Benton Fraser
Encyclopedia
Constable Benton Fraser (born 1962) is a fictional character
in the television series Due South
. He is a constable
of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
who works in the American city of Chicago, Illinois as Deputy Liaison Officer. He lives in a dangerous neighbourhood at the fictional address of apartment 3J at 221 East Racine and later at the consulate itself. The character is portrayed by Canadian actor Paul Gross
. Fraser's seemingly strange habits, such as tasting evidence and holding the door for anyone and everyone, add hilarity and whimsy to the show.
As Fraser often explains, "I first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of my father, and for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture I have remained, attached as liaison with the Canadian Consulate." Fraser is a strait-laced Northerner, and his faith in the honour and goodness of others tends to lead to interesting and humorous moments. Described as an "outdoors Sherlock Holmes
", his behaviour often leads to the frustration of his de-facto partner, Chicago detective Raymond Vecchio
, played by David Marciano
. His other "best friend," a deaf half-wolf named Diefenbaker after Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
, reads lips in both English
and Inuktitut
, and often assists in the capture of criminals. In the third and fourth seasons of the show, Fraser teamed up with Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski, after Ray Vecchio went undercover in the Las Vegas Mafia.
He is usually called "Fraser" by his friends and colleagues - some old friends will call him Benton or Ben at times. Ray calls him Benny or Fraser (often mispronouncing it "Fray-sure" as in the NBC
sitcom Frasier
).
; Alert, Northwest Territories
(now part of Nunavut
); and Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
. He was raised by his grandparents, who were traveling librarians. His mother, Caroline, was killed when he was a boy, and his father, Bob Fraser
, played by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent
, was murdered in the pilot episode. Fraser Sr., as he is sometimes known, was a legendarily effective officer in the RCMP and often appears to his son as a ghost throughout the series to offer help and advice.
Fraser has had an unfortunate recurring relationship with Victoria Metcalf, a bank robber with whom he became infatuated after pursuing her into and then helping her survive a lengthy winter storm. After the storm was over, Fraser turned Victoria in to the authorities and she was sent to prison. This encounter is first outlined in episode 14 of series 1, "You must remember this"; during a stake-out Fraser comes the closest to 'baring his soul' before turning to find Vecchio asleep. That episode fades with Fraser looking at a slightly crumpled black-and-white photo of her. She later resurfaced in Chicago, blackmail
ing Fraser into helping her use the money from the bank robbery to buy jewels on the black market, threatening to have Ray Vecchio framed for corruption. She left Chicago soon after her plot unraveled, and was not seen again.
Having little experience with romantic matters, Fraser appears to have suppressed his emotions, often for comic effect in the series, and buried himself in the masculine pursuits of law enforcement and campcraft. His super-human detective abilities provide humorous contrast with his inability to interact with women. His fixation upon the criminal Metcalf, and later, his superior officer, Margaret Thatcher
(no relation to the British prime minister
), was unreasonable, and he may have used his attraction to an unavailable woman as a mechanism for avoiding change in his own life.
In the ITV
documentary South Bound co-star David Marciano
said it was vital that the character of Fraser be both innocent but also unemotional. Actor Daniel Kash (Detective Louis Gardino in the series), in the same documentary observed about Fraser that 'You'll never see that character cry. You'll sense that he'll be crying inside but you'll never see tears going down his face. He's just too buffed for that, and too reserved.'
In the episode Bounty Hunter, Fraser meets a woman who seems very compatible with him, but his father warns Benton off. Fraser Sr tries to get his son to understand that the woman is not the one who is vulnerable, but Benton. For all of his son's physical self-reliance, the young constable needs emotional maturing.
Fraser eventually discovered he had a half-sister, Maggie MacKenzie, in the season four episode Hunting Season. Because Bob Fraser is her father, she can also see his ghost. Just like her father and half-brother, Maggie is a member of the RCMP. She arrived in Chicago pursuing the killers of her husband, under circumstances similar to Fraser's own arrival in the city, though she soon returned to Canada, unlike Fraser, who remained in Chicago for some time.
Fraser wears his uniform stetson
hat both in uniform and out. When he loses it, he seems to get into trouble. Fans of the show have thus nicknamed it the Stetson of Invulnerability. Fraser carries his paper money inside his hat. He frequently only has Canadian currency with him.
Fraser's apartment is at 221 East Racine. The neighbourhood is dangerous, but Fraser likes the apartment's close proximity to his workplace.
, an explorer who disappeared while trying to discover the Northwest Passage
. (The soundtrack for that segment was Stan Rogers
's song "Northwest Passage
".) As the series ended with the beginning of their expedition, it is unknown what has happened to Fraser or Kowalski since then. His closing remarks: "If we find it...we'll let you know."
The ITV
documentary, made nine years after the series ended, concludes with Paul Gross saying "We never did photograph it, but I can tell you that we (Benton and Stanley) found it."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the television series Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
. He is a constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
who works in the American city of Chicago, Illinois as Deputy Liaison Officer. He lives in a dangerous neighbourhood at the fictional address of apartment 3J at 221 East Racine and later at the consulate itself. The character is portrayed by Canadian actor Paul Gross
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in...
. Fraser's seemingly strange habits, such as tasting evidence and holding the door for anyone and everyone, add hilarity and whimsy to the show.
As Fraser often explains, "I first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of my father, and for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture I have remained, attached as liaison with the Canadian Consulate." Fraser is a strait-laced Northerner, and his faith in the honour and goodness of others tends to lead to interesting and humorous moments. Described as an "outdoors Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
", his behaviour often leads to the frustration of his de-facto partner, Chicago detective Raymond Vecchio
Raymond Vecchio
Detective First Grade Raymond "Ray" Vecchio is a fictional character in the television series Due South. He is a detective with the Chicago Police Department, serving with the 27th Precinct. The character is portrayed by actor David Marciano.-Character:...
, played by David Marciano
David Marciano
David Marciano is an American actor who appeared as Detective Raymond Vecchio in the television series Due South...
. His other "best friend," a deaf half-wolf named Diefenbaker after Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
, reads lips in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Inuktitut
Inuktitut
Inuktitut or Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian Inuit language is the name of some of the Inuit languages spoken in Canada...
, and often assists in the capture of criminals. In the third and fourth seasons of the show, Fraser teamed up with Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski, after Ray Vecchio went undercover in the Las Vegas Mafia.
He is usually called "Fraser" by his friends and colleagues - some old friends will call him Benton or Ben at times. Ray calls him Benny or Fraser (often mispronouncing it "Fray-sure" as in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
).
Character
Fraser grew up in Inuvik, Northwest TerritoriesInuvik, Northwest Territories
Inuvik is a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada and is the administrative centre for the Inuvik Region.The population as of the 2006 Census was 3,484, but the two previous census counts show wide fluctuations due to economic conditions: 2,894 in 2001 and 3,296 in 1996...
; Alert, Northwest Territories
Alert, Nunavut
Alert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, from the North Pole. It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered east of the present station, off what is now Cape Sheridan, in 1875–1876.Alert was reported to have five permanent...
(now part of Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
); and Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
Tuktoyaktuk, or Tuktuyaaqtuuq , is an Inuvialuit hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Commonly referred to simply by its first syllable, Tuk, the settlement lies north of the Arctic Circle on the shore of the Arctic Ocean...
. He was raised by his grandparents, who were traveling librarians. His mother, Caroline, was killed when he was a boy, and his father, Bob Fraser
Robert Fraser (Due South)
Sergeant Robert J. Fraser, often called Bob Fraser and referred to as Fraser Sr to distinguish from his son, is a fictional character in the television series Due South portrayed by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent.-Character:...
, played by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent
Gordon Pinsent
Gordon Edward Pinsent, CC, FRSC is a Canadian television, theatre and film actor.-Early life:Pinsent, the youngest of six children, was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, the son of Flossie ; originally from Clifton, Newfoundland, and Stephen Arthur Pinsent, a papermill worker and cobbler;...
, was murdered in the pilot episode. Fraser Sr., as he is sometimes known, was a legendarily effective officer in the RCMP and often appears to his son as a ghost throughout the series to offer help and advice.
Fraser has had an unfortunate recurring relationship with Victoria Metcalf, a bank robber with whom he became infatuated after pursuing her into and then helping her survive a lengthy winter storm. After the storm was over, Fraser turned Victoria in to the authorities and she was sent to prison. This encounter is first outlined in episode 14 of series 1, "You must remember this"; during a stake-out Fraser comes the closest to 'baring his soul' before turning to find Vecchio asleep. That episode fades with Fraser looking at a slightly crumpled black-and-white photo of her. She later resurfaced in Chicago, blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ing Fraser into helping her use the money from the bank robbery to buy jewels on the black market, threatening to have Ray Vecchio framed for corruption. She left Chicago soon after her plot unraveled, and was not seen again.
Having little experience with romantic matters, Fraser appears to have suppressed his emotions, often for comic effect in the series, and buried himself in the masculine pursuits of law enforcement and campcraft. His super-human detective abilities provide humorous contrast with his inability to interact with women. His fixation upon the criminal Metcalf, and later, his superior officer, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher (Due South)
Inspector Margaret Thatcher is a fictional character in the television series Due South. She is an inspector of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who works in the American city of Chicago, Illinois. The character is portrayed by Canadian actress Camilla Scott.-Character:Thatcher shares her name...
(no relation to the British prime minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
), was unreasonable, and he may have used his attraction to an unavailable woman as a mechanism for avoiding change in his own life.
In the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
documentary South Bound co-star David Marciano
David Marciano
David Marciano is an American actor who appeared as Detective Raymond Vecchio in the television series Due South...
said it was vital that the character of Fraser be both innocent but also unemotional. Actor Daniel Kash (Detective Louis Gardino in the series), in the same documentary observed about Fraser that 'You'll never see that character cry. You'll sense that he'll be crying inside but you'll never see tears going down his face. He's just too buffed for that, and too reserved.'
In the episode Bounty Hunter, Fraser meets a woman who seems very compatible with him, but his father warns Benton off. Fraser Sr tries to get his son to understand that the woman is not the one who is vulnerable, but Benton. For all of his son's physical self-reliance, the young constable needs emotional maturing.
Fraser eventually discovered he had a half-sister, Maggie MacKenzie, in the season four episode Hunting Season. Because Bob Fraser is her father, she can also see his ghost. Just like her father and half-brother, Maggie is a member of the RCMP. She arrived in Chicago pursuing the killers of her husband, under circumstances similar to Fraser's own arrival in the city, though she soon returned to Canada, unlike Fraser, who remained in Chicago for some time.
Fraser wears his uniform stetson
Campaign hat
A campaign cover is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners .It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian...
hat both in uniform and out. When he loses it, he seems to get into trouble. Fans of the show have thus nicknamed it the Stetson of Invulnerability. Fraser carries his paper money inside his hat. He frequently only has Canadian currency with him.
Fraser's apartment is at 221 East Racine. The neighbourhood is dangerous, but Fraser likes the apartment's close proximity to his workplace.
Series finale
Fraser would eventually return to Canada and, along with Stanley Kowalski, set out on an adventure to find the hand of Sir John FranklinJohn Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
, an explorer who disappeared while trying to discover the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. (The soundtrack for that segment was Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
's song "Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage (song)
"Northwest Passage" is one of the best-known songs by Canadian musician Stan Rogers. An a cappella song, it features Rogers alone singing the verses, with several guest vocalists harmonizing with him in the chorus...
".) As the series ended with the beginning of their expedition, it is unknown what has happened to Fraser or Kowalski since then. His closing remarks: "If we find it...we'll let you know."
The ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
documentary, made nine years after the series ended, concludes with Paul Gross saying "We never did photograph it, but I can tell you that we (Benton and Stanley) found it."