Ronald Fraser

'Ronald Fraser' (qv), the British movie and television character actor, was born on April 11, 1930 in Ashton-under-Lyme, Lancashire, England. He began his professional acting career in 1954 and began appearing in small roles in movies and television in 1957. His first major movie credit was as a soldier, Lance Corporal 'Mac' Macleish in _Jungle Fighters (1961)_ (qv). He specialized in playing nasty, brutish types, such as the piggish Private Campbell in 'Robert Aldrich' (qv)'s World War II drama _Too Late the Hero (1970)_ (qv), who robs a corpse, kills a fellow British solder, and deserts his compatriots to surrender to the Japanese before being strung up like a slaughtered hog by the enemy. He also appeared in Aldrich's _The Killing of Sister George (1968)_ (qv) and gave a memorable performance as Sergeant Watson in the original _The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)_ (qv), also directed by Aldrich. He was versatile enough as an actor to occasionally break type, such as his turn as Colonel Pickering in the 1981 _Celebrity Playhouse: Pygmalion (1981)_ (qv), which starred 'Twiggy' (qv) as Eliza Dolittle.'Ronald Fraser' (qv) died on March 13, 1997, a month shy of his 67th birthday.::Jon C, Hopwood