Shelagh Fraser

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Shelagh Fraser
Fraser in Star Wars (1977)
Born
Sheila[1] Mary Fraser

(1920-11-25)25 November 1920
Purley, Surrey, England
Died29 August 2000(2000-08-29) (aged 79)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1944–2000
Spouse(s)Anthony Squire
(m. 1961; div. ?)
RelativesMoyra Fraser (sister)

Sheila Mary Fraser (25 November 1920 – 29 August 2000) was an English actress. She is best known for her roles in the television serial A Family at War (1970–1971) and as Luke Skywalker's Aunt Beru in Star Wars (1977).

Early life[edit]

Shelagh Fraser was born in Purley, Surrey, on 25 November 1920. Her parents were John Newton Mappin Fraser and Vera Eleanor (née Beardshaw). Her father was a director of the jewelry company Mappin & Webb, and the family was sent to Australia to establish a branch of the family business there. They returned to the United Kingdom in 1924.[2][3][4]

As a child, Shelagh suffered from spinal tuberculosis, but overcame the debilitating effects of the illness. She was educated at St Christopher's School in Kingswood and won a scholarship to train as an actor at Croydon Repertory Theatre Drama School. It was there that Fraser made her first stage appearance in 1938.[5][4]

Career[edit]

Fraser had a wide range of roles on the stage. She made her West End theatre debut in 1944 at the Comedy Theatre as Effie in This Was a Woman. She went on to play Mabel Crumm in While the Sun Shines (1945), Hetty, in Call Home the Heart (1947), Lady Orreyd in a revival of The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1950). She took roles in a number of plays in the 1960s and 70s by noted contemporary playwrights such as the role of Flora in Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache, Delia in Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, Martha in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, and Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.[4]

In 1978 she appeared as Mrs. Wilson, a respectable lady who becomes embroiled in a conspiracy to obtain the release of underworld crime boss Bill Hayden in an episode of the hard-hitting British police drama The Professionals, the episode entitled When the Heat Cools Off.[6]

In cinema, Fraser often played demure character roles in films such as the Master of Bankdam (1947) and Raising a Riot (1955), although she is also remembered for her roles as the vulgar Mrs Orreyd in the 1952 film The Second Mrs Tanqueray. In the 1970s she took one of her best-known roles as Jean Ashton, the embattled mother of a wartime family in Liverpool in the television serial A Family at War. In 1977 she played the part of Beru Lars, the aunt of Luke Skywalker, in the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars. In his casting notes, writer and director George Lucas wrote, "A little British, but okay". Fraser took part in location filming in Matmata, Tunisia, and her voice was later recorded at home for additional wild track lines and dialogue dubbing.[5][7]

Fraser appeared in more than 50 films and TV shows during her career, including Z-Cars; Softly, Softly; A Family at War; The Professionals and Heartbeat on television, and such films as The Witches, Till Death Us Do Part, The Body Stealers, Doomwatch and Hope and Glory.[8] She was a member of the BBC Repertory Company and appeared in over 500 BBC Radio plays.[4]

In the 1950, Fraser began to write for the theatre, and in the 1970s, she wrote two children's books, Captain Johnny and Princess Tai Lue. Building on her experience in radio, she also worked as a radio dramatist, and wrote her own radio play, The Maid's Room, about the relationship between a servant and her mistress. She also adapted Rose Macauley's novel The World My Wilderness and Rebecca West's short story "The Salt of the Earth" for BBC Radio 4.[4]

Personal life[edit]

Fraser was married and divorced from Anthony Squire.[9] She was the sister of ballerina/actress Moyra Fraser.[10] She died in 2000 following a long illness.[11][12]

Selected filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1944 Welcome, Mr. Washington Millie
1945 I Live in Grosvenor Square 2nd Girl in Guard's Van
1947 Meet Me at Dawn Minor Role Uncredited
Master of Bankdam Alice France
1948 Esther Waters Margaret
1949 The History of Mr. Polly Minnie Larkins
1950 Your Witness Ellen Foster
Trio Minor Role Uncredited
1952 Salute the Toff Myra Lorne
The Second Mrs Tanqueray
1955 Raising a Riot Mary Kent
1956 The Last Man to Hang? Mrs Bracket
1958 The Son of Robin Hood Constance
1966 The Witches Mrs Creek
1968 Till Death Us Do Part Mike's Mother
1969 The Body Stealers Mrs Thatcher
A Touch of Love Miss Gurnsey
Staircase Cub Mistress
Two Gentlemen Sharing Helen Marriott
1972 Doomwatch Mrs. Betty Straker
1973 Nothing But the Night Mrs Alison
1974 Persecution Mrs Banks aka Sheba, The Graveyard, The Terror of Sheba
1977 Star Wars Aunt Beru
1987 Hope and Glory WVS Woman

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1960 Emergency – Ward 10 Brownie Bevan 9 episodes
1963 Maigret Claire Jusserand Episode: Maigret's Little Joke
1966 Gideon's Way Lady Copthorne Episode: Morna
1970–1971 A Family at War Jean Ashton
1971 Doomwatch Joan Prentice Episode: The Islanders
1976 Beasts Dorothy Pummery Episode: Baby
1978 The Professionals Elsa Coran
Mrs Wilson		 Episode: A Stirring of Dust
Episode: When the Heat Cools Off
2000 Midsomer Murders Jane Rochelle Episode: Judgement Day
2017 Star Wars Rebels Aunt Beru Episode: Twin Suns, uncredited (archive audio)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  2. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 1999, vol. 1, p. 147
  3. ^ Herbert, Ian; Parker, John; Baxter, Christine; Finley, Robert E. (1977). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. p. 627. ISBN 9780273001638. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Granger, Derek (20 September 2000). "Obituaries: Shelagh Fraser". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (2013). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719091391. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  6. ^ ""The Professionals" when the Heat Cools off (TV Episode 1978) - IMDb". IMDb.
  7. ^ Rinzler, J. W. (2008). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film. Ebury Press. pp. 179, 229. ISBN 9780091924997. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Shelagh Fraser". BFI. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017.
  9. ^ "Shelagh Fraser". Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  10. ^ Coveney, Michael (15 December 2009). "Moyra Fraser obituary". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  11. ^ Granger, Derek (20 September 2000). "Shelagh Fraser". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  12. ^ "STAR WARS STAR DIES". TVGuide.com.

External links[edit]

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