‘Frasier’ star and one of TV’s favorite dads
John Mahoney, one of TV’s favorite dads, died Sunday.
Mr. Mahoney, who came to the United States when he was 19, was 77. His manager, Paul Martino, announced the death but did not provide a cause.
The British-born actor starred in “Frasier” for 11 seasons as Martin Crane, father of Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce).
That role earned Mr. Mahoneytwo Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations, although he never took home a trophy.
Mr. Mahoney moved to Illinois and attended college before joining the Army. When he returned, he taught English at Western Illinois University before serving as the editor of a medical journal for most of the 1970s.
Eventually, the Englishman took to the stage, and joined Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 1977 at the suggestion of John Malkovich.
After winning several awards for his early work, Mr. Mahoney moved to Broadway, where he won a Tony Award for best featured actor in a play for his role as a zookeeper with ambitions of becoming an actor in John Guare’s “The House of Blue Leaves.”
He also had countless film roles in “Moonstruck,” “In the Line of Fire,” “Tin Men,” “Eight Men Out,” “Say Anything” and “BartonFink,” among others.
After a decade of theatrical roles and small parts in films and television, Mr. Mahoney was cast in “Frasier” as Martin Crane, a widowed ex-police officer whose cranky, blue-collar manner was often in comic conflict with the cultured pretensions of his sons, a pair of psychiatrists.
Mr. Mahoney appeared in all 263 episodes of “Frasier” as the voice-ofcommon-sense dad, earning two Emmy nods as best supporting actor. His character had taken early retirement from the police force after being shot in the hip. Throughout the 11 seasons of “Frasier,” Mr. Mahoney carried a cane and walked with a limp.
Although cast in a secondary role, he often supplied the voice of reason in contrast to his snooty, Harvard-educated sons. His garishly striped easy chair, patched with duct tape, was a constant source of embarrassment to his fastidious son.
Mr. Mahoney’s characterhad occasional romantic flings — and even got married late in the series — but his constant companion was his spirited and emotionallyastute dog, Eddie.
After “Frasier” ended in 2004, Mr. Mahoney returned to the stage for the Broadway revival of “Prelude to a Kiss.”
“I’ve not known a kinder man nor more brilliant actor,” casting director Jeff Greenberg tweeted. “We were all blessed to have spent 11 glorious years together.”