Liz Fraser

Elizabeth Joan Winch (14 August 1930 – 6 September 2018), known professionally as Liz Fraser, was a British film actress, best known for being cast in provocative comedy roles.

Early life Elizabeth Joan Winch was born in Southwark, London. Her father was a travelling salesman for a brewery and her mother owned a corner shop just off the New Kent Road. Their family life was disrupted by the Second World War, when she was evacuated, initially to Westerham in Kent and then, when that was deemed still too vulnerable to bombing, to Chudleigh, a town in Devon. Her father died in May 1942, aged 40, when she was 11.

Career Her first film appearance was in Touch and Go (1955), using her birth name, and The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) in which she worked with Peter Sellers for the first time. Fraser also appeared in commercial television's first live play The Geranium for Associated-Rediffusion. She made an uncredited appearance as June in Alive and Kicking (1959), Her breakthrough role was as the daughter of Sellers's character in I'm All Right Jack (1959), for which she received a BAFTA nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. She was in several of the early Carry On films: Carry On Regardless (1961), Carry On Cruising (1962), and Carry On Cabby (1963), but was sacked by producer Peter Rogers after casually saying the series could be better marketed. She re-appeared in the series in Carry On Behind (1975), her salary apparently half of what it had been before.

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

Fraser was also known for her many appearances in British television series, including Hancock's Half Hour, and the Avengers episode "The Girl from Auntie" where she guest starred opposite Carry On regular Bernard Cribbins. As Elizabeth Fraser, over a period of nearly six months, she appeared in numerous editions of the Associated-Rediffusion soap opera Sixpenny Corner (1955–56). She appeared on Benny Hill's late-1950s TV shows, and in a single sketch in the 23 December 1970 episode of his Thames TV series. This episode was in black and white (owing to the "Colour Strike" by ITV 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 of The Benny Hill Show. However, it is included in the Volume 1 box set of the complete Benny Hill Show, issued by A&E and Fremantle.

Fraser also starred as Gloria Simpkins in the radio sitcom Parsley Sidings alongside Arthur Lowe and Kenneth Connor from 1971 to 1973.

She played Mrs Brent, the mother of a missing girl, in the television production of Agatha Christie's Nemesis, starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, in 1987. Another role was in the "Backtrack" episode of the British police series The Professionals, as Margery Harper, a glamorous woman who fenced stolen property in her shop.

Her other television work included Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Crown Court, Citizen James, Robin's Nest, Rumpole of the Bailey, Last of the Summer Wine, The Bill, Foyle's War, Birds of a Feather, Minder and Holby City.

Personal life and death

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 the Rodney Bewes sitcom Albert!, which Hitchcock co-directed, and again later in the same year, when she acted in Turnbull's Finest Half-Hour, a comedy series starring Michael Bates and produced by Hitchcock. Hitchcock died from a pulmonary 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.

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

She died on 6 September 2018 at Royal Brompton Hospital as a result of complications following an operation.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1955 Touch and Go Girl on the Bridge (As Elizabeth Winch)1957 The Smallest Show on Earth Girl in Cinema (uncredited) The Shiralee Chambermaid (uncredited)1958 Davy Waitress Dunkirk Worker in Holden's Factory (uncredited) Wonderful Things! Hot Dog Seller (uncredited) Alive & Kicking June (as Elizabeth Winch)1959 I'm All Right Jack Cynthia Kite Top Floor Girl Mabel The Night We Dropped a Clanger Lulu Desert Mice Edie 1960 Two-Way Stretch Ethel Doctor in Love Leonora The Bulldog Breed NAAFI Girl The Pure Hell of St Trinian's Constable Susan Partridge 1961 The Night We Got the Bird Fay Sellars The Rebel Waitress Carry On Regardless Delia King Fury at Smugglers' Bay Betty Double Bunk Sandra Watch it, Sailor! Daphne Pink Raising the Wind Miranda Kennaway On the Fiddle Girl with Daisies (uncredited)1962 A Pair of Briefs Gloria Hoskins Carry On Cruising Gladys Trimble The Painted Smile Jo Lake Live Now – Pay Later Joyce Corby The Amorous Prawn Pvt. Suzie Tidmarsh 1963 Carry On Cabby Sally 1964 Every Day's a Holiday Miss Slightly 1965 The Americanization of Emily Sheila 1966 The Family Way Molly Thompson 1968 Up the Junction Mrs. McCarthy 1971 Dad's Army Mrs. Pike 1972 Hide and Seek Audrey Lawson 1975 Three for All Airport Passenger Carry On Behind Sylvia Ramsden 1976 Adventures of a Taxi Driver Maisie Confessions of a Driving Instructor Mrs. Chalmers Under the Doctor Sandra 1977 Adventures of a Private Eye Violet Confessions from a Holiday Camp Mrs. Whitemonk 1978 Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse Mrs. Dixon 1980 The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle Woman in Cinema 1990 Chicago Joe and the Showgirl Mrs. Evans

Television appearances