1 STAR of stage and screen John Fraser, who has died aged 89, grew up on a Glasgow council estate. His parents both died young, and he and his sisters were looked after by their aunt. He went on to become known as one of the most handsome UK leading screen actors of the 1950s and 1960s. His best-known roles were as Bosie in The Trials of Oscar Wilde, as Flight Lieutenant J V ‘Hoppy’ Hopgood in The Dam Busters, Tunes of Glory with Susannah York and The Wind Cannot Read with Dirk Bogarde.

2 Fraser first appeared on stage at the Glasgow Park Theatre on Woodside Terrace (which, after the Second World War relocated to Perthshire and became Pitlochry Theatre.) One reviewer said his performance had been “undermined by an accent from the worst Glasgow slums”, which did not deter the young actor in the slightest.

Glasgow Times:

3 He served time in the army as a junior officer, worked as an assistant stage manager and bit-part actor at Pitlochry and starred on TV in the likes of Kidnapped, Doctor Who and Columbo. He also enjoyed a brief spell as a pop singer, appearing on Six-Five Special and other music shows.

4 Fraser co-founded the London Shakespeare Group and toured the world for more than 15 years, publishing books about his travels, a novel and a play.

Glasgow Times:

5 His gossip-filled memoir Close Up, published in 2004, reveals what it was like to be a gay man in Hollywood, and it contains some no-holds barred stories about fellow stars, including Bette Davis, Bogarde and Hedy Lamarr, and his lovers, including famous ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Fraser lived in Tuscany with his partner Rod Pienaar, whom he had met while working in South Africa during the 70s. He died of oesophageal cancer earlier this month.