John Mahoney: Frasier's 'cranky' dad was the stove at the heart of the show

Marty Crane’s bluff exterior concealed a sensitivity that leaked out at unexpected moments and was made all the more affecting by the actor’s extraordinarily nuanced performanceJohn Mahoney, who played Frasier’s Martin Crane, dies aged 77I can’t shake the image of Eddie the dog looking up at an empty, flea-bitten orange-and-green recliner chair, a metal-framed walking stick leaning against one armrest. Martin “Marty” Crane is gone; never again will we see the sparkle of mischief in his eye as he prepared another wind-up to gently puncture the balloon of his eldest son’s pomposity. I know Frasier ended in 2004, but the finality of the actor who played my favourite character leaving the stage makes my heart heavy all the same.“Ask for the fine art fraud-detection squad,” he deadpans in one episode, when Frasier calls the police to report a forged painting and is met with helpless cackles on the other end of the phone. The former cop’s beer-drinking, sport-loving ways were always at odds with his erudite sons and their preference for sherry. A blue-collar dad to the starched collars of Niles and Frasier, he frequently knocked the wind out of their pretentious sails with his straightforward practicality and no-nonsense approach. Continue reading…
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