(Adding categories) |
No edit summary Tag: Visual edit |
||
| (11 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | {{Infobox actor |
||
| + | | image = [[Image:JohnLaurie.jpg|280px]] |
||
| + | | name = John Laurie |
||
| + | | birthdate =25th March 1897 |
||
| + | | deathdate =23rd June 1980 (aged 83) |
||
| + | | first appearance = [[The Man and the Hour]] |
||
| + | | last appearance = [[Never Too Old]] |
||
| + | | series = 1 - 9 |
||
| + | | episodes = 80}} |
||
'''John Paton Laurie''' (25th March 1897 – 23rd June 1980) was a Scottish actor best remembered for his role as [[Private James Frazer]] in the popular British sitcom '''''[[Dad's Army]]''' ''from 1968 to 1977. Laurie also appeared in scores of feature films under famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, and was also a succesful stage actor (particularly of Shakespearean roles) and voice artist. |
'''John Paton Laurie''' (25th March 1897 – 23rd June 1980) was a Scottish actor best remembered for his role as [[Private James Frazer]] in the popular British sitcom '''''[[Dad's Army]]''' ''from 1968 to 1977. Laurie also appeared in scores of feature films under famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, and was also a succesful stage actor (particularly of Shakespearean roles) and voice artist. |
||
==Biography== |
==Biography== |
||
===Early life and army career=== |
===Early life and army career=== |
||
| − | John was the son of William Laurie (1856 – 1903), a clerk in a tweed mill and later a hatter and hosier, and Jessie Ann Laurie (''née'' Brown; 1858 – 1935), and was born in Dumfries, Scotland. He was a pupil at Dumfries Academy - then a grammar school - but abandoned a career in architecture to serve in the [[First World War]]. Laurie was left particularly haunted by his experiences; later in his life, he once asked [[Jimmy Perry]] to stop showing a piece of film of the war (part of a piece Perry was filming about First World War veterans), saying "Turn it off, son. I can't watch it." Laurie served with the Honourable Artillery Company during the war. |
+ | John Paton Laurie was the son of William Laurie (1856 – 1903), a clerk in a tweed mill and later a hatter and hosier, and Jessie Ann Laurie (''née'' Brown; 1858 – 1935), and was born in Dumfries, Scotland. He was a pupil at Dumfries Academy - then a grammar school - but abandoned a career in architecture to serve in the [[First World War]]. Laurie was left particularly haunted by his experiences; later in his life, he once asked [[Jimmy Perry]] to stop showing a piece of film of the war (part of a piece Perry was filming about First World War veterans), saying "Turn it off, son. I can't watch it." Laurie served with the Honourable Artillery Company during the war. |
| − | ===Acting career |
+ | ===Acting career and marriages=== |
After the war, Laurie trained to become an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, first acting on stage in 1921. He married Florence Saunders, who he met at the Old Vic in 1924, but she died in 1926. He remarried in 1928, to Oonah V. Todd-Naylor, with whom he had a daughter. |
After the war, Laurie trained to become an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, first acting on stage in 1921. He married Florence Saunders, who he met at the Old Vic in 1924, but she died in 1926. He remarried in 1928, to Oonah V. Todd-Naylor, with whom he had a daughter. |
||
| − | Prolific in Shakespearean roles, Laurie spent much of the time between 1922 and 1939 playing parts in Shakespeare plays such as ''Hamlet,'' ''Richard III'' and ''Macbeth''. He featured in his friend Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean films, ''Henry V'' (1944), '' |
+ | Prolific in Shakespearean roles, Laurie spent much of the time between 1922 and 1939 playing parts in Shakespeare plays such as ''Hamlet,'' ''Richard III'' and ''Macbeth''. He featured in his friend Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean films, ''Henry V'' (1944), ''Hamlet'' (1948) and later ''Richard III'' (1955). He also acted in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's ''Juno and the Paycock ''(1930), and ''The 39 Steps ''(1935), also directed by Hitchcock. |
| + | ===WWII, further acting career and ''Dad's Army''=== |
||
| ⚫ | During the [[Second World War]], Laurie served in the [[Home Guard]]. He also continued his acting career, and in the film ''I Know Where I'm Going!'' (1945) - a Powell and Pressburger (who Laurie had worked with previously) production - he had a small speaking part in a céilidh sequence for which he was also credited as an adviser. In the next decade he played the repugnant Pew in Disney's ''Treasure Island'' (1950), Angus in ''Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (1951), and Dr. MacFarlane in ''Hobson's Choice'' (1954). |
||
| ⚫ | During the [[Second World War]], Laurie served in the [[Home Guard]], making him the only actor out of the main seven in ''Dad's Army'' who could draw from his own personal experience. He also continued his acting career, and in the film ''I Know Where I'm Going!'' (1945) - a Powell and Pressburger (who Laurie had worked with previously) production - he had a small speaking part in a céilidh sequence for which he was also credited as an adviser. In the next decade he played the repugnant Pew in Disney's ''Treasure Island'' (1950), Angus in ''Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (1951), and Dr. MacFarlane in ''Hobson's Choice'' (1954). |
||
| ⚫ | Laurie was cast as [[Frazer]], the gaunt-faced, pessimistic and intense undertaker and Home Guard private, in the [[BBC]] sitcom'' [[Dad's Army]] in ''1968. The show ran for nine seasons until 1977, and remains Laurie's most known television role, although he also featured in many well-known British series of the 1950s, '60s and '70s including ''Tales of Mystery'', ''Doctor Finlay's Casebook'' and ''The Avengers''. |
||
| + | |||
| ⚫ | [[File:Frazerdm1112 228x374.jpg|thumb|John Laurie as ''[[Private Frazer]]'']][[File:FrazerSketch.jpg|thumb|A sketch of John Laurie as Private Frazer by [[James Beck]]]]Laurie was cast as [[Frazer]], the gaunt-faced, pessimistic and intense undertaker and Home Guard private, in the [[BBC]] sitcom'' [[Dad's Army]] in ''1968. The show ran for nine seasons until 1977, and remains Laurie's most known television role, although he also featured in many well-known British series of the 1950s, '60s and '70s including ''Tales of Mystery'', ''Doctor Finlay's Casebook'' and ''The Avengers''. |
||
===Later acting career=== |
===Later acting career=== |
||
Laurie's later film appearances came in Disney's ''One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' (1975), ''Return to the Edge of the World'' (1978) (in which he looked slightly frail, and director Michael Powell revisited his earlier film of forty years previously) and ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1979). Laurie's final work was in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series ''Tony's'' (1979), in which he featured with Victor Spinetti and Deborah Watling. |
Laurie's later film appearances came in Disney's ''One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' (1975), ''Return to the Edge of the World'' (1978) (in which he looked slightly frail, and director Michael Powell revisited his earlier film of forty years previously) and ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1979). Laurie's final work was in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series ''Tony's'' (1979), in which he featured with Victor Spinetti and Deborah Watling. |
||
| Line 18: | Line 29: | ||
[[Category:Actors]] |
[[Category:Actors]] |
||
[[Category:Male Actors]] |
[[Category:Male Actors]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Main Cast]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Deceased Actors]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Radio Series Actors]] |
||
| + | [[Category:People]] |
||
Latest revision as of 19:24, 27 October 2017
| Actor | |
| |
|---|---|
| John Laurie | |
| Born | 25th March 1897 |
| Died | 23rd June 1980 (aged 83) |
| First appearance | The Man and the Hour |
| Last appearance | Never Too Old |
| Series | 1 - 9 |
| Episode count | 80 |
John Paton Laurie (25th March 1897 – 23rd June 1980) was a Scottish actor best remembered for his role as Private James Frazer in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 to 1977. Laurie also appeared in scores of feature films under famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, and was also a succesful stage actor (particularly of Shakespearean roles) and voice artist.
Biography[]
Early life and army career[]
John Paton Laurie was the son of William Laurie (1856 – 1903), a clerk in a tweed mill and later a hatter and hosier, and Jessie Ann Laurie (née Brown; 1858 – 1935), and was born in Dumfries, Scotland. He was a pupil at Dumfries Academy - then a grammar school - but abandoned a career in architecture to serve in the First World War. Laurie was left particularly haunted by his experiences; later in his life, he once asked Jimmy Perry to stop showing a piece of film of the war (part of a piece Perry was filming about First World War veterans), saying "Turn it off, son. I can't watch it." Laurie served with the Honourable Artillery Company during the war.
Acting career and marriages[]
After the war, Laurie trained to become an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, first acting on stage in 1921. He married Florence Saunders, who he met at the Old Vic in 1924, but she died in 1926. He remarried in 1928, to Oonah V. Todd-Naylor, with whom he had a daughter.
Prolific in Shakespearean roles, Laurie spent much of the time between 1922 and 1939 playing parts in Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet, Richard III and Macbeth. He featured in his friend Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean films, Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) and later Richard III (1955). He also acted in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Juno and the Paycock (1930), and The 39 Steps (1935), also directed by Hitchcock.
WWII, further acting career and Dad's Army[]
During the Second World War, Laurie served in the Home Guard, making him the only actor out of the main seven in Dad's Army who could draw from his own personal experience. He also continued his acting career, and in the film I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) - a Powell and Pressburger (who Laurie had worked with previously) production - he had a small speaking part in a céilidh sequence for which he was also credited as an adviser. In the next decade he played the repugnant Pew in Disney's Treasure Island (1950), Angus in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951), and Dr. MacFarlane in Hobson's Choice (1954).
John Laurie as Private Frazer
A sketch of John Laurie as Private Frazer by James Beck
Laurie was cast as Frazer, the gaunt-faced, pessimistic and intense undertaker and Home Guard private, in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army in 1968. The show ran for nine seasons until 1977, and remains Laurie's most known television role, although he also featured in many well-known British series of the 1950s, '60s and '70s including Tales of Mystery, Doctor Finlay's Casebook and The Avengers.
Later acting career[]
Laurie's later film appearances came in Disney's One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (1975), Return to the Edge of the World (1978) (in which he looked slightly frail, and director Michael Powell revisited his earlier film of forty years previously) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1979). Laurie's final work was in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series Tony's (1979), in which he featured with Victor Spinetti and Deborah Watling.
Death[]
Laurie died aged 83 from emphysema in the Chalfont and Gerrards Cross Hospital, Chalfont St Peter, in June 1980. He was cremated, and his ashes scattered at sea.