He was not on the list.
John Mahoney, who as the cranky, 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, Paul Martino, his manager for more than 30 years, said Monday.
The cause of death was not immediately provided.
In Frasier, the hit Cheers spinoff that aired from 1993 to
2004, Mahoney played Martin Crane, a disabled ex-policeman who parked himself
in a battered 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 own intellect, squabbled constantly
with their dad but, when needed, the family closed ranks. Martin’s beloved dog,
Eddie, also took up residence to annoy the fussy Frasier.
"He was my father.
I loved him," Grammer said in a statement Tuesday sent by publicist
Stan Rosenfield.
Mahoney, a British native who made Chicago his hometown, was
a two-time Emmy nominee for Frasier, won a 1986 Tony Award for The House of
Blue Leaves, and worked steadily in movies.
John Cusack, who appeared with Mahoney is the 1989 film Say
Anything, tweeted that he was a great actor and 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 and a 2015 guest appearance on
Foyle’s War. On the big screen, he was in The American President, Eight Men Out
and Tin Men, with 2007’s Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell among his last
movie credits.
Mahoney's first voice job was in W. B. Yeats' "The Words upon the Window-Pane" for the award-winning National Radio Theater of Chicago. He provided the voices for several characters in Antz (1998), Preston Whitmore in Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: Milo's Return, General Rogard in The Iron Giant (1999), and Papi in Kronk's New Groove (but was succeeded by Jeff Bennett in The Emperor's New School for an unknown reason). In 2007, Mahoney provided the voice of Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr. (Sideshow Bob's father) in The Simpsons episode "Funeral for a Fiend." This reunited him with his Frasier co-stars Kelsey Grammer (Sideshow Bob) and David Hyde Pierce (Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother).
The actor was born in 1940 in Blackpool, England, during
World War II. That’s where his pregnant mother had been evacuated for safety
from Nazi attacks, but the family soon returned to its home in Manchester.
In a 2015 interview with The Associated Press, Mahoney
recounted memories of huddling in an air raid shelter and playing among
bombed-out houses. The accounts his four older sisters shared with him, he
said, included tucking him into a baby carriage outfitted with a shield against
feared gas attacks.
One sister, who moved to the Midwest after marrying a U.S.
sailor, was responsible for Mahoney’s decision to make his life in America. He
visited Chicago as a college student and fell in love with it.
“The lake, the skyline, the museums, the symphony, the lyric
opera,” he said in extolling the city in 2015. Add in reliably friendly
Midwesterners, Mahoney said, and it’s “my favorite place in the world.”
“I give up nothing (professionally) by being in Chicago,”
said Mahoney, who at the time was preparing to begin rehearsal on a Steppenwolf
Theatre Company production of The Herd.
The theater canceled Monday’s scheduled performance in honor
of Mahoney, according to an outgoing phone message that said he had been an
ensemble member since 1979.
“John’s impact on this institution, on Chicago theater and
the world of arts and entertainment are great and will endure,” the theater
said.
Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1981 Hudson Taylor
1982 Mission Hill Michael Doyle
1984 The Killing
Floor factory
representative
1985 Code of
Silence Prowler Representative
1986 The Manhattan
Project Lt. Col. Conroy
1986 The Christmas
Gift The Town Mayor
1986 Streets of
Gold Linnehan
1987 Tin Men Moe Adams
1987 Suspect Judge Matthew Bishop Helms
1987 Moonstruck Perry
1988 Frantic Williams, U.S. Embassy Official
1988 Betrayed Shorty
1988 Eight Men Out
William "Kid" Gleason
1989 Say
Anything... James Court
1990 Love Hurts Boomer
1990 The Russia
House Brady
1991 Barton Fink W. P. Mayhew
1992 Article 99 Dr. Henry Dreyfoos
1993 In the Line
of Fire Sam Campagna
1993 Striking
Distance Capt. Vince Hardy
1994 The Hudsucker
Proxy Chief
1994 Reality Bites
Grant Gubler
1995 An
Affectionate Look at Fatherhood Bob
1995 The American
President Leo Solomon
1996 Primal Fear Shaughnessy
1996 She's the One
Mr. Fitzpatrick
1996 Mariette in
Ecstasy Dr. Claude Baptiste Unreleased
1998 Antz Grebs the Drunken Scout (voice)
1999 The Iron
Giant General Shannon Rogard (voice)
2000 The Broken
Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy Jack
2001 Almost
Salinas Max Harris
2001 Atlantis: The
Lost Empire Preston B.
Whitmore (voice)
2003 Atlantis:
Milo's Return Preston B. Whitmore
(voice)
2005 Kronk's New
Groove Papi (voice)
2007 Dan in Real
Life Poppy
2010 Flipped Chet Duncan
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1982 Chicago Story
Lt. Roselli Main role
1985 Lady Blue Capt. Flynn Television film
1986 Trapped in
Silence Doctor Winslow Television film
1987 Saturday
Night Live Fast Eddie Felson /
Paul Newman Episode:
"Charlton Heston/Wynton Marsalis"
1987 The House of
Blue Leaves Artie Shaughnessy Television film
1988 Favorite Son Lou Brenner Episode: "Part One"
1989 Dinner at
Eight Oliver Jordan Television film
1990 The Image Irv Mickelson Television film
1990 H.E.L.P. Chief Patrick Meacham Main role
1991 The 10
Million Dollar Getaway Jimmy Burke Television film
1992 The Human
Factor Dr. Alec McMurtry Main role
1992 The Water
Engine Mason Gross Television film
1992 Screenplay Walter Partin Episode: "Buying a Landslide"
1992 Cheers Sy Flembeck Episode:
"Do Not Forsake Me, O' My Postman"
1992 Unnatural
Pursuits Paddy Quinn Episode: "I Don't Do Cuddles"
1993–2004 Frasier
Martin Crane Main role
1995 Biography Narrator Voice, Episode: "Al Capone: Scarface"
1996 3rd Rock from
the Sun Dr. Leonard Hamlin Episode: "Body & Soul &
Dick"
1997 Tracey Takes
On... Jeffrey Ayliss Episode: "Childhood"
1998 Nothing
Sacred Vince Reyneaux Episode: "The Coldest Night
of the Year"
2000 Becker Father Joe D'Andrea Episode: "Crosstalk"
2000 Teacher's Pet
Narrator / Tim Tim Tim Voice role; episode: #1.11
2000 Nature Narrator Episode:
"Intimate Enemies: Lions and Buffalo"
2003 Gary the Rat Steele Voice
role; episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
2005 Fathers and
Sons Gene Television film
2006 ER Bennett Cray Episode: "Somebody to Love"
2007 Mobsters Narrator Episode: "Al Capone"
2007 The Simpsons Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr. Voice role; episode: "Funeral
for a Fiend"
2009 In Treatment Walter Barnett Recurring role (season 2), 7 episodes
2009–2010 Burn
Notice Management Episodes: "Lesser Evil",
"Devil You Know"
2010 $#*! My Dad
Says Lt. Col. Wally Durham Episode: "The Manly Thing to Do"
2011–2014 Hot
in Cleveland Roy Recurring role (seasons 2–3, 5), 6 episodes
2015 Foyle's War Andrew Del Mar Episode: "High Castle"
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