Goodnight to Frasier’s (Brit born) cranky dad
JOHN Mahoney, who played the cantankerous father in the US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 77.
The British-born actor, who appeared in the long-running series for 11 years, died at a hospice in Chicago on Sunday. The cause of death is unknown.
Frasier, a spin- off from the sitcom Cheers, ran from 1993 to 2004 and was popular worldwide.
Mahoney earned legions of fans and a Screen Actors Guild award playing cranky retired detective Martin Crane, father of radio show host Frasier, played by Kelsey Grammer, who ended each show by saying: ‘Goodnight, Seattle.’
He was also nominated for two Emmy awards and two Golden Globes for the role in the sitcom.
Many of Mahoney’s co-stars took to social media to pay tribute yeswicked terday after his agent confirmed the news of his death.
Frasier’s casting director, Jeff Greenberg, called Mahoney a ‘brilliant actor’ in a post on social media alongside a picture of the cast.
He tweeted: ‘I’ve not known a kinder man nor more brilliant actor. We were all blessed to have spent 11 glorious years together.’
American actress Peri Gilpin, who appeared alongside him throughout Frasier’s 263 episodes as Roz Doyle, tweeted a picture of Mahoney singing at her wedding, adding: ‘Watch [the films] Moonstruck, Say Anything and/or Frasier or anything you can with him in it and raise a glass to John. Remember him well.
Mahoney’s former co- star Ben Stiller tweeted: ‘John Mahoney has moved on. A great actor. Incredible sense of humour. And someone who made a huge difference in my life and many others.’ Director Greg Berlanti said that Mahoney was ‘kind and supportken ive’ in the early days of his career and helped to get comedy The Broken Hearts Club made in 2000.
He tweeted: ‘Devastated by the loss of John Mahoney who was so kind and supportive of me early in my career when we made The Bro- Hearts Club. John helped get it greenlit. He never wavered in his belief in me – a first time director. And he was even more kind than he was brilliant.
‘I’ve been so blessed in my life but can’t imagine a greater blessing than to work with someone as wonderful as John at the start of my career. He set a standard and an example of how talent and warmth and generosity of spirit can all exist in one person.’
Born in Blackpool in 1940 to a family evacuated from wartime Manchester, Mahoney left for America at 19, after his sister Vera. To become a US citizen, he joined the army and studied English at Quincy University in Illinois. He later worked as a hospital orderly and became editor of a medical journal.
As well as his celebrated turn in Frasier, Mahoney also appeared in films including the Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink and performed as a voice actor and narrator.
He most recently appeared on TV screens in 2015, when he portrayed businessman Andrew Del Mar in an episode of ITV drama Foyle’s War. While filming, he revisited parts of the north west of England from his childhood.
‘Even more kind than brilliant’