John Fraser (actor)
Encyclopedia
John Fraser is a BAFTA-nominated Scottish
-born actor of cinema
, television and theatre
.
. He went on to have starring roles in films such as El Cid
, The Trials of Oscar Wilde
(playing Lord Alfred Douglas
), and Roman Polanski's Repulsion. He is familiar on television, with guest roles in series including Danger Man
(1964), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
(1969), Columbo (1972), Doctor Who
(1981) and The Bill
(1995).
In 2004, he published his autobiography
, Close Up, in which he wrote frankly about his gay life and friendships with well known actors. In Close Up, Fraser wrote that Laurence Harvey
was gay and that his long-term lover was his manager James Woolf, who "discovered" Harvey in the 1950s. According to Fraser, "As a teenager, [Harvey] started out living with Hermione Baddeley
, a blowsy star of intimate revue more than twice his age. Then he married Margaret Leighton, old enough to be his mother [actually Leighton was only six years older than Harvey] but a woman of style. When this marriage was over, he married Joan Cohn, widow of Harry Cohn
, managing director of Columbia Pictures. Throughout all these career marriages, he still managed to string Jimmy Woolf along."
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born actor of cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
Career
One of his earliest roles was as Inigo Jollifant in the second film version of J.B. Priestley's The Good CompanionsThe Good Companions
The Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
. He went on to have starring roles in films such as El Cid
El Cid (film)
El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
, The Trials of Oscar Wilde
The Trials of Oscar Wilde
The Trials of Oscar Wilde also known as The Man with the Green Carnation and The Green Carnation, is a 1960 British film based on the libel and subsequent criminal cases involving Oscar Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry. It was produced by Irving Allen, written by Allen and Ken Hughes and...
(playing Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...
), and Roman Polanski's Repulsion. He is familiar on television, with guest roles in series including Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(1964), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
(1969), Columbo (1972), Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(1981) and The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
(1995).
In 2004, he published his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Close Up, in which he wrote frankly about his gay life and friendships with well known actors. In Close Up, Fraser wrote that Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
was gay and that his long-term lover was his manager James Woolf, who "discovered" Harvey in the 1950s. According to Fraser, "As a teenager, [Harvey] started out living with Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Baddeley was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here...
, a blowsy star of intimate revue more than twice his age. Then he married Margaret Leighton, old enough to be his mother [actually Leighton was only six years older than Harvey] but a woman of style. When this marriage was over, he married Joan Cohn, widow of Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
, managing director of Columbia Pictures. Throughout all these career marriages, he still managed to string Jimmy Woolf along."
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Truth or Dare Truth or Dare (disambiguation) Truth or Dare may refer to:*Truth or Dare?, a party game requiring a minimum of two players*Truth or Dare , 2010 English language compilation album by Neue Deutsche Härte band Oomph!... |
Gordon Hillan |
| 1982 | Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House | Uncle Gideon |
| 1981 | Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior... : Logopolis Logopolis Logopolis is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 February to 21 March 1981. It was Tom Baker's last story as the Doctor and marks the first appearance of Peter Davison in the role... |
The Monitor |
| 1976 | Schizo Schizo (1976 film) Schizo is a horror film directed by Pete Walker and starring Lynne Frederick.-Plot:Samantha and Alan are married, but William Haskin going revenge. What are the secrets of Samantha?-Cast:*Lynne Frederick ... Samantha Gray... |
Leonard Hawthorne |
| 1975 | The Doll | Peter Matty |
| 1965 | A Study in Terror A Study in Terror A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson... |
Lord Carfax |
| 1965 | Repulsion Repulsion Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed by Roman Polanski, based on a scenario by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was shot in Britain, as such being his second film made outside his native Poland. The cast includes... |
Colin |
| 1965 | Operation Crossbow Operation Crossbow (film) Operation Crossbow is a British 1965 spy thriller and World War II film, made from a story from Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli and filmed at MGM-British Studios... |
Flight Lieutenant Kenny |
| 1963 | Tamahine | Richard Poole |
| 1962 | Waltz of the Toreadors Waltz of the Toreadors (film) Waltz of the Toreadors is a 1962 film directed by John Guillermin. It stars Peter Sellers and Dany Robin. It was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 1963.-Cast:*Peter Sellers as General Leo Fitzjohn*Dany Robin as Ghislaine... |
Lt Finch |
| 1961 | El Cid El Cid (film) El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in... |
Prince Alfonso |
| 1961 | Fury at Smugglers' Bay Fury at Smugglers' Bay Fury at Smugglers' Bay is a 1961 British adventure film produced, written and directed by John Gilling and starring Peter Cushing, Bernard Lee, Michèle Mercier and John Fraser. The story is based around smuggling in Cornwall... |
Christopher Trevenyan |
| 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde The Trials of Oscar Wilde The Trials of Oscar Wilde also known as The Man with the Green Carnation and The Green Carnation, is a 1960 British film based on the libel and subsequent criminal cases involving Oscar Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry. It was produced by Irving Allen, written by Allen and Ken Hughes and... |
Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde... |
| 1960 | Tunes of Glory Tunes of Glory Tunes of Glory is a 1960 British film directed by Ronald Neame, based on the novel and screenplay by James Kennaway. The film is a "dark psychological drama" centring on events in a Scottish Highland regimental barracks in the period following World War II... |
Corporal Piper Ian Fraser |
| 1958 | The Wind Cannot Read The Wind Cannot Read The Wind Cannot Read is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, Yoko Tani, Ronald Lewis and John Fraser... |
Peter Munroe |
| 1957 | The Good Companions The Good Companions (1957 film) The Good Companions is a 1957 British musical film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Eric Portman. It is based on the novel of the same name and is a remake of the 1933 film version.-Cast:* Eric Portman - Jess Oakroyd* Celia Johnson - Miss Trant... |
|
| 1955 | Touch and Go Touch and Go (1955 film) Touch and Go is a Technicolor British film comedy, directed by Michael Truman and released by Ealing Studios in 1955. The film was indifferently received on release and is not generally included in the canon of classic Ealing Comedies... |
Richard Kenyon |
| 1955 | The Dam Busters The Dam Busters (film) The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's... |
Flight Lieutenant J.V. Hopgood DFC |
External links
- http://www.johnfraser.org/