Liz Fraser
Born	Elizabeth Joan Winch (1930-08-14)14 August 1930 Southwark,London, England
Died	6 September 2018(2018-09-06) (aged 88) Chelsea, London, England
Alma mater	Goldsmiths College London School of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1952–2018
Spouses	Peter Yonwin ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1960)​ Bill Hitchcock ​ ​ (m. 1965; died 1974)​

Elizabeth Joan Winch (14 August 1930 – 6 September 2018),^[1][2] known professionally asLiz Fraser, was a British film actress, best known for being cast in provocative comedy roles.

Fraser was born inSouthwark, London.^[3] Her year of birth was usually cited as 1933, which she gave when auditioning for her role inI'm All Right Jack, because theBoulting Brothers wanted someone younger for the part. In fact she was three years older, as she confirmed in her 2012 autobiographyLiz Fraser ... and Other Characters,.^[3] Her father was a travelling salesman for a brewery and her mother owned acorner shop just off theNew Kent Road. Their family life was disrupted by theSecond World War, when she was evacuated, initially toWesterham inKent and then, when that was deemed still too vulnerable to bombing, toChudleigh, a town inDevon. Her father died in May 1942, aged 40, when she was 11.^[3]

She went toSt Saviour's and St Olave's Grammar School for Girls between the ages of 13 and 17. She then attended evening courses atGoldsmiths College, where she joined a drama group, and the City of London College for Commerce, Book-Keeping, Shorthand and Typing, and won an evening scholarship to theLondon School of Dramatic Art.^[4]

Her first film appearance was inTouch and Go (1955), using her birth name,^[5] andThe Smallest Show on Earth (1957) in which she worked withPeter Sellers for the first time.^[6] Fraser also appeared in commercial television's first live playThe Geranium forAssociated-Rediffusion. She made an uncredited appearance as June inAlive and Kicking (1959), Her breakthrough role was as the daughter of Sellers' character inI'm All Right Jack (1959), for which she received a BAFTA nomination asMost Promising Newcomer.^[7] She was in several of the earlyCarry On films:Carry On Regardless (1961),Carry On Cruising (1962), andCarry On Cabby (1963), but was sacked by producerPeter Rogers after casually saying the series could be better marketed. She re-appeared in the series inCarry On Behind (1975), her salary apparently half of what it had been before.^[5][8]

Her other film appearances includeDesert Mice (1959),Two-Way Stretch (1960), again with Sellers,^[9]The Bulldog Breed (1960),^[10]Double Bunk (1961),^[11]Fury at Smugglers Bay (1961) starring Peter Cushing,Raising the Wind (1961),On the Fiddle (1961),The Painted Smile (1962),^[12]The Americanization of Emily (1964),^[13]The Family Way (1966),^[14]Up the Junction (1968),^[15]Dad's Army (1971),^[16] and a string of sex comedies:Adventures of a Taxi Driver^[17] (1976),Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976),Adventures of a Private Eye (1977),Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977) andRosie Dixon – Night Nurse^[18] (1978).

Fraser was also known for her many appearances in British television series, includingHancock's Half Hour,^[19] and theAvengers episode "The Girl from Auntie"^[20] where she guest starred oppositeCarry On regularBernard Cribbins. As Elizabeth Fraser, over a period of nearly six months, she appeared in numerous editions of theAssociated-Rediffusionsoap operaSixpenny Corner (1955–56). She appeared onBenny Hill's late-1950s TV shows, and in a single sketch in the 23 December 1970 episode of hisThames TV series. This episode was in black and white (owing to the "Colour Strike" byITV technicians, who wanted to be paid extra for working with the then-new colour TV technology), and hence the sketch was not included in any of the half-hour syndicated episodes ofThe Benny Hill Show. However, it is included in the Volume 1 box set of the completeBenny Hill Show, issued by A&E and Fremantle.^{[citation needed]}

Fraser also starred as Gloria Simpkins in the radio sitcomParsley Sidings alongsideArthur Lowe andKenneth Connor from 1971 to 1973.^[21]

She played Mrs Brent, the mother of a missing girl, in the television production ofAgatha Christie'sNemesis, starringJoan Hickson as Miss Marple, in 1987.^[22] Another role was in the "Backtrack" episode of the British police seriesThe Professionals, as Margery Harper, a glamorous woman who fenced stolen property in her shop.^[23]

Her other television work includedRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased),Crown Court,Citizen James,Robin's Nest,Rumpole of the Bailey,Last of the Summer Wine,^[24]The Bill,Foyle's War,Birds of a Feather,Minder^[25] andHolby City.^[26]

Fraser married Peter Yonwin, a travelling salesman, in November 1958, but the marriage soon broke down and they were divorced. She married her second husband, Bill Hitchcock, a TV director, in January 1965 at Harrow Register Office. They agreed not to work together, but this changed in 1972 when she appeared in theRodney Bewes sitcomAlbert!, which Hitchcock co-directed,^[27] and again later in the same year, when she acted inTurnbull's Finest Half-Hour, a comedy series starringMichael Bates and produced by Hitchcock.^[28] Hitchcock died from apulmonary embolism in February 1974, at the age of 45. Fraser was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1978 and 1979, undergoing a lumpectomy the first time and having reconstructive surgery at the Marsden in 1979.^[29]

Fraser had a half-brother, Philip, 11 years older, the son of her mother from a previous marriage. She supported variouscharities and was a patron of the London Repertory Company.^[30] She was also an enthusiastic and talented poker and bridge player.^[31]

She died on 6 September 2018 atRoyal Brompton Hospital as a result of complications following an operation.^[9]

• Simon SheridanKeeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema, Titan Books (2011, 4th edition);ISBN 9780857682796

• Liz Fraser at theBritish Film Institute
• Liz Fraser atIMDb
• Official website of the Carry On films

• 1930 births
• 2018 deaths
• Actors from the London Borough of Southwark
• Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London
• English film actresses
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• Actresses from London
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• People from Southwark

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use British English from May 2012
• Use dmy dates from October 2015
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• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2016