John Fraser (actor)
John Fraser (born 18 March 1931, Glasgow, Scotland) is a BAFTA-nominated Scottish-born actor and writer.
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[edit] Career
One of his earliest roles was as Inigo Jollifant in the second film version of J.B. Priestley's The Good Companions. 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 made appearances on television 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 [albeit occasionally inaccurately regarding some third party details] and friendships. In Close Up, Fraser wrote that actor Laurence Harvey was gay and that his long-term lover was his manager James Woolf, who had "discovered" Harvey in the 1950s. According to Fraser, "As a teenager, [Harvey] started out living with Hermione Baddeley [the two appeared together in the acclaimed film Room at the Top], 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."[1]
Dirk's life with Forwood had been so respectable, their love for each other so profound and so enduring, it would have been a glorious day for the pursuit of understanding and the promotion of tolerance if he had screwed up the courage ... to make one dignified allusion to his true nature. Self-love is no substitute for self-respect.
— John Fraser on Dirk Bogarde, Close Up, 2004
[edit] Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Truth or Dare | Gordon Hillan |
| 1982 | Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House | Uncle Gideon |
| 1981 | Doctor Who: Logopolis | The Monitor |
| 1976 | Schizo | Leonard Hawthorne |
| 1975 | The Doll | Peter Matty |
| 1965 | A Study in Terror | Lord Carfax |
| 1965 | Repulsion | Colin |
| 1965 | Operation Crossbow | Flight Lieutenant Kenny |
| 1963 | Tamahine | Richard Poole |
| 1962 | Waltz of the Toreadors | Lt Finch |
| 1961 | El Cid | Prince Alfonso |
| 1961 | Fury at Smugglers' Bay | Christopher Trevenyan |
| 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde | Lord Alfred Douglas |
| 1960 | Tunes of Glory | Corporal Piper Ian Fraser |
| 1958 | The Wind Cannot Read | Peter Munroe |
| 1957 | The Good Companions | |
| 1955 | Touch and Go | Richard Kenyon |
| 1955 | The Dam Busters | Flight Lieutenant J.V. Hopgood DFC |
[edit] Bibliography of works
- Fraser, John (2004), Close Up, Oberon, ISBN 1840025042
- Fraser, J. (1986), In Place of Reason, Macmillan, ISBN 0333407180
- Fraser, J. (1978), The bard in the bush, Granada, ISBN 0246110147
- Fraser, J. (1969), Clap Hands If You Believe in Fairies, Collins, ISBN 0002211165
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Guardian "Sexy self-image that revved up Dirk Bogarde", 2004-10-02
[edit] External links
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