Stage and screen
Actor known for his roles in The Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Dam Busters and Tunes of GloryThe actor John Fraser, who has died aged 89, received his first review while still a teenager, playing a page to Herodias in Oscar Wilde’s Salome. Despite receiving harsh criticism, which noted that his performance had been “undermined by an accent from the worst Glasgow slums”, Fraser harboured few doubts as to his future profession. His response was to take elocution lessons.
Some 20 years later, after a bright career on stage, screen and television, he landed his best role, as Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas, son of the Marquess of Queensberry) in the film The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960). The
Irish playwright had indirectly come to his rescue after the disappointment – shared by many actors at the time – of losing out to Peter O’Toole for the coveted role of Lawrence of Arabia.