Helen Fraser (actress)

thumb|Helen Fraser in Cardiff ‎Helen Fraser (born Helen Margaret Stronach; born 15 June 1942) is a retired English actress, who has appeared in many television series since the early 1960s. For international audiences, she may be best known for her roles in Billy Liar (1963) and Repulsion (1965). She is also well known in Britain for portraying the role of miserable warder Sylvia Hollamby in the prison drama series Bad Girls. She appeared in the series from the first episode in 1999 until the last in 2006. Quotes Helen Fraser reflects on her experiences with Billy Liar ‎Helen Fraser talks about her journey with Billy Liar It’s been a very funny feeling because that’s where it all started for us as a couple. When I was offered this play I thought ‘No. Why would I want to do that?’ but my agent talked to me about it and suggested that perhaps this was my career coming full circle. So it was still a sentimental thing, but it felt like the right thing to do. I was quite well known in the ’60s and ’70s but then you get to that stage when you’re too old to play the maid and too young to play the housekeeper, and you become difficult to cast. But then Bad Girls came along and I thought, ‘ooh, I’ve entered the character acting stage’ and what a character it was. I’m a gay icon which is something I never thought would come to me. Actress Helen Fraser selects her five favorite films ‎Actress Helen Fraser reveals her five favorite movies The Red Shoes This is the first film I ever saw and afterwards I wanted to be Moira Shearer. *I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I went to stage school hoping to be a ballet dancer but I turned out to be an actress instead. ‎*But as a little girl of nine it made a great impression on me. Breakfast At Tiffany’s I longed to look like Audrey Hepburn and I thought that it was a really romantic film. I’ve never been able to play parts like that because I have always been a character actress with comedy. But it kind of encouraged me to carry on. The Go-Between I’d never heard of Suffolk before my husband and I came to live here. I came from Oldham and lived in London. ‎*Peter was working on The Go-Between, which is set in Norfolk, I was able to go and see him and got to know the roads and country lanes through Suffolk. Out Of Africa Because my husband won an Oscar for it and it will always be my special favourite film. Going to the ceremony and seeing his name read out and everything, it was very exciting. The Artist I thought it was so clever and it just shows you don’t have to have all those extra things they have in films today. You can make a simple, black and white film with no sound, and it still wins prizes, doesn’t it? Helen Fraser of Bad Girls retraces the early steps of her dramatic career ‎Bad Girls star Helen Fraser reflects on the beginnings of her acting career When I arrive at her new home in Eye.*I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to sort things out properly. I’ve been here for months but what with Calendar Girls and Corrie I haven’t been home long enough to put things where I want them. Everything is still pretty much where the removal men left them. It’s crazy; life’s never been busier. They wanted to know what my five favourite films were. I was talking to this lovely person on the other end of the phone but he must have been very young because he didn’t seem to know anything I was talking about. This reporter on the other end hadn’t heard of it and was amazed I had chosen it. He asked me to explain when it was made and what it was about. There’s no reason, I suppose, why he should have heard of it. I had a Gypsy Rose Lee mother who was determined I was going on the stage. I was sent to stage school at a fairly young age. I was a little show-off and she was determined I was going to make it as a dancer and get away from Oldham, where I was born and brought up. I remember telling everyone that my name was Victoria because I hated the name Helen. It’s funny what you remembe External links ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Category:Living people ‎Category:entrepreneurs ‎Category:1942 births ‎Category:English stage actresses ‎Category:English film actresses ‎Category:English television actresses ‎Category:Actresses from Oldham ‎ ‎ ‎