Best known for playing the perpetually dizzy blonde bimbo in several instalments of the Carry On franchise, buxom Liz Frazer (born Elizabeth Joan Winch above a corner shop in south London) acted in repertory theatre and television before breaking into films. Her first role of note was Cynthia, the daughter of radical left-wing shop steward Fred Kite in The Boulting Brothers comedy I’m All Right Jack (1959) (the film which made Peter Sellers a star). There was a second outing with Sellers (Two Way Stretch (1960)) in which she played his girl friend Ethel and up next were eight guest appearances on Hancock’s Half Hour (1956). By that time, her screen personae were firmly established as scatterbrained blondes or feisty gum-chewing working class cockneys. Though she often managed to rise above her material, the typecasting sadly continued through a series of dreadful low-brow 70s sex comedies in the ‘Adventures’ and ‘Confessions’ series which represented a significant step-down from the Carry Ons and did nothing for her reputation. Liz attempted to change her image by playing straight dramatic roles in The Family Way (1966) and Up the Junction (1968) (as the mother) and her later career prospered as a fine character actress with guest spots on The Professionals (1977), Minder (1979), Foyle’s War (2002) and Midsomer Murders (1997), along with a string of successes on the West End stage. In her private life, she was known to be fond of animals, loved playing bridge and ladies’ bowls at the exclusive Hurlingham club in Fulham. Her financial astuteness brought substantial gains at the stock market which Liz in turn developed into a healthy property portfolio. She always spoke fondly of her co-stars, many of whom she regarded as her close ‘mates’ during the sixties, in particular Sidney James, Joan Sims, Tony Hancock and Tommy Cooper.
