Brendan Fraser
- Category : Actor
- Type : PM
- Profile : 1/3 - Investigating / Martyr
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Consciousness 4
Biography
Brendan James Fraser (born December 3, 1968) is a American-Canadian film actor. He is known for having starred in several major Hollywood films, including 1999's The Mummy.
Early life
Fraser was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Canadian parents Carol, a sales counsellor, and Peter Fraser, a former journalist who worked as a foreign service officer for the Canadian Government Office of Tourism.
His great-grandfather was a Royal Canadian Mountie. He has three older brothers, Kevin, Regan, and Sean. His family moved often as a child, living in Detroit, Seattle, Ottawa, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Fraser attended his first professional theatrical performance in London's West End.
He began acting at Toronto's Upper Canada College, where he was a member of the boarding Seaton's House, and later received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts. He originally planned on attending graduate school in Texas but stopped in Hollywood on his way south and decided to stay in Los Angeles and work in movies.
Career
Fraser's first film role was in Dogfight (1991), and he has since garnered over 30 film credits. He had his first lead role in Encino Man (1992). That same year he played opposite Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris O'Donnell in School Ties (1992) and also played supporting roles such as starring alongside Viggo Mortensen and Ashley Judd in Philip Ridley's The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995), and Jennifer Beals in The Twilight of the Golds (1997). His breakout role was the title role in 1997's George of the Jungle where he played a fish out of the water character similar to his role in Encino Man. After this he often played many fish out of water characters in films such as Blast from the Past (1999) and Monkeybone (2001).
Fraser also starred in the West End production at the Lyric Theatre of Tennesee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". The show opened right after 9/11 on September 18. Anthony Page directed. Fraser and other cast members were asked if they wanted to delay the opening of the show due to the 9/11 tragedy, but the cast and producers decided it would be best to open as scheduled.
Others in the production included Ned Beatty as "Big Daddy" and Frances O'Connor as Maggie the Cat. Gemma Jones, a superb Brit actress who also played the mother in Bridget Jones' Diary, was surprisingly good as Big Momma, and Abigail McKern (daughter of Leo McKern, who, interestingly enough, played Big Daddy in the original London production many years prior) and Clive Carter rounded out the cast.
The show closed on January 12, 2002. Martinez garnered many excellent reviews. Source: http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=Cat%20on%20a%20Hot%20Tin%20Roof
Brendan also starred in "Gods and Monsters," a film where he displayed his dramatic chops with Ian McKellan. The film was based on the life of the filmmaker James Whale (McKellan) - who made "Frankenstein." This film was written and directed by Bill Condon ("Dreamgirls') and was a powerful story about the loss of creativity, ambiguous sexuality and unlikely bonds between a not-too-bright straight gardener and a gay, torured and ailing filmmaker. Lynn Redgrave plays a devoted housekeeper in a touching and unintentionally funny performance. (Source: http://www.godsandmonsters.net/credits.htm)
He also played an action hero role in the 1999 hit film The Mummy which he reprised in the sequel The Mummy Returns (2001). Both films were huge box office hits. In 2000 he starred in the comedy film Bedazzled, a remake of the 1967 film of the same name. He has starred in two films based off of Jay Ward creations, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right although he did not reprise his role in the former's sequel. In 2004 he appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Crash. He has also made guest appearances on the television shows Scrubs, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons.
