John Mahoney, the great character actor best known for his work in Frasier, Barton Fink, and Say Anything…, has died.
Born in Blackpool, England, Mahoney came to the United States at age 19 to teach English at Western Illinois University. He only began acting in his late ‘30s, cutting his teeth at the legendary Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago before appearing in the original production of John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves (for which he won a Tony Award), and co-starring in the 2007 Broadway revival of Prelude to A Kiss, among other roles. He made his film debut in the 1981 movie Hudson Taylor; his film highlights included Tin Men, Moonstruck, Eight Men Out, Barton Fink, She’s the One, The American President, and Say Anything…
But Mahoney was best known, at least among the general public, for his eleven seasons as Martin Crane, the curmudgeonly father of Frasier and Miles Crane on the hit sitcom Frasier. Mahoney received two Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG award for his work on the show.
Mahoney died in Chicago over the weekend while in hospice care. He was 77.