Bill Fraser

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For other people named Bill Fraser, see Bill Fraser (disambiguation).

Bill Fraser
St. Paul's Churchyard, London
, England
OccupationActor
Years active1938–1987
Spouse
​
(m. 1981)​

William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years.[1] In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play When We Are Married.[1]

Early life

Fraser was born in

Second World War, he ran the Connaught Theatre in Worthing; when called up he served in a Royal Air Force Special Liaison Unit, reaching the rank of flight lieutenant, where he met and became friends with Eric Sykes.[1] Just after the war a chance meeting in a London street led to Fraser's giving Sykes his first work as a writer for radio comedy[3] and the two friends worked together many times over the following years. Fraser is also credited with giving Peter Cushing
his first acting job.

Career

Fraser often played irascible or belligerent characters on screen and had many roles as a policeman, soldier or judge.

The Corn is Green and Father, Dear Father.[1]

He also appeared in the comedy films The Amorous Milkman and Doctor at Large; the big-screen version of Love Thy Neighbour; and the Frankie Howerd trilogy Up Pompeii!, Up the Front and Up the Chastity Belt.[1]

He had a recurring role on

Horace Rumpole.[1]

Fraser's straight parts included Boanerges in The Apple Cart and Eddie Waters in Comedians, both for the BBC, and appearances on The Professionals and The Avengers.[1] He also featured in the Doctor Who story Meglos in 1980, and appeared in the spin-off show K-9 and Company the following year.[1] In the early 1980s, he was in two series of a straight drama on BBC1, Flesh and Blood; his performance in its first episode of an industrialist sitting at the bedside of his dying wife was regarded by many as a tour de force.[1]

He appeared as

Pickwick for the BBC in 1969; and his last role was as Mr Casby in the film version of Little Dorrit (1988).[1]

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1981 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Royalty Theatre in London.[citation needed]

Fraser also appeared in an early advertisement for the Austin Metro.[1] In 1985 he was cast as Bert Baxter in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.[1]

During those periods when Fraser was not acting, he ran a small sweetshop and tobacconists at Ilford Lane in Ilford, Essex.[1]

Bill Fraser played husband to Googie Withers in the Chichester Theatre production of Maugham's The Circle. It transferred to the West End and played at the Haymarket, and then toured Britain. Also in the cast were Susan Hampshire and John McCallum, who was married to Googie Withers.

Awards

In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play When We Are Married.[1]

Death

He died from emphysema in Bushey, Hertfordshire, aged 79, leaving a widow, the actress Pamela Cundell, whom he had married in 1981.[1]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0330367757. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help
    )
  2. ^ "Bill Fraser (1908-87)". The Times. 7 September 1987. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Television Heaven - TV Greats - Eric Sykes". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.

External links

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