John Fraser dead: The Dam Busters star dies aged 89 after cancer battle
The Dam Busters star John Fraser has died at the age of 89 after a year-long battle with cancer, it has been confirmed
John Fraser has died at the age of 89, his family has confirmed.
The Dam Busters star passed away on Saturday after a year-long battle with cancer.
Fraser had decided not to have chemotherapy and was discovered peaceful in bed by his partner, artist Rodney Pienaar, 68.
During the height of his fame homosexuality was still illegal, and as a gay man this played a part in his desire to step out of the spotlight, with his last acting role being in the nineties.
He shot to fame playing Flight Lieutenant J V ‘Hoppy’ Hopgood in the 1955 epic British war film Dam Busters.
Fraser starred in more than 20 films throughout his career, including Tunes Of Glory in 1960 and The Waltz of the Toreadors in 1962.
But he began turning down roles as he “got cold feet about Hollywood” in the sixties.
Dam Busters had made him a pin-up and he was once described as the “most handsome man in Britain”.
Fraser was born on March 18 1931 in Glasgow and was brought up on Mosspark council estate.
He auditioned as a child actor for Children’s Hour on BBC Radio and then went on to work with the Park Theatre Company in Glasgow as an assistant stage manager.
Fraser then made making his acting debut in 1947 in Oscar Wilde’s Salome.
But his career took a backseat while he completed his National Service as a Royal Corps of Signals lieutenant with the British Army of the Rhine.
He starred in TV series Kidnapped in 1952 and his first film role was in the 1953 movie Titanic.
In 1958 he got into a fight with actor Ronald Lewis who made comments about his sexuality while filming The Wind Cannot Read.
He made a memorable appearance as The Monitor in Doctor Who in 1981.
Fraser’s last role was in Truth or Dare in 1996.
In recent years he had been living in Tuscany with his partner, Rodney, an artist from South Africa.
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