‘Frasier’ actor John Mahoney dies, aged 77

BRITISH-BORN actor John Mahoney, who starred as Martin Crane in the US sitcom Frasier, has died, his manager said last night.

The 77-year-old, below, who appeared in the long-running show as the father of Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce’s characters Frasier and Niles Crane, passed away in Chicago on Sunday. The Cheers spinoff ran for 11 series between 1993 and 2004 and during his time on the show Mahoney was nominated twice each for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

The actor, who was born in Blackpool, last appeared on TV screens portraying Andrew Del Mar in an episode of ITV drama Foyle’s War in 2015, although he was a regular on Broadway and in Chicago theatre.

At the time of his death, he was in hospice care.