| John Laurie | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Paton Laurie 25 March 1897 Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland |
| Died | 23 June 1980 (aged 83) Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England[1] |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1930–79 |
| Spouse | Florence Saunders (1924–26) (her death) Oona Todd-Naylor (1928–1980) (his death) |
John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army (1968-1977), he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier. He was also a noted stage actor (particularly of Shakespearean roles) and speaker of verse, especially that of Robert Burns.
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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). He was a pupil at Dumfries Academy and abandoned a career in architecture to serve in the First World War. Laurie was left particularly haunted by his experiences. He once asked Jim Perry to stop showing a piece of film of the war, which was part of a piece Perry was filming about First World War veterans; saying "Turn it off, son. I can't watch it". After the war, in which he served with the Honourable Artillery Company, he trained to become an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and first acted on stage in 1921.
A prolific Shakespearean actor, Laurie spent much of the time between 1922 and 1939 playing Shakespearean parts, including Hamlet, Richard III and Macbeth at the Old Vic or Stratford-upon-Avon. He starred in his friend Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean films, Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). He and Olivier also appeared in As You Like It (1936). During the Second World War, Laurie served in the Home Guard - the only future Dad's Army cast member to have done so.
His early work in films included Juno and the Paycock (1930), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His breakthrough third film was Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) in which he played a crofter (opposite Peggy Ashcroft). Other roles included Peter Manson in The Edge of the World, Clive Candy's batman in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a gardener in Medal for the General and the farmer recruit in The Way Ahead (both 1944), the brothel proprietor in Fanny by Gaslight (1944), the repugnant Pew in Disney's Treasure Island (1950), and Dr. MacFarlane in Hobson's Choice (1954).
In the 1945 film I Know Where I'm Going!, Laurie had a small speaking part in a céilidh sequence for which he was also credited as an adviser. He also appeared in the Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (1975), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1979). One of his final appearances, looking slightly frail, was in Return to the Edge of the World, directed by Michael Powell in 1978. Although his final appearance in the Media was on the Radio 4 comedy series "Tony's" along with Victor Spinetti. When he died they were about to produce a second series, and because of this he was replaced with Deryck Guyler.
His role as Frazer, the gaunt-faced, intense, pessimistic undertaker and Home Guard soldier in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army remains his most popularly remembered television role, although he featured in many British series of the 1950s, '60s and '70s including Tales of Mystery, Doctor Finlay's Casebook and The Avengers.
Laurie was married twice; his first wife, Florence Saunders, whom he had met at the Old Vic, died in 1926. His second wife was Oonah V. Todd-Naylor, with whom he had a daughter. He died aged 83 in the Chalfont and Gerrards Cross Hospital, Chalfont St Peter, from emphysema.[2] He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
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