Ronald Fraser

Ronald Fraser (11 April 1930 – 13 March 1997) was a British character actor born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, the son of an interior decorator and builder of Scottish origin. He attended Ashton-under-Lyne Grammar School before continuing his education in Scotland. He completed national service as a lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders, and while stationed in Benghazi, North Africa, he performed in Terence Rattigan's comic play French Without Tears. He subsequently trained at RADA, graduating in 1953.

Fraser began his professional stage career at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre before joining the Old Vic repertory company in 1954. His first London appearance came in The Good Sailor, a stage adaptation of Herman Melville's Billy Budd. His West End credits included 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 sole Broadway appearance came in 1965 in La Grosse Valise, a musical by Robert Dhéry, Gérard Calvi, and Harold Rome. The production was not a commercial success.

Fraser's screen career spanned from the late 1950s through the 1990s, encompassing nearly 50 films and numerous television roles dating back to 1954, with his work concentrated largely in comedies. Among his film credits were The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), The Best of Enemies (1961), Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Killing of Sister George (1968), Swallows and Amazons (1974), Come Play With Me (1977), The Wild Geese (1978), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Absolute Beginners (1986), Scandal (1989), and Let Him Have It (1991). On television, he appeared in The Avengers (1965), Spooner's Patch (1979), Minder (1985–1989), Taggart (1992), and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993). He was particularly recognized for his portrayal of Basil "Badger" Allenby-Johnson in the television series The Misfit (1970–1971). In 1996 he provided the voice of the chief judge in The Willows in Winter. He also appeared in a stage production of Pygmalion in 1973 and Tangiers in 1982.

Fraser was a resident of Hampstead, London, and was a familiar presence in West End clubs during the 1960s. He was married to Elizabeth Howe from 1956 to 1964, and the couple had two daughters. He died of a haemorrhage in London on 13 March 1997, at the age of 66.