Frasier’s dad was versatile performer
JOHN MAHONEY
John Mahoney, who as the blue-collar dad in “Frasier” played counterpoint to pompous sons Frasier and Niles, has died. Mahoney was 77.
The actor died Sunday in Chicago after a brief hospitalization, manager Paul Martino said Monday. The Chicago Tribune said he had cancer.
In “Frasier,” the hit “Cheers” spinoff that aired from 1993 to 2004, Mahoney played Martin Crane, a disabled ex-policeman who parked himself in an old armchair in Frasier’s chic Seattle living room.
Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier and David Hyde Pierce’s Niles, both psychiatrists with lofty views of their intellect, squabbled constantly with their dad but, when needed, the family closed ranks. Martin’s beloved dog, Eddie, also took up residence to annoy Frasier.
Mahoney, a native of Great Britain who made Chicago his adopted home, was a two-time Emmy nominee for “Frasier,” won a 1986 Tony Award for “The House of Blue Leaves” and worked steadily in movies after becoming a professional actor in his 40s.
John Cusack, who appeared with Mahoney is the 1989 film “Say Anything,” tweeted that he was a “lovely kind human — any time you saw him you left feeling better.”
Mahoney’s recent TV credits included a recurring role as Betty White’s love interest on “Hot in Cleveland.” On the big screen, he was in such movies as “The American President,” ‘’Eight Men Out,” “In the Line of Fire” and “Tin Men.”
The actor was born in Blackpool, England. That’s where his mother had been evacuated for safety from Nazi attacks, but the family lived in Manchester.
When one of his sisters married a U.S. sailor and moved to the Midwest, Mahoney visited as a college student and fell in love with the city.
“It’s my favorite place in the world,” he said in 2015.
Variety reported that Mahoney never married or had children.