Brendan Fraser

Tall and athletic, with a boyish charm and keen comic sensibilities, actor Brendan Fraser moved easily between crowd-pleasing entertainments and critically acclaimed dramas. Fraser's versatility was first exploited in a pair of vastly different films concerning high school social life, the Valley-centric teen comedy "Encino Man" (1992) and the period melodrama "School Ties" (1992). The actor followed with a slew of equally divergent projects like the baseball dramedy "The Scout" (1994) and the slapstick cartoon adaptation of "George of the Jungle" (1997) as he attempted to make the transition to major stardom. Fraser upped his reputation considerably when he earned accolades opposite Sir Ian McKellan in the award-winning drama "Gods and Monsters" (1998) before breaking out as a bona fide action hero in the horror-adventure blockbusters "The Mummy" (1999) and "The Mummy Returns" (2001).

Enjoying his new box office clout, he alternated big-budget movies with such serious-minded ventures as "The Quiet American" (2002), alongside Michael Caine, and the Oscar-winning "Crash" (2005). Following more genre offerings like "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008) and the third franchise installment "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (2008), Fraser began appearing on screen less frequently, co-starring in smaller films including medical drama "Extraordinary Measures" (2010) and romantic comedy "A Case of You" (2013) before beginning an extended hiatus from acting that ended with a starring role in the Indian crime drama "The Field" (2018). Equally adept at low-brow comedy, thrilling adventure or high drama, Fraser proved time and again why he was one of the most dependable leading men Hollywood had to offer.

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, including across Europe, the United States and Canada throughout his son's 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). Fraser's first starring role as an unfrozen caveman unearthed by skateboarding valley teens in "Encino Man" (1992) was perhaps not the most auspicious, but the film was a commercial success. 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 "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 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 "With Honors" (1994). Fraser had a strong turn as a backwoodsman who goes mad from unrequited love in the stylish thriller "The Passion of Darkly Noon" (1996), followed by the period romantic comedy "Mrs. Winterburne" (1996).

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). 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, although his next role in the 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, was more in line with his earlier comedies.

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 film adaptation of Graham Greene's Vietnam saga, "The Quiet American" (2002). 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. Fraser stayed in the indie world for another go-round, starring opposite Sarah 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). Fraser returned the following year in the fantasy adventure "Inkheart" (2009) as a heroic father with the uncanny ability to make any story he reads aloud become reality. Based on his past record of cinematic derring-do, Fraser was, in fact, the inspiration for the character originally created by German author Cornelia Funke in her best-selling series of young adult novels.

The actor next turned from the fantastic to the factual for the inspired by true events medical drama "Extraordinary Measures" (2010) opposite Harrison Ford, another actor known primarily of this action roles. More of a critical humiliation than a commercial failure was Fraser's next film, "Furry Vengeance" (2010), in which he played a real estate developer targeted by various four-legged denizens of the forest, on whose home he intends to build a shopping mall. He went on to appear in the indie crime comedy "Whole Lotta Sole" (aka "Stand Off") (2012) as an antiques dealer who may or may not be the father of an inept would-be criminal (Martin McCann).

This film marked a decline in Fraser's commercial fortunes and an apparent disinterest in acting: following supporting roles in animated comedy "Escape from Planet Earth" (2013), Justin Long's romantic comedy "A Case of You" (2013), ensemble crime comedy "Pawn Shop Chronicles" (2013), Christian drama "Gimme Shelter" (2013) and animated family film "The Nut Job" (2014), Fraser withdrew from the Hollywood scene for several years before returning quietly in a supporting role in the third season of the cable drama "The Affair" (Showtime 2014- ). Fraser returned with a small role in Danny Boyle's cable drama "Trust" (FX 2018- ), and starred in the Indian crime thriller "The Field" (2018).