Liz Fraser, bubbly blonde of Carry On fame, dies at age 88
LIZ Fraser, star of the Carry On films, has died at the age of 88.
The British actress filled the classic busty, bubbly blonde role in Carry on Cruising, Carry on Regardless and Carry on Cabby in the early 1960s.
She passed away as a result of complications following an operation, her agent said. She had continued acting well into her 70s.
Michael Armstrong, a film, TV and theatre director whose career began in the 1960s, led the tributes. He tweeted: ‘My lovely Liz Fraser has died. I’m too upset to speak of our personal relationship over the years but will state: as one of the greatest comedic actresses of her era on stage and screen, her legacy of work will serve as a masterclass for future generations. RIP, dearest Liz. X.’
The British Comedy Society wrote: ‘We’re very sad to learn that the wonderful comic actor Liz Fraser, star of many postwar TV, radio and film comedies, has died at the age of 88. She was a delight.’
Miss Fraser had a leading role in British television’s first soap opera, Sixpenny Corner on ITV from 1955 to 1956.
Her first major film role was in 1959’s I’m All Right Jack, playing Peter Sellers’ daughter. The following year she played his girlfriend in the comedy Two Way Stretch.
On working with Sellers, she once said: ‘Peter was Peter. I knew what he was because he’d had a long affair with a close friend of mine and had hurt her badly.
‘He tried it on with me several times – including once when he locked me in his dressing room, having invited me there for lunch.
‘I only got out by telling him that I cared for him very much but I was friends with his wife and couldn’t bring myself to do anything that would hurt her. It was all rubbish of course but it got the door unlocked.’ Miss Fraser joined the Carry On series in 1961 but was reportedly dropped after making a negative comment about the marketing.
She returned 12 years later in 1975’s Carry on Behind. She also starred in The Avengers, the 1971 Dad’s Army film and The Professionals series.