Hugh Fraser (actor)
{{Short description|English actor and theatre director}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hugh Fraser
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Hugh Fraser
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1945|10|23}}
| birth_place = Westminster, London, England
| othername = Hugh Frazer
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1956–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Belinda Lang|15 October 1988}}
| children = 1, Lily Fraser
}}
Hugh Fraser (born 23 October 1945){{Cite web|title=23 October 1945. Your sincere wishes most appreciated Dinah.|last=Fraser|first=Hugh|date=8 October 2017|website=@realhughfraser}} is an English actor, theatre director and author. He is best known for his portrayal of Captain Hastings in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot opposite David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and for his role as the Duke of Wellington (replacing David Troughton) in the Sharpe television series.
Fraser was born in Westminster, but grew up in the Midlands. He studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Fraser's first big break came after portraying Anthony Eden in the 1978 television series Edward & Mrs. Simpson, with Edward Fox, after which he was frequently cast as upper class or aristocratic characters, such as Mr Talmann in Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract.
Early life
Born in Westminster in 1945,{{Cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=LKSm0GTmoWOsG018pFYcWw&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=19 February 2018|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}} but brought up in the Midlands, Hugh Fraser studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As a member of the folk band Telltale, Hugh co-wrote and performed the theme music for Rainbow, the ITV children's television series.
Work
=Acting=
Fraser's first big break came after portraying Anthony Eden in the 1978 television series Edward & Mrs. Simpson, with Edward Fox, after which he was frequently cast as upper class or aristocratic characters, such as Mr Talmann in Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract.
He has regularly appeared on film and television and is best known for his portrayals of Captain Hastings in Agatha Christie's Poirot, opposite David Suchet, and of the Duke of Wellington (replacing David Troughton) in Sharpe opposite Sean Bean.
In the 1980s, he appeared in the BBC thriller Edge of Darkness. Fraser can be frequently heard narrating the audiobooks of Christie's works, which are currently published by HarperCollins.
His film credits include Curse of the Pink Panther, 101 Dalmatians and Patriot Games along with his Sharpe co-star Sean Bean. He has also worked in theatre, playing Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1979. He has guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio dramas Circular Time (2007) and Cradle of the Snake (2010), and in 2003, alongside Martin Shaw in Death in Holy Orders.
Fraser guest starred in a Season 2 episode of the British audio comedy podcast Wooden Overcoats, for which his wife, Belinda Lang, was the narrator.
=Directing=
Fraser has been an associate tutor, director, and member of the audition panel at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, specialising in Shakespeare.{{cite web |title=Academy Staff |url=http://ashbee.net/rada/pdf/staff08.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723021258/http://ashbee.net/rada/pdf/staff08.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 |access-date=6 January 2011}}{{cite web |title=Special Programs |url=http://specialprograms.tisch.nyu.edu/object/radafaculty.html |access-date=8 April 2016}} He has also directed several plays, including a production of David Mamet's adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, which was staged at Wilton's Music Hall in London in January 2007, with Rachael Stirling as Yelena[http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/15738/uncle-vanya Uncle Vanya] The Stage, 29 January 2007{{cite web |title=London Theatre News, Reviews, Interviews and more |url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8821166542721/Wilton%92s+Hosts+Mamet+Uncle+Vanya+%26+New+Shrew.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209105852/http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8821166542721/Wilton%92s+Hosts+Mamet+Uncle+Vanya+%26+New+Shrew.html |archive-date=9 February 2013 |access-date=8 April 2016 |work=whatsonstage |df=dmy-all}} and the first London production in nearly a century of Kate O'Brien’s play Distinguished Villa at the Finborough Theatre in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Villa – Finborough Theatre |url=https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/distinguished-villa/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |language=en-US}}
=Writing=
Fraser is the author of a series of crime fiction thrillers featuring contract killer Rina Walker. His first novel, Harm, was published in 2015,{{cite book|title=Harm |isbn = 978-0993264917| last1=Fraser | first1=Hugh | year=2015 | publisher=Armstrong Nyman }} followed by Threat in 2016.{{cite book|title=Threat|last=Fraser|first=Hugh|date=2016|publisher=Urbane Publications Limited |isbn = 978-1911129752}} The third in the Rina Walker series, Malice, came out in October 2017{{Cite book|title=Malice |last=Fraser|first=Hugh|date=1 June 2017|publisher=Urbane Publications|isbn=9781911583066|location=S.l.}} and Stealth, in 2018.{{cite book|title=Stealth|isbn = 978-1911583660| last1=Fraser |first1=Hugh | year=2018| publisher=Urbane Publications Limited }}
During his appearance on Pointless Celebrities (30 Jan 2021), flute player Hugh explained that he composed the theme melody for the children's programme Rainbow along with other songs for the show and theme tunes for other (unmentioned) TV series.
Personal life
He is married to the actress Belinda Lang and has one daughter, Lily.{{cite web |first=Sharon |last=Feinstein |title=The Interview: Belinda Lang – Our marriage is perfect even though I'm so bossy |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Interview%3A+Belinda+Lang+-+Our+marriage+is+perfect+even+though+I%27m...-a060157250|work=Sunday Mirror |date=2 May 1999 |access-date=30 August 2010}}
Selected film and television roles
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1971
| Deviation | Unknown | |
| 1976
| The Ritz | Disc Jockey | |
| rowspan="2" | 1977
| Montfleury | TV movie |
| The Duellists
| Unknown | |
| 1978
| TV Mini-Series, 2 episodes |
| 1979
| Captain Harold Lester | |
| rowspan="4" | 1982
| Firefox | Police Inspector Aleksei Tortyev | |
| [https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/Cloud_Howe Cloud Howe]
| Robert Colquhoun | TV series, 4 episodes |
| The Draughtsman's Contract
| Mr. Talmann | |
| The Missionary
| Usher At Wedding | |
| rowspan="3" | 1983
| Paul Standing | TV series, episode "Clerical Error" |
| Curse of the Pink Panther
| Dr. Arno Stang | |
| Reilly, Ace of Spies
| TV Mini-Series, 6 episodes |
| 1985
| Robert Bennett | TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes |
| 1987
| Murder on the Bluebell Line | TV series, Documentary |
| rowspan="2" | 1988
| Peter Jackson | TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes |
| Jack the Ripper
| Sir Charles Warren | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1990
| James II | TV movie |
| 1992
| Geoffrey Watkins | |
| 1993
| Taggart | Bobby Gault | Episode: Gingerbread Part One |
| 1996
| Frederick | |
| 2001
| General DeCoppet | TV movie |
| 2003
| George Gregory | TV Mini-Series, 2 episodes |
| rowspan="3" | 2004
| The Baby Juice Express | Arthur Burnett, CBE | |
| The Alan Clark Diaries
| TV series, 6 episodes |
| New Tricks
| Paul Adamson | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994–2006
| Sharpe | 9 TV Movies |
| 2010
| BBC Newsreader / Gaston | Voice |
| 1989–2001, 2013
| TV series, 43 episodes |
| 2016
| With Love From... Suffolk | Sat Nav | Voice |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0292140|name=Hugh Fraser}}
- [http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2015/09/an-interview-with-hugh-fraser-on.html Interview with Hugh Fraser at Classic Film & TV Cafe]
- [https://mobile.twitter.com/realhughfraser]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Hugh}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Actors from the City of Westminster
Category:Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:English folk musicians
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English theatre directors