Actor John Mahoney, Frasier's Martin Crane, is dead at 77
John Mahoney, a prolific actor best known for playing the curmudgeonly father Martin Crane on Frasier from 1993 to 2004, died in Chicago on Sunday, his manager, Paul Martino, said Monday. He was 77 and had been in hospice care. Mahoney, who moved to the U.S. from his native England at age 19, quit his job as a medical magazine editor and started acting full-time in his late 30s at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, after meeting cofounder John Malkovich in 1977.
Along with his stage career, which he resumed after Frasier ended, Mahoney's film credits include Moonstruck, The American President, In the Line of Fire, Tin Men, Barton Fink, Reality Bites, The Russia House, and Say Anything, where he played the disapproving father of John Cusack's love interest.
He also had guest spots on Cheers, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and a recurring role as Betty White's love interest on Hot in Cleveland. Mahoney's awards include a Tony in 1986 for The House of Blue Leaves on Broadway and a SAG Award for playing Martin Crane on Frasier, a role that also earned him two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
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