‘Brilliant’ Frasier star John Mahoney dies aged 77
Tributes have been paid to the Blackpool-born actor who died in Chicago on Sunday.
British-born actor John Mahoney, who starred as Martin Crane in hit US sitcom Frasier, has died, his manager said.
The 77-year-old, who appeared in the long-running series for 11 years, died in Chicago on Sunday.
The sitcom’s casting director, Jeff Greenberg, tweeted: “I’ve not known a kinder man nor more brilliant actor. We were all blessed to have spent 11 glorious years together.”
US actress Peri Gilpin, who appeared alongside him throughout Fasier’s 263 episodes, tweeted a picture of Mahoney singing at her wedding, adding: “Watch Moonstruck, Say Anything and/or Frasier or anything you can with him in it and raise a glass to John. Remember him well.”
He most recently appeared on TV screens in 2015, when he portrayed businessman Andrew Del Mar in an episode of ITV drama Foyle’s War.
Born in Blackpool in 1940 to a family evacuated from wartime Manchester, Mahoney later emigrated to the US where he was granted citizenship after service in the military, according to a biography on online entertainment database IMDb.
A latecomer to acting, he began learning his craft on stage aged 40 and won a Tony award for best featured actor in a play in 1986.
He was joined in 193 episodes by Eddie, Marty’s beloved terrier.
However while filming for Foyle’s War in Blackpool he revisited parts of North West England from his childhood, the report said.
