She made her West End debut in January 1944 in the role of Effie in The Dark Potential at the Q Theatre. The Stage noted “Shelagh Fraser, a most attractive Effie, offers youthful innocence with skill.[1]” Following her debut in March 1944 she played the role of the maid in the melodrama This Was a Woman at the Comedy Theatre. As a member of the Overture Players she then appeared in The Palm of Your Hand at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing during September 1944 whilst November and December saw her in the cast of a touring production of So Brief the Spring. This was followed with the role of Mabel Crumm in a touring production of Terence Rattigan’s While the Sun Shines in 1945 taking over from Brenda Bruce. Also in the cast was the actor Peter Cushing. For the remainder of the decade she was in constant demand and notched up credits which included Call Home the Heart at St James’s Theatre during April 1947. The Stage review singled out her performance: “Shelagh Fraser also gives a brilliantly assured little study[2]”.
Her screen debut came in 1944 with the small role of Millie in the film Welcome, Mr Washington (1944) and this was followed by a small supporting role as a girl in a guard’s van in the wartime drama I Live in Grosvenor Square (1945). More substantial, and her television debut, was the character Leila Arden in a BBC television adaptation of the Patrick Hamilton play Rope (5th January 1947). Just over a year later Alfred Hitchcock would make his own film version of the play starring James Stewart. Further film appearances for 1947 included an uncredited role in Meet Me at Dawn (1947) and the period drama The Master of Bankdam (1947) in the larger role of Alice France (credited as Shelagh Frazer).
She played Penelope MacRae in the short film Death in the Hand (1948), a horror tinged drama which sees a pianist reading the palms of passengers on a train and predicting their deaths. Soon the deaths start to actually happen. For the BBC she portrayed Miss Hooper in the feature length single drama London Wall (18th September 1948), a version of the play by John Van Druten. In cinemas she could be seen in the Victorian era drama Esther Waters AKA Sin of Esther Waters (1948) in the small role of Margaret. Fraser found herself front page news on 2nd August 1948 when the Daily Mirror newspaper carried a story regarding her pet dog, Lucius O’Grady, who strayed off the platform at Sloane Square underground station[3]. The dog caused chaos by holding up trains for an hour before it was coaxed out of the tunnels by underground staff.
Stage work was still her major form of employment as the decade ended. She appeared in the comedy thriller Madeline at the Q Theatre throughout January 1949 and followed this with productions at the New Lindsey Theatre including A Son of Heaven during May 1949 and S.S. Tenacity during June 1949. She also appeared in the play Judith, which she also wrote, at the Royal Artillery, Woolwich during September 1949. December saw her return to the Q Theatre in the play Call Home the Heart. Her only screen appearance for 1949 was for the film adaptation of H G Wells’ The History of Mr Polly (1949) in the role of Minnie Larkins. She had two film roles the following year – Ellen Foster in the thriller Your Witness AKA Eye Witness (1950), and an uncredited appearance in portmanteau drama Trio (1950). On TV she appeared in a BBC production of Rope (8th January 1950) recreating her role as Leila Arden. Always Afternoon, written by Dido Milroy from a story by Fraser, was produced at Theatre Royal, Brighton during July 1950. The play presented the dilemma of a woman who seeks refuge in marriage with an elderly man until her safety is threatened. The lead players were Ernest Thesiger and Margaret Johnston.
During summer 1952 Fraser played Lady Orreyed in The Second Mrs Tanqueray in a provincial theatre tour and, later, at the Haymarket Theatre in London’s West End. She would later reprise this role in the 1952 film version. Later in the year she co-wrote, along with Victor Becker, the play Home or Away as well as starring in the presented production at the New Theatre, Bromley. During August and September 1952 she was a cast member of the comedy The Wedding Ring. Back at the BBC she was cast as Kitty in the one-off drama Two For A Pair (9th October 1951) and appeared in 'Coming Out Party' (8th December 1951), the opening episode of the second season of The Inch Man, a forgotten BBC drama series featuring the adventures of a house detective in a London hotel. This was followed by the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production of 'No Smoking'” (16th March 1952) playing Sylvia. Her 1952 cinema roles included Myra Lorne in Salute the Toff AKA Brighthaven Express (1952) and the aforementioned The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1952). On television she appeared in the single BBC drama If This Be Error (11th November 1952) with a cast that also included Peter Cushing and Dandy Nichols.
Theatre work, such as portraying Hermione in The Private Life of Helen in a touring presentation during April / May 1953 and Drama at Inish during October / November 1953, occupied her time and she made no film or television appearances during this period. Along with Billy Thatcher she wrote Tai Lu Flies Abroad, which detailed the adventures of a magic Siamese cat, for Hullo There!, a weekly radio magazine programme for young listeners. Dorothy Gordon narrated the cat’s adventures and they proved so popular that the adventures also featured in their own children’s television series broadcast by the BBC between 1952 and 1954. Fraser, Thatcher and Dorothy Gordon narrated the tales with illustrations by Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone and musical accompaniment by Donald Swann. A series of books based on the feline’s adventures were published from 1955 onwards with Fraser and Thatcher adapting their own tales. Fraser returned to television in 1955 with the role of Emma Horton in the 'Fabian of Scotland Yard' episode The Lover’s Knot (27th April 1955) and a headlining role as Mary Kent opposite Kenneth More, as her husband Tony, in the comedy film Raising A Riot (1955).
During 1959 she had a couple of television appearances which included her final BBC Sunday Night Theatre production 'The Gentle Goddess' (30th August 1959) and Mario (15th December 1959), a BBC version of the Thomas Mann book of the same name. Fraser appeared as Mary Hogan. She also guest starred in a Probation Officer instalment (1959) which featured future Doctor Who William Hartnell in the cast. She guest starred in the Knight Errant adventure series playing Margaret in the episode 'Something in the City' (14th June 1960) before undertaking the recurring role of Brownie Bevan in a nine episode run of Emergency Ward Ten (8th November to 20th December 1960). Her only onscreen role for 1961 was the short film Wings of Death playing Diane Parker opposite Harry H Corbett as a detective, Superintendent Hammond. Meanwhile her stage presence was going from strength to strength with a notable credit as one of the lead cast in Three, a trilogy of one-act plays by Pinter, Simpson and Mortimer at the Nottingham Playhouse during May and June 1961. In her personal life Fraser married screenwriter and director Anthony Squire in 1961.
The year of 1962 bought two television roles – Mary Duckworth in the Z Cars story 'Person Unknown' (14th November 1962) and Ruth Kindred in the ITV Play of the Week episode 'A Matter of Principle' (11th September 1962). The following saw year a pair of ITV Play of the Week productions featuring Fraser. First was the original screenplay 'Girl with a Difference' (14th May 1963) followed by the John Bowen scripted 'The Truth about Alan' (4th June 1963) which also featured Anthony Bate who would later appear in 'During Barty’s Party'. Towards the end of the year Fraser made her first guest appearance in an episode of Dr Finlay’s Casebook when she took the role of Jean Docherty in 'Odds on Johnny' (1st November 1963). The year ended with Fraser appearing as Claire Jusserand in the Maigret story 'Maigret’s Little Joke' (24th December 1963).
Her most noteworthy job for the year was in the film The Witches (1966). This would be the first time Fraser worked on a Nigel Kneale script, with a small turn as Mrs Creek, in the black magic thriller based on the novel by Norah Lofts. 1967’s resume included a second Dr Finlay’s Casebook, 'Under the Hammer' (15th January 1967) and a second Armchair Theatre, 'The Girl' (26th August 1967), which also starred Joss Ackland and Janina Faye. She also undertook a recurring role in a series playing Mrs Blake-Clanton in the Southern Television produced drama Mystery Hall (28th September – 2nd November 1967).
A Man of Our Times was a George Cole starring series in which he played a harassed man who is dismissed from his managerial job and finds himself in marital turmoil at the same time. Fraser popped up in one episode of the series – 'Never Mind How We Got Here, Where Are We?' (14th March 1968) - in the role of Mrs Manson. The cast also included Bruce Robinson in the role of her son Rex. Robinson later found a cult following as the writer and director of the sublime Withnail And I (1987). On the big screen Fraser could be seen in the movie version of Till Death Do Us Part (1968). The following year saw Fraser make a couple of TV appearances; Daphne in the ITV Sunday Night Theatre production 'The Piano Tuner' (8th March 1969), as Mrs Evesby in the First Lady episode 'All In A Good Cause' (19th June 1969) and for the BBC’s Wednesday Play slot she played Mrs Grayson in 'The Last Train Through Harecastle Tunnel' (1st October 1969). The majority of her onscreen appearances for the year were in cinema. She could be seen as Mrs Thatcher in the low budget British science fiction film The Bodysnatchers (1969), had an uncredited role as Miss Gurnsey in Waris Hussein’s drama A Touch of Love (1969) and another small role in the comedy Staircase (1969). She also had another role as a mother, this time to Judy Geeson’s character, in the film Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969).
A Man of Our Times was a George Cole starring series in which he played a harassed man who is dismissed from his managerial job and finds himself in marital turmoil at the same time. Fraser popped up in one episode of the series – 'Never Mind How We Got Here, Where Are We?' (14th March 1968) - in the role of Mrs Manson. The cast also included Bruce Robinson in the role of her son Rex. Robinson later found a cult following as the writer and director of the sublime Withnail And I (1987). On the big screen Fraser could be seen in the movie version of Till Death Do Us Part (1968). The following year saw Fraser make a couple of TV appearances; Daphne in the ITV Sunday Night Theatre production 'The Piano Tuner' (8th March 1969), as Mrs Evesby in the First Lady episode 'All In A Good Cause' (19th June 1969) and for the BBC’s Wednesday Play slot she played Mrs Grayson in 'The Last Train Through Harecastle Tunnel' (1st October 1969). The majority of her onscreen appearances for the year were in cinema. She could be seen as Mrs Thatcher in the low budget British science fiction film The Bodysnatchers (1969), had an uncredited role as Miss Gurnsey in Waris Hussein’s drama A Touch of Love (1969) and another small role in the comedy Staircase (1969). She also had another role as a mother, this time to Judy Geeson’s character, in the film Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969).
Between 1970 and 1971 she would appear in the TV drama A Family at War in another matriarchal role as Jean Ashton. This role not only made her a recognisable face with the general public, but also kept her in regular employment which curtailed her chance to appear in other programmes. She did find time to make one guest appearance in one other series during this period with the character Joan Prentice in the Doomwatch episode 'The Islanders' (4th January 1971). The following year she was cast in the Doomwatch (1972) movie playing a different character, Betty Straker, in a poorly developed adaptation of the television episode. Following her exit from A Family at War Fraser guest starred in the Follyfoot episode 'Out-of-the-Blue Horse' (13th August 1972) in the role of Vera Berwick.
1973 would bring the role of Mrs Alison in the criminally ignored British horror film Nothing But The Night (1973) as well as television work in the form of TV movie And No One Could Save Her (21st February 1973) and BBC Play of the Month episode 'The Common' (21st October 1973). On stage she appeared in Schellenbrack at the King’s Head Theatre Club during April and May 1973 opposite Wolfe Morris, who would later feature in the Beasts episode 'Buddyboy'. Further stage work the following year took in her final appearance in a West End play as Mrs Dunning in the David Hare play Knuckle at the Comedy Theatre, although she continued to be involved in regional theatre in Liverpool, Windsor and Edinburgh. On the screen she was in 'Paperwork' (6th November 1974), an episode of Softly Softly: Task Force which featured Fraser in the role of Marjorie Allen. On the big screen she featured in Persecution (1974), another ignored British horror thriller, with a sterling cast including Lana Turner, Trevor Howard and Ralph Bates. Fraser appears as Mrs Banks.
In the year prior to her role in Beasts Fraser played Lady Bassinger in the Wodehouse Playhouse episode 'Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court' (14th May 1975) and Mrs Heath in the Armchair Cinema production 'In Sickness and In Health' (21st May 1975). Her role as Dorothy Pummery, the wife of TP Mckenna’s character Dick, in 'Baby' was next. Her final TV role was in an episode of the children’s horror anthology series Shadows, 'Brief Encounter' (18th August 1976), written by Susan Cooper.
In the year prior to her role in Beasts Fraser played Lady Bassinger in the Wodehouse Playhouse episode 'Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court' (14th May 1975) and Mrs Heath in the Armchair Cinema production 'In Sickness and In Health' (21st May 1975). Her role as Dorothy Pummery, the wife of TP Mckenna’s character Dick, in 'Baby' was next. Her final TV role was in an episode of the children’s horror anthology series Shadows, 'Brief Encounter' (18th August 1976), written by Susan Cooper.
Post-Beasts Fraser made a small appearance in a film that would change cinema and thus enshrine her with cinematic immortality. She was cast as Aunt Beru, the mother figure who encourages Luke Skywalker to join the Academy, in the very first Star Wars film now known as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). It would become her most watched and famous role. Her last screen appearances for the decade included 'Sleeping on Grass' (20th November 1978), an episode of the BBC business drama Tycoon, and roles in two episodes of The Professionals – season one story 'When The Heat Cools Off' (24th February 1978) and season two’s 'A Stirring of Dust' (25th November 1978) both of which featured Beasts cohort Martin Shaw.
Her first screen role of the 1980s was as Diana Price in the BBC drama The Old Men at the Zoo (15th September – 13th October 1983). From now on her screen roles became sporadic and she was not seen again until a tiny role as a CND supporter in the BBC Screen Two drama 'Frankie and Johnnie' (2nd February 1986) directed by Martin Campbell who had overseen her appearances in The Professionals. Her final film role came with another “cough and spit” role as a Women’s Volunteer Service member in John Boorman’s Hope and Glory (1987). She then made an appearance as a lost shopper in the comedy short film Work Experience (1989) which also starred Lenny Henry and Kathy Burke
Redundancy drama 'The Merrihill Millionaires' (29th September 1993) was a Screenplay production. Fraser featured in the cast as Mrs Wilson. 'House Calls' (16th February 1997) was an instalment of the detective series A Touch of Frost. Fraser appeared in the role of Mrs Hinckley. Following this she could be seen as Sarah Thorpe in the Heartbeat episode 'Local Knowledge' (25th January 1998). Her penultimate screen role was as Edith in the short film Edith’s Finger (2000). Edith is an elderly lady who has suffered a stroke and is only able to communicate by tapping her finger. The production won the Welsh Bafta award for best short film.
Fraser’s final screen role was as Jane Rochelle in the Midsommer Murders episode 'Judgement Day' (29th January 2000). Her final role was made even more notable by the fact that the episode marked Fraser appearing alongside fellow 'Baby' cast member Jane Wymark, who played the regular role of Joyce Barnaby.
During the 1980s Fraser turned her attention to writing radio dramas, having appeared in hundreds of radio plays during her acting career as a member of the BBC Repertory Company from 1942 onwards. For Radio 4 she adapted The World My Wilderness by Rose Macauley and The Salt of the Earth by Rebecca West. She also wrote an original radio play, The Maid’s Room. Fraser passed away on 29th August, 2000 in London at the age of 79. Her obituary in the newspaper The Guardian noted that “Fraser remained a strikingly pretty woman, whose appearance was marked with a characteristic expression in which humour and tenderness were equally mixed, and which reflected her warm and constant gift for friendship.[4]”
[3] “Lucius – Almost A Corgi – Knew When A Dog Had Had His Day”, The Daily Mirror, Monday 2nd August, Page 1
[4] Obituary by Derek Granger, The Guardian, 20th September 2000
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