John Mahoney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Mahoney (born June 20, 1940) is an award-winning English/American actor known for playing the retired police officer father, Martin "Marty" Crane, of Kelsey Grammer's character, Dr. Frasier Crane, in the popular American TV series Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004).
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[edit] Early life
Mahoney, the seventh of eight children, was born in Blackpool, England - the town to where his mother was evacuated as the Mahoneys' home city of Manchester was bombed during the Second World War. After the war, the Mahoneys moved back to Manchester. Mahoney grew up in the Withington area of the city and discovered acting at the Stretford Youth Theatre. His father, Reg, was a baker.[1] Mahoney moved to the United States as a young man when his older sister, Vera, a war-bride living in rural Illinois, agreed to sponsor him. He studied at Quincy University, Illinois, before joining the United States Army to speed up the citizenship process and to become a U.S. citizen; he received citizenship in 1959.[2] He lived in Macomb, Illinois and taught English at Western Illinois University in the early 1970s, before finally settling in Oak Park, Illinois. He served as editor of a medical journal through much of the decade.
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Disillusioned with his career, Mahoney said he realized that as he was approaching middle age, he was coming to terms with his future, which made him very depressed.[citation needed] Ready for a change, Mahoney took acting classes at St. Nicholas Theater that inspired him to quit his day job and pursue acting full time, and after a stage production in 1977, fellow actor John Malkovich encouraged him to join Steppenwolf Theatre. He did so, and went on to win the Clarence Derwent Award as Most Promising Male Newcomer, and, in 1986, Broadway's Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves.
He made his film debut in 1980, and has played supporting roles in such films as Suspect and Moonstruck (both 1987 and both starring Cher), Eight Men Out, Frantic and Betrayed (all three 1988), Say Anything... (1989), Barton Fink (1991), The Water Engine (1992), In the Line of Fire (1993), Striking Distance (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The American President (1995), Primal Fear (1996), and The Broken Hearts Club (2000). Although he has often played "good guy" roles, Mahoney has occasionally gone into "bad guy" territory, evident by his work in Reality Bites as a diva talk show host who torments Winona Ryder's character.
[edit] Frasier
He appeared in Frasier from its inception in 1993 until the final episode in 2004, and received numerous Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations for this role. Coincidentally, Mahoney also appeared in an episode of Cheers as an inept jingle writer, including a brief conversation with Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), whose father he would later play.
[edit] Voice work
He also provided the voices for several characters in the animated film Antz (1998), as well as Whitmore in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, General Rogard in The Iron Giant (1999), and Kronk's Papi in Kronk's New Groove (succeeded by Jeff Bennett in The Emperor's New School).
[edit] Later career
He co-starred in the Broadway revival of the play Prelude to a Kiss at the American Airlines Theater, in the role of The Old Man, beginning in previews February 17, 2007, scheduled to open March 8, 2007[3] and to run as a limited engagement through April 22, 2007.[4] He also appeared in ER season 13 part "Somebody to Love" as an elderly drag queen.
Mahoney will next appear in the romantic comedy Dan in Real Life, co-starring as the father of Steve Carell and Dane Cook. Mahoney is also guest starring in an episode of The Simpsons as the father of Sideshow Bob played by Kelsey Grammer and Cecil Terwilliger played by David Hyde Pierce who also starred in Frasier with Mahoney, paralleling his role as Crane brother's father on that show.
[edit] Personal life
Mahoney lost all traces of his original Mancunian accent, but he did resurrect it once on Frasier, while mocking Daphne Moon (played by English actress Jane Leeves). In 2003, he returned to his home in Oak Park, Illinois to work with the Chicago Steppenwolf Theatre again.
Mahoney is the uncle of Illinois State Senator John Sullivan.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- John Mahoney at the Internet Movie Database
- NBC biography: John Mahoney
- [1]
- Centerstage.net: John Mahoney
- John Mahoney Downstage Center XM Radio interview at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2007
- Q&A: John Mahoney at Broadway.com
Frasier | |
|---|---|
| Cast | Kelsey Grammer · David Hyde Pierce · John Mahoney · Jane Leeves · Peri Gilpin · Moose |
| Characters (respective to cast) | Frasier Crane · Niles Crane · Martin Crane · Daphne Moon · Roz Doyle · Eddie |
| Other characters | Bulldog · Maris Crane · Gil Chesterton · Lilith Sternin · Bebe Glazer · Simon Moon · Minor characters |
| Settings | KACL · Frasier's Apartment · Cafe Nervosa · Nile's Condo |
| Creators | David Angell · David Lee · Peter Casey |
| Seasons | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 |
| See also | Cheers · Director Lists · Writers Lists |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mahoney, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 20 June, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Blackpool, United Kingdom |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
es:John Mahoney fr:John Mahoney it:John Mahoney nl:John Mahoney pl:John Mahoney pt:John Mahoney fi:John Mahoney sv:John Mahoney
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | 1940 births | Actors from Chicago | American film actors | American Roman Catholics | American television actors | English Americans | English film actors | English television actors | Living people | Naturalized citizens of the United States | People from Blackpool | People from Oak Park, Illinois | Quincy University alumni | Tony Award winners | Sarah Siddons Award winners
