Brendan Fraser Biography

Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series (1999, 2001, and 2008), and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man (1992), George of the Jungle (1997), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), and Inkheart (2009). Has also appeared in numerous dramatic roles, including Gods and Monsters (1998), The Quiet American (2002), and Crash (2004). He is set to star in the upcoming movie Gimme Shelter (2013).

Early life

Fraser was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Canadian parents. His mother, Carol Mary (née Genereux), was a sales counselor, and his father, Peter Fraser, was a former journalist who worked as a Canadian foreign service officer for the Government Office of Tourism. His maternal uncle, George Genereux, was the only Canadian to win a gold medal in the 1952 Summer Olympics. Fraser has three older brothers: Kevin, Regan, and Sean. His surname is properly pronounced , not . The correct pronunciation of his surname is a running gag in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, in which his character's surname is pronounced . His ancestry includes Irish, Scottish, German, Czech, and French Canadian.

His family moved often during his childhood, living in Eureka, California, Seattle, Ottawa, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Fraser attended the private boys' boarding school, Upper Canada College, in Toronto. While on vacation in London, Fraser attended his first professional theatrical performance at the West End. He graduated from Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts in 1990. He began acting at a small acting college in New York. 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 movie productions.

Career

Fraser's first film role was a brief cameo in an America's Most Wanted reenactment (1988), playing a friend of murder victim Rodney Mark Peterson. He has since appeared in over 30 films. He had his first lead role in Encino Man (1992). That same year, he starred opposite Matt Damon and Chris O'Donnell in School Ties. In 1994, he co-starred alongside Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler in the comedy Airheads along with playing Steve Nebraska in the movie The Scout and Montgomery "Monty" Kessler in With Honors. He went on to play 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).

He got his breakthrough role with the hit comedy film George of the Jungle (1997). He went on to appear in several comedy films such as Blast from the Past (1999), Bedazzled (2000) and Monkeybone (2001). He has starred in two films based on Jay Ward creations, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right although he did not reprise his role in the former's sequel.

Fraser also played dramatic roles in Gods and Monsters (1998), alongside Ian McKellen and The Quiet American (2002) alongside Michael Caine. Gods and Monsters was based on the life of the filmmaker James Whale (McKellen), who made the 1931 film Frankenstein. This film was written and directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) and was a story about the loss of creativity, ambiguous sexuality and unlikely bonds between a heterosexual gardener (played by Fraser) and a homosexual, tortured and ailing filmmaker.

His biggest commercial success came with the action adventure film (co-starring Rachel Weisz) The Mummy (1999) and its sequel The Mummy Returns (2001), both of which were hugely successful at the box office. 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.

In March 2006, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, the first American-born actor to receive the honor. However, as of 2008, he does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After a six year hiatus in the franchise, Fraser returned for the second sequel to The Mummy released in August 2008 and titled The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Filming started in Montreal on July 27, 2007 and also starred Jet Li as Emperor Han. His other releases in 2008 were the 3D film adaptation of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and the fantasy film Inkheart (chosen personally for the lead role by the novel's author Cornelia Funke). In 2010 he starred in the drama Extraordinary Measures alongside Harrison Ford.

Fraser also starred as "Brick" in the West End production of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in September, 2001, directed by Anthony Page. Castmates included Ned Beatty, Frances O'Connor, and Gemma Jones. The show closed on January 12, 2002, with Fraser garnering many excellent reviews.

Fraser recently starred in a Broadway production of Elling, but the play closed after 9 performances due to lackluster reviews.

After appearing in the critically panned Furry Vengeance in 2010, Fraser moved from being represented by William Morris Endeavor to the Creative Artists Agency.

He is currently starring in Whole Lotta Sole directed by Terry George and is set to play William Tell in The Legend of William Tell:3D, which will be directed by Eric Brevig.

Personal life

Fraser met actress Afton Smith while attending a barbecue at Winona Ryder's house on July 4, 1993, after his arrival in Los Angeles. Fraser married Smith on September 27, 1998, and they have three sons: Griffin Arthur Fraser, born in 2002, Holden Fletcher Fraser, born in 2004, and Leland Francis Fraser, born in 2006. On December 27, 2007, Fraser's publicist announced the couple had decided to divorce. He currently resides in Kent, Connecticut. In early 2013, Fraser petitioned the courts for a reduction of his alimony and child support payments, asserting that he was unable to meet the annual obligation of $900,000; his ex-wife, in turn, accused Fraser of hiding financial assets.

Fraser speaks fluent French, and serves on the Board of Directors for FilmAid International. He is an accomplished amateur photographer, and has used several Polaroids in movies and on TV shows, most notably on his guest roles on Scrubs. In his first appearance he used a folding pack camera; and on his second appearance he used a Holga with a Polaroid back, a Japanese-only model. The book Collector's Guide to Instant Cameras has a dedication to Fraser.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	My Old School	Chevy	Unsold TV Pilot
1991	Child of Darkness, Child of Light	John's friend	TV Movie
1991	Dogfight	Sailor No. 1
1991	Guilty Until Proven Innocent	Bobby McLaughlin	TV Movie
1992	Encino Man	Link	Released as ' California Man ' in Europe
1992	School Ties	David Greene
1993	Twenty Bucks	Sam Mastrewski
1993	Younger and Younger	Winston Younger	Indie film
1993	Son In Law	Link	Cameo "? uncredited
1994	With Honors	Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler
1994	Airheads	Chester 'Chazz' Darby
1994	In the Army Now	Link	Cameo "? uncredited
1994	The Scout	Steve Nebraska
1995	The Passion of Darkly Noon	Darkly Noon
1995	Now and Then	Vietnam veteran	Uncredited
1996	Brain Candy	Placebo patient	Cameo " uncredited
1996	Mrs. Winterbourne	Bill/Hugh Winterbourne
1996	Glory Daze	Doug	Cameo appearance. Indie film
1997	Duckman	Sammons Cagle	Voice. 1 episode
1997	George of the Jungle	George	Nominated " Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor " Action
1997	The Twilight of the Golds	David Gold	TV Movie
1997	Still Breathing	Fletcher McBracken	Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated " Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor " Action
1998	Gods and Monsters	Clayton Boone	Nominated " Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
1998	The Simpsons	Brad	Voice. 1 episode
1999	Blast from the Past	Adam Webber
1999	The Mummy	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell	Nominated " Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated " Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor " Action
1999	Dudley Do-Right	Dudley Do-Right
2000	Bedazzled	Elliot Richards / Jefe / Mary / Abraham Lincoln
2000	Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists	Sinbad	Voice
2001	Monkeybone	Stu Miley
2001	The Mummy Returns	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell	Nominated " Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star Nominated " Teen Choice Award for Film " Choice Actor
2002	Scrubs	Ben, Jordan's brother	3 episodes
2002	The Quiet American	Alden Pyle
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Himself	uncredited
2003	Looney Tunes: Back in Action	DJ Drake / Himself / Voice of Tasmanian Devil and She-Devil
2004	Crash	Rick Cabot	Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Critics' Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated " Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2005	Beach Bunny	Beach bum	Voice
2006	Journey to the End of the Night	Paul	Indie film
2006	The Last Time	Jamie	Indie film
2007	The Air I Breathe	Pleasure	Indie film
2008	Journey to the Center of the Earth	Prof. Trevor Anderson
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell	Nominated " National Movie Award for Best Male Performance
2009	Inkheart	Mortimer Folchart
2009	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	Sgt. Stone	Cameo
2010	Extraordinary Measures	John Crowley
2010	Furry Vengeance	Dan Sanders
2012	Stand Off	Joe Maguire	Shown at Tribeca Film Festival 2012, Spotlight series (world premiere)
2013	Escape from Planet Earth	Scorch Supernova	Voice
2013	A Case of You	unknown	World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival 2013
2013	HairBrained	Leo Searly	World Premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival 2013
2013	Pawn Shop Chronicles	Ricky Baldoski	Released on July 12th 2013
2013	Breakout	Jack Damson	Released Straight-to-DVD on September 17th 2013
2013	Gimme Shelter	Tom Fitzpatrick	Completed
2014	The Nut Job	Grayson	Post-production. Voice
2014	In with the Outlaws	Jack Macbeth	Pre-production