Saturday, November 20, 2010
Brendan Fraser Biography and Full Profile.
Born: 3 December 1968 (Age: 41)
Birth Stone: Blue Topaz
Parents: Peter J. & Carol G Fraser
City: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Siblings: Three older brothers, Regan is 5yrs. older, Sean 6 yrs, and Kevin 8 yrs.
Eyes: Blue
Married to: Afton Smith, September 27th, 1998
Hobbies: Photography, collecting old/antique Polaroid cameras, skiing, rock climbing.
Favorite Movie: BladeRunner, The Director's Cut
Where: Indianapolis, USA
Height: 6' 3"
Awards: No major awards
In cinema, some reputations are hard to shake. Many, like Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy, have found it tough to escape their teen-movie past. Some, like Tim Allen, seem forever doomed to entertain an even younger audience. So the fact that Brendan Fraser has managed to have himself taken seriously as an actor is little short of miraculous. Breaking through in Encino Man and School Ties, then moving on to Airheads, George Of The Jungle and Dudley Do-Right, he could so easily have been trapped in one or both of the aforementioned cul-de-sacs. Yet suddenly there he was, up there next to Michael Caine and Ian McKellan, a bona fide thespian. How the hell did he DO that?He was born Brendan James Fraser on the 3rd of December, 1968, in Indianapolis, to Canadian parents. The Frasers were an old Canadian family, with strong traditions in education and sport. Indeed, his uncle George had won a gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. His father, Peter, had been a journalist and now worked for the Canadian Government's office of tourism. Mother Carol was a sales counsellor, and also looked after Brendan and his three older brothers - Kevin, Sean and Regan. Peter's job took the family all over the world, meaning that, by the age of 13, Brendan had lived in Ottawa, Detroit, Cincinnati, London, Rome, Switzerland, Wassenaar in Holland, and Seattle. While in Holland, aged 7, he hung out with the "army brat" kids of military personnel, and took to calling himself a "Brochure Brat".
By 12, he was in London, and this is where he first made contact with acting. Seeing a matinee of Oliver! in the West End, he was immediately taken with the thrill of it all. When his parents then chose to settle in Seattle, young Brendan quickly joined the chorus of a school production of Oklahoma! In the 8th Grade at the Sacred Heart school in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle, he would play Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore. He remembers this as a real turning point. Making a grand entrance, he tossed his cape high in the air, only for it to land on his head. The audience, naturally, burst into laughter. What was he to do? Would he give in to embarrassment and walk off, or would he brave it out and continue? Recognising that, despite the laughter, he was having a great time, he went on. And has kept going on ever since.
At 13, Brendan had been sent to the Upper Canada College in Toronto, a prestigious boarding school. Here, though his academic averages were not good, he would work in the school's little theatre, appearing in plays and revues, and acting as stage manager and ticket seller. Before his final year, though, Peter opted to leave his government office, thus losing Brendan's tuition subsidy and bringing the boy back to Seattle.
A muscular, darkly handsome actor who defies easy categorization, Brendan Fraser has an enviable versatility that has allowed him to be equally convincing in comedies, dramas, and adventure films alike. The son of a Canadian tourism executive, Fraser was born in Indianapolis on December 3, 1968. Thanks to his father's job, Fraser and his family led a fairly peripatetic existence, living in locales as varied as Ottawa, London, Rome, and Seattle. During his time in London, Fraser became interested in theater and eventually enrolled in Seattle's Cornish Institute for training.
After an early appearance in Dogfight (1991), Fraser got his break in 1992's Encino Man as a Stone-Age man unfrozen in modern-day California. He went on to gain audience prominence in diverse roles such as a Jewish football player in an all-WASP environment in School Ties (1992), a grunged-out musician in Airheads (1994), a Harvard student who loses his thesis in With Honors (1994), and a quirky baseball phenom in The Scout (1994). Fraser has been quoted in one magazine article as saying that he seeks out roles combining "silliness and sexiness"; his work during the second half of the '90s certainly reflected this. Particular highlights were George of the Jungle (1997), a witty satire of jungle adventure films; Gods and Monsters (1998), the acclaimed rendering of the last days of director James Whale, for which Fraser earned particular praise in his role as Whale's strapping gardener; the romantic comedy Blast From the Past (1999); and a big-budget remake of The Mummy (1999) that effectively showcased Fraser as a hero well-suited to old-school adventure. So successful were the extravagantly computer generated exploits of the revived Mummy franchise that a sequel soon went into production, resulting in the decidedly Indiana Jones-flavored The Mummy Returns (2001). Pitting Fraser against not only the fearsome Imhotep but the dreaded Scorpion King (wrestling superstar The Rock) as well, The Mummy Returns upped the ante in terms of action and special effects, providing audiences with even more summertime chills and thrills than its predecessor. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for 2001's ill-received Monkeybone which, despite an energetic performance from Fraser, did not fare in the theaters as well as 20th Century Fox had hoped.
Luckily for him, Fraser's career remained intact despite Monkeybone and the equally mediocre Bedazzled (2000) with Elizabeth Hurley. In 2002, Fraser starred in the critically acclaimed The Quiet American, which featured the young actor as Alden Pyle, a naïve American who travels to Saigon as part of a medical mission. Fraser would rekindle his penchant for the silly in 2003, during which he made an appearance as himself in the David Spade vehicle Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, and again in Looney Tunes: Back in Action with Steve Martin and Jenna Elfman.
Best-known for his roles in family-oriented adventure films like “The Mummy” franchise and “George of the Jungle” (1997), actor Brendan Fraser has enjoyed an unpredictable career that has taken him to the heights of art film greatness, as well as down to the depths of lowest common denominator comedy. It was from those depths that he began his career with “Encino Man” (1991), before going on to earn accolades for his clean-cut charisma in award-winning offerings like “Gods and Monsters” (1998), “The Quiet American” (2002) and the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Crash” (2005).
Born on Dec. 3, 1968 in Indianapolis, IN, Fraser’s father, who worked for Canada’s Office of Tourism, moved the family from place to place – all around Europe, the United States and Canada – during his youth. It was while in London that the elementary school boy saw his first live play – a West End production of “Oliver” – and became captivated by the theater. He jumped right into the school drama department and went on to earn a bachelor of fine arts in acting from the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle, WA. He landed a one-line role in the River Phoenix film “Dogfight” (1991), which was shooting in Seattle, then decided to forego his graduate school plans and head to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. The 6’3” newcomer made an immediate impression, landing a series pilot and winning raves for his co-starring turn as Martin Sheen's son in the telefilm "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" (NBC, 1991).
By some miracle, Fraser’s first starring feature role as an unfrozen caveman unearthed by skateboarding valley teens in “Encino Man” (1992) failed to put the death knell on his fledgling career. He was subsequently cast as the lead in the drama "School Ties" (1992), effectively playing a new student at a private boarding school who encounters a backlash of anti-Semitism. The film was a great showcase of Fraser’s sensitive core and launched not only his career, but those of co-stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris O’Donnell. A string of respected indie films followed, including "Twenty Bucks" (1993), “Young and Younger” (1993) and the cult comedy classic "Airheads" (1994), where Fraser starred alongside Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi as a rock band that takes a radio station hostage to get their music played.
His strapping athletic physique was tapped for the baseball comedy "The Scout" (1994), which paired him with neurotic sports scout Albert Brooks. He then returned to drama as a Harvard student who falls into an odd relationship with a conniving homeless man (Joe Pesci) in the wildly improbable “With Honors” (1994). Fraser had a stronger turn as a backwoodsman who goes mad from unrequited love in the stylish thriller "The Passion of Darkly Noon" (1996), while the period romantic comedy “Mrs. Winterburne” (1996) was an out-and-out misfire. Despite wanting to be taken seriously, Fraser struggled in his early dramas, but managed to triumph in several very different roles. He made for a sweet and very human incarnation of the cartoon character "George of the Jungle" (1997) in Disney’s family blockbuster and also shined in an award-winning portrayal of a street performer who falls for a grifter in "Still Breathing" (1998).
But Fraser’s ringing artistic accomplishment was his co-starring role in "Gods and Monsters" (1998), where he played a handsome gardener befriended by a gay, aging film director (Ian McKellen). The film earned several Oscar nominations won for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Fraser’s stellar performance created murmurs that he finally might be in the league of art film leading men. But that glimpse of craftsmanship was quickly forgotten with his next role in the stoner comedy "Blast From the Past" (1999), where he played a 35-year old raised in a bomb shelter who emerges to discover the world of the late 1990s. He went on to appear in his most commercially successful role as Rick O'Connell, a dashing, heroic Indiana Jones-like figure who discovers an Egyptian tomb unleashing "The Mummy" (1999). The adventure blockbuster marked the beginning of a profitable franchise. Before Fraser reprised his role in “The Mummy Returns” (2001), he starred in another cartoonish matinee offering as the live-action embodiment of square-jawed Royal Canadian Mountie "Dudley Do-Right" (1999), then played a dweeb granted seven wishes by a hellaciously tempting Satan (Elizabeth Hurley) in Harold Ramis' "Bedazzled" (2000).
Following the resounding financial failure of multi-media comedy "Monkeybone" (2001), Fraser returned to dramatic fare with a starring role in a well-received London stage revival of "Cat on Hot Tin Roof" opposite Ned Beatty and "Bedazzled" co-star Frances O'Connor. He went on to co-star as an undercover CIA operative opposite Michael Caine’s reporter in the excellent, but underappreciated adaptation of Graham Greene’s Vietnam saga, "The Quiet American" (2002). Though Caine and director Philip Noyce earned multiple award nominations and widespread critical praise for their efforts, Fraser was noted for his subtle standout performance, ably playing a character who is not what he appears to be and reminding audiences of a range that extended beyond gimmicky comedies. But old loves die hard. Fraser leapt headfirst into another cartoon-centric role when he took on the part of security guard DJ Drake, the human leading man opposite Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and the rest of the Warner Brothers stable of characters in "Looney Tunes: Back In Action" (2003).
Returning to serious fare, Fraser joined the A-list acting ensemble of the racially charged, multi-plot drama "Crash" (2005) for a brief turn as a high-powered Los Angeles District Attorney whose carjacking by a pair of black men looms as both a political and personal liability. The film received multiple Oscar awards, including Best Picture of the year. Fraser stayed in the indie world for another go-round, starring opposite Michelle Geller in “The Air I Breathe” (2007), an episodic crime drama that told four divergent stories centering around an ancient Chinese proverb about the emotional cornerstones of life: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. The following year, Fraser starred in a pair of summer adventure releases, starting with an adaptation of Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (2008), which was released in 3-D, then reprising the role of adventurer Rick O’Connell in “The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (2008).
Also Credited As:
Brendan James Fraser
* Born:
Brendan James Fraser on December 3, 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
* Job Titles:
Actor
Family
* Brother: Kevin Fraser. Born c. 1960
* Brother: Regan Fraser. Born c. 1963
* Brother: Sean Fraser. Born c. 1962
* Father: Peter Fraser. Canadian; born c. 1936; worked for Canada s tourism office
* Mother: Carol Fraser. Canadian; born c. 1936
* Son: Griffin Arthur Fraser. Born Sep. 17, 2002; mother, Afton Smith
* Son: Hudson Fletcher Fraser. Born Aug. 16, 2004; mother, Afton Smith
* Son: Leland Fraser. Born May 2, 2006; mother, Afton Smith
Education
* Upper Canada College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Milestones
* 1991 Made feature debut in a bit part with one line in Nancy Savoca s Dogfight
* 1991 TV acting debut in Guilty Until Proven Innocent (NBC)
* 1992 First lead role, Encino Man
* 1992 Played opposite Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris O Donnell in School Ties
* 1995 Appeared in the L.A. production of John Patrick Shanley s play Four Dogs and a Bone
* 1995 Had small role of a Vietnam veteran in the 1970s flashback segments of Now and Then
* 1996 Made uncredited cameo appearance in Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
* 1997 Earned critical praise for his dramatic performance in Still Breathing
* 1997 Had title role in the live-action, George of the Jungle
* 1998 Portrayed the gardener who is befriended by film director James Whale in Bill Condon s Gods and Monsters
* 1999 Cast as an Indiana Jones-like archeologist in the remake of The Mummy
* 1999 Played a 35-year old who was raised in an underground bunker in the comedy Blast From the Past
* 1999 Starred in the live-action adaptation of the cartoon Dudley Do-Right
* 2000 Starred in the Harold Ramis remake of Bedazzled
* 2001 Reprised role for the sequel The Mummy Returns
* 2002 Co-starred in the drama feature The Quiet American
* 2002 Made two-episode guest appearance on the NBC sitcom Scrubs
* 2003 Starred as D.J. Drake in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
* 2004 Revised his guest starring role on NBC s Scrubs
* 2005 Starred in Paul Haggis directorial debut Crash ; a multicharacter study of L.A. race relations
* 2007 Co-starred with Michael Keaton in The Last Time
* 2008 Reprised role for the second sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
* 2008 Starred in the 3-D adventure film, Journey to the Center of the Earth ; also executive produced
* 2009 Starred in the adaptation of the hit children s book Inkheart
* 2010 Portrayed American biotechnology executive John F. Crowley in Extraordinary Measures, which is based on the true story of his fight to save his children
* 2010 Starred in the family comedy Furry Vengeance
* Interned at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle after college
* Raised in Europe and Canada
Post Title → Brendan Fraser Biography and Full Profile.
