Father Figure: Kelsey Grammer, John Mahoney and David Hyde Pierce Photo: NBC
Since the reboot — or, to be more accurate, a «sequel» — of Frasier was announced, there have been question marks about the missing characters in the new series. Niles and Daphne won't be present amid rumors that neither David Hyde Pierce nor Jane Leeves were interested in joining the show, and inevitably a whole host of beloved supporting figures won't be in attendance.
But if the revival is a hit, they could return for later series (and may well want to be associated with a successful reboot). However, there is one beloved character from the original who won't be returning: Martin Crane, the loving but perpetually confused father of Frasier and Niles played by the great John Mahoney, who died in 2018.
Martin was an essential part of the original show, grounding his sons' often loud antics in a blue-collar reality that made the contrast between their two worlds even funnier. Whether he was grooming his beloved Jack Russell terrier—and Frasier's nemesis—Eddie, relaxing in the world's favorite and least aesthetically pleasing chair (or «chair» as the show puts it), or drinking beer and enjoying watching sports on television . with friends, his completely unpretentious image gave the series a warmth and sincerity that made him an irreplaceable character.
Frasier star Kelsey Grammer acknowledged this when discussing the new series, saying it will «definitely honor him as he deserves» and praised Mahoney personally, saying: «His loss is and has been devastating and needs to be given due consideration in honor of a remarkable man.» , who he was, and the contributions he made to the show and to the acting profession. »
This tribute was done right. Not only is the neighborhood bar frequented by characters in the Boston-set series called Mahoney's, but the first episode pays clear homage to it. As its director James Burrows said: “It's a great scene at the end of the show… It's about two and a half, three minutes, without any laughs. To do this you need to be brave.”
If there was anyone who deserved such a memory, it was Mahoney. He was born in Blackpool in 1940, where his family was evacuated at the start of the Second World War. When the war ended he returned to Manchester and had what he later described as a dark and harsh childhood. As he told the Guardian in 2002: “I associate Manchester with want, want and ration books… with dirt, smoke, smog and fog. I know that all this is no longer there, but this is what remains in my head.” Although he tried acting in local children's theater during his time there, he left Britain at the age of 18, going to America and pursuing a career in the army before working as a deputy editor of medical journals.
He made a concerted effort to shed his Mancunian accent as soon as he arrived in his newly adopted country — there was no trace of it in his screen work — and commented in an Arts Desk interview: «I knew I was going to live out the rest of my life.» life in the USA, and I did not want to be observed from the outside. They make such a big deal about it: anyone in the UK is automatically considered incredibly brilliant. I didn't want to live with it. I'm not a nonconformist. I wanted to be like everyone else.”
Mahoney began what would eventually become a stellar acting career in Chicago, first under the tutelage of the then-unknown David Mamet, who cast him in his play Water Engine in 1977, and then with the city's respected theater company Steppenwolf, where he have worked. with people like Gary Sinise and John Malkovich, who became lifelong friends. Refuting Malkovich's reputation for being esoteric and even eccentric, Mahoney said of him: «John is not mysterious or threatening… to me he's just a guy from a small town in Illinois who goes to basketball games — he loves basketball — and who comes to see me.» to my house for Thanksgiving dinner and makes the best gravy I've ever tasted.»
Villain: Mahoney in «The Usual Suspect» Photo: Cinematic/Alamy Stock Photo
However, Mahoney did not achieve widespread recognition until he was in his mid-thirties, when he won a Tony Award in 1986 for his appearance in John Guare's play The House of Blue Leaves, in which he played a zookeeper who dreams of becoming a Hollywood songwriter.
The recognition he received finally brought him to the attention of casting directors, and after a series of thankless bit parts in films, he now began to enjoy the roles he deserved. Mahoney was a versatile actor: he could portray both stern authoritarians and jovial everyman (characters sometimes switched between the two), and he soon found himself playing significantly more meaningful roles than he had previously been offered.
He was the villainous judge in Cher's legal thriller «Person of Interest,» baseball manager Kid Gleason in the sports drama «Eight Men Out» and Iona Skye's protective father in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy «Say Anything.» The latter is perhaps best remembered now for the famous scene in which its star John Cusack holds up a boombox to play Peter Gabriel's «In Your Eyes» to his would-be lover. But Mahoney's nuanced performance in a complex role—it's revealed that he embezzled money from his business to ensure financial independence for his daughter—was one of the most memorable parts of an excellent film.
John Mahoney with Jonah Skye in the film “Say Anything” Photo: Alamy
Yet perhaps his best and brightest role during this time came in one scene in another Cher vehicle, Moonstruck, where he played a college professor who is jilted at a restaurant by a young student. He has a memorable monologue, delivered by Olympia Dukakis, in which he states that he is «just a burnt-out old windbag» who is attracted to «that fresh young handsome face.» But he goes on to admit that the relationship will inevitably end when the young woman realizes that he is not «a great guy who's just brilliant and thinks out loud» but a needy, complicated — and, crucially, older — man who will never be hers. enough.
Mahoney later said of the film: «Moonstruck» was my breakthrough in film. The restaurant scene was an actor's dream. It completely changed my career. For the first time, viewers were able to see me as I really am. I never imagined that the film would be so great or that my role would have such a big impact.»
Roles matching his talent soon followed, including working with the Coen brothers in their comedies Barton Fink and The Hudsucker Proxy; his participation in the first film as an alcoholic author based on William Faulkner was a welcome reminder that he could play surreal comedy just as well as he could convey gravitas. He was also memorable in Richard Gere's legal thriller Primal Fear as a corrupt district attorney, although he was overshadowed by Edward Norton's star turn as a two-faced defendant, and his husky tone made him highly sought after for voice acting roles that included roles such as from «The Ants and the Iron Giant».
John Mahoney with Richard Dreyfuss in the film «The Tin Men» Photo: Alamy
However, it was when he was cast in Frasier in 1993 that he found his defining role. Co-creator Peter Warren commented: «When we imagined the character of Martin, we asked for John Mahoney to be portrayed. Warren [Littlebank, NBC president] said if we could get John, he would be pre-approved.» At the time, Mahoney was still living in Chicago, and his only real reservation about filming Frasier was that he had to spend several months of the year in Los Angeles, where the series was filmed.
As he said in 2002: “I love this show, I'm immensely proud to be on a show that has been so honored, but at the same time, I don't live where I live, and it drives me crazy. This is a completely geographical phenomenon. If the show had been filmed in Chicago, I would have filmed it for 20 years. But I just really miss home. And I miss stage work. Therefore, I would not like Fraser to continue living without me, but I am afraid that this will happen.”
Instead, the original series ended in 2004, but not before Mahoney had been nominated for two Emmys and two Golden Globes, as well as becoming part of a much-vaunted ensemble. He remained proud of his work on the show, telling Time Out in 2008: “Fraser was a class act. I didn’t think for a minute that this was less prestigious and artistic than staging a play.” Although he sometimes expressed displeasure that Martin was not allowed storylines that, albeit comically, dealt with the difficulties and indignities of old age; instead, he ended the show by remarrying, this time to the woman who looked after Frasier and Niles as children.
John Mahoney with the cast of Frasier at the 1988 Emmy Awards. Photo: AFP
When it came to Mahoney's personal life, he was more opaque. In 2002, he, like many avid bachelors, said: “I have never been very mature in my relationships with women. The first sign of conflict: I left. I wouldn’t discuss it because I was afraid it would lead to a quarrel.” A few years later, he spoke in more detail about his lack of romantic life. “It doesn’t exist for me anymore,” he said. “I think he's dead and buried. Twenty-three years ago I had colon cancer. I had to have major surgery and have a colostomy. After that I really couldn't have sex. I'm very happy alone and with my friends, but no, I'm definitely not involved with anyone. And I never look like that.”
To the surprise of much of the public when he died, many tributes noted that he lived a private life as a gay man and was well known in the Chicago LGBT scene. It's possible that he worked with openly gay actors at home like David Hyde Pierce and Edward Hibbert on Frasier, but was never willing to discuss his sexuality in interviews. However, a hint of his proclivity may have been in the role he played in a 2006 episode of the medical drama ER, in which he plays a gay man and former drag queen whose partner dies of heart disease, but whose family do not want to admit their relationship.
At the end, Mahoney gives a fiery speech that may well echo some of his own thoughts, in which his character says, “As bad as it may sound, I belong to a rare breed constitutionally incapable of giving up fantasy. If I can stand up like a lady and sell the crowd a catchy song, then I sure as hell can hold on to hope that maybe somehow Jimmy will be okay. We are all liars, just like they said. Makeup, wig, soft dress. These are all beautiful lies we tell ourselves. But it makes us feel better.»
It was a beautiful, moving scene, proving that Mahoney was as adept at conveying deeply emotional drama as he was at selling hilarious comedies, and a reminder of what his death required one of the greatest actors of his generation. The tribute that the new Frasier series will pay to him is very welcome and certainly deserved, and it's a blessing that there was never any discussion about a role change. Because just as there will always be only one Martin Crane, there will always only be one John Mahoney.
Frasier is in Paramount+ now
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