Gate
- 1962The Pot CarriersRed Band
- 1962The Ginger Man
- 1962Private PotterDoctor
- 1961The HellionsFrank
- 1961The Best of EnemiesPerfect
- 1961Don't Bother to KnockFred
- 1961The Long and the Short and the TallL / Cpl. Macleish
- 1960The SundownersOcker
- 1960There Was a Crooked ManGen. Cummins
- 1958A Midsummer Night's DreamFlute
- 1957Black IceTom







