Hadley Fraser (born Robert Hugh Fraser, April 21, 1980) is an English actor and singer. He made his West End debut as

Marius Pontmercy Marius Pontmercy () is a fictional character, one of the protagonists of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. He is a young student, and the suitor of Cosette. Believing Cosette lost to him, and determined to die, he joins the revoluti ...

in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

''. He also originated the role of Tiernan for his Broadway debut in '' The Pirate Queen''. Fraser’s other West End credits include Inspector Javert in ''

'', Frederick Frankenstein in '' Young Frankenstein'', Anatoly Sergievsky in ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

'', Archibald Craven in ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'', and many others. He also played Raoul de Chagny in '' The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'', Grantaire in '' Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary'', and Billy Bigelow in ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

'' at

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea, London, Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( ...

Early life and education

Fraser was born in

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...

. He holds a BA from

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and a Postgraduate Diploma from the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

. In 2011, he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, or ARAM.

Personal life

On 5 October 2014, Hadley married his long-time girlfriend, actress

Rosalie Craig Rosalie Mae Craig (born May 30, 1980) is an English actress, noted for her performances in musical theatre. In 2013, she received her first major award, a London Evening Standard Award for Best Performance in a Musical. Life and career Craig ...

. The couple have a daughter.

Career

Fraser has performed in a number of West End productions and played Gareth in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode " Army of Ghosts" (2006). In 2009, Fraser played the recurring role of Reed in '' The Fresh Beat Band'' season 1; in the last 2 seasons, he was replaced by Patrick Levis. In May 2010, he returned to the West End to play the role of El Gallo in ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

''. In October 2010, Fraser sang the ''Les Misérables'' role of Grantaire in the '' 25th Anniversary concert'' in the West End. On 23 June 2011, Fraser returned to the West End production of ''Les Misérables'', this time to play the role of

Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police i ...

. He received critical acclaim for the role and remained with the show until June 2012. On 1 and 2 October 2011, Fraser played Raoul in the 25th anniversary staging of '' The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'' in London. He appeared alongside

Ramin Karimloo Ramin Karimloo (; ; born ) is a Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter known for his work on the West End theatre, West End and Broadway theatre, Broadway theatre. He has played the leading roles in both of the West End's longest running musica ...

and Sierra Boggess, who played the Phantom and Christine respectively. Fraser also co-starred with Karimloo in the 25th Anniversary concert of ''Les Misérables'' and they both made their West End debuts in the show in 2002 where Karimloo understudied Fraser. Hadley has written music for a band called "Sheytoons" with Karimloo, including "Heading West" and "Driftwood". Fraser appeared in the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of ''Les Misérables'' as the Army General of the National Guard. In 2012, Fraser sang "Beyond the Door" on the concept album for ''The In-Between'', as the character of Calicus. Fraser appeared aside

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

in the Donmar Warehouse's production of

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

from 6 December 2013 to 13 February 2014. In December 2014, he returned to the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

to play Stine in ''City of Angels'', alongside his wife

as Gabby/Bobbi and

Samantha Barks Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a British actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008. She has released three studio albums: ''Looking in Y ...

as Mallory/Avril. An avid musician as well, Fraser can be heard on Scott Alan's releases ''Keys'' and ''Scott Alan LIVE'', as well as his own EP, "Just Let Go", released in August 2014 via social media and digital download (no hardcopy has been released). He was the co-lyricist and co-book writer (with

Josie Rourke Josie Rourke is an English theatre and film director. She is a vice-president of the London Library, and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut with the Academy Award ...

) for the verbatim musical ''Committee...'' (full title ''The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Takes Oral Evidence on Whitehall's Relationship with Kids Company'') with music by Tom Deering, which premiered at the

from 23 June to 12 August 2017. He played Frederick Frankenstein in the UK premiere of the musical '' Young Frankenstein'' in August 2017, at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End, following a tryout run at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. In May 2019, he played Billy Bigelow in a concert of ''Carousel''. In 2022, he received high praise for his performance as Anatoly Sergeivesky in a West End concert run of ''Chess''. He also played Archibald Craven in a concert of ''

'' opposite Mark Feehily as his brother Neville. In 2024, Fraser played the role of Manny in the new musical '' Opening Night'' at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's West End. On 4 June 2024, it was announced that ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' would return to the West End for a concert run at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

on 24 November 2024, marking 20 years since the show premiered. Fraser is set to star as Lawrence Jamieson opposite

as Freddy Benson.Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to be staged in concert with Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser
/ref> In 2025, Fraser will play the role of the Good King in the live-action remake, ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

''.

Acting credits

Film and television

Theatre

Discography

References

External links

* * *
Fresh Face: Hadley Fraser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Hadley 1980 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the University of Birmingham English male film actors English male musical theatre actors English male stage actors English male television actors