Brendan James Fraser (born December 3, 1968) is a
Canadian-American actor of
stage and
screen. He has starred in many major Hollywood films, including
The Mummy film series,
Crash,
Dudley Do-Right,
Looney Tunes: Back in Action,
George of the Jungle and
Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Early life
Fraser was born in
Indianapolis,
Indiana,
the son of Canadian parents Carol, a sales counselor, and Peter Fraser, a former
journalist who worked as a Canadian foreign service officer for the Government Office of Tourism.
Fraser has three older brothers: Kevin, Regan, and Sean. 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 movies.
His surname is properly pronounced "Fray-zer," though some pronounce it "Frasier". The correct pronunciation of his surname is a running gag in
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star in which he has a cameo.