Every now and then, I find myself wandering over to “The Globe and Mail” website for a bit of news from the Great White North.
It seems so ironic mourning the passing of Gordon Pinsent who delightfully played Constable Benton Fraser’s deceased father Robert on the series “Due South”.
“Due South” had the distinction of being the first Canadian-produced show to have a prime-time broadcast slot on a major American television network (CBS). It was based on the adventures of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable coming to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father (“and for reasons that don’t need exploring at this juncture remained as liaison with the Canadian consulate”) and ends up become friends with the most unlikely of partners in a streetwise Chicago detective who Constable Fraser helps solve a massive backlog of cases.
The series was chock-a-block full of jokes about the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans (as well as plenty of inside jokes such as Fraser’s deaf wolf being named ‘Diefenbaker’ which is a nod to former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker whose policies were often considered somewhat tone-deaf) and definitely met the “identifiable Canadian content” requirement for broadcast on the CBC.
A few episodes in, we meet the ghost of Constable Fraser’s father who was killed in the pilot episode by criminals who then fled the Yukon to hide out in Chicago. Sergeant Robert Fraser occasionally turns up to offer advice and perspective, often of somewhat dubious quality at the time but usually ends up being helpful in some way.
Whether it’s his ghost turning up whilst on a stakeout or hanging about in an illusory Narnia-style office in Benton’s cupboard or a relevant entry from Robert’s copious journals, the character is played to perfection by Gordon Pinsent with a characteristically Canadian humour the toes the mark nicely between self-deprecating and sarcasm.
This post’s title is his response to his son Benton seeing him for the first time and asking him “how are you?”
It’s hard imagining anyone other than Gordon Pinsent playing Sergeant Fraser.
Scratch that…pretty damned impossible!
“Due South” only ran for three series (four if you divide it the way it was originally ordered and shot) and Gordon Pinsent would turn up in many other productions but his turn as the wickedly funny Sergeant Robert Fraser RCMP is the one role of his I will never forget.
I’m thinking it’s been well past time to binge the DVD sets of “Due South” again starting with “Manhunt” where Fraser Sr’s journal offers this observation about friendship in an episode where Benton is unwittingly following in his father’s footsteps in bringing a notorious criminal to justice. He’s telling the tale of his best friend Sergeant Buck Frobisher (played by Leslie Nielsen) rescuing him from the tundra and it really captures the essence of Fraser Sr’s character and humour.
February 13 – Ten years ago I would never have walked into something like this.
A bear trap so poorly camouflaged a child would have seen it but I didn’t.
I pried it open and got my leg out but there was no way I could make it back.
I was prepared to die out here.
And to be honest, I felt I deserved it.
A man gets too old for a job he should know it, and stop.
But then Buck found me. I don’t know how.
No one knew where I was going but he found me and carried me back.
Three days over terrain a mule couldn’t navigate. Laughing his ass off the entire way. Riding like that, completely helpless, slung over Buck’s shoulder and staring down his back I came to understand two things.
One, at a certain point in life a man’s hips spread and there’s nothing you can do about it and two, there’s a very easy way to define friendship.
A friend is someone who won’t stop until he finds you and brings you home.
Sergeant Robert Fraser RCMP, “Due South” episode “Manhunt”
Rest easy Gordon. Rest easy! 🙂
