John Mahoney
| John Mahoney | |
|---|---|
 Mahoney in 1994 |
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| Born | June 20, 1940 Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, U.K. |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1980–present |
John Mahoney (20 June 1940) is an English-born American actor. He started his career on the stage in 1977, moving into film in 1980. He played Martin Crane in the American sitcom Frasier on NBC from its inception in 1993 until the final episode in 2004. He has also worked as a voice actor, and performed on Broadway and in Chicago theatre.
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Early life [edit]
Mahoney, the seventh of eight children, was born in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England – the town to which his mother was evacuated as the Mahoneys' home city of Manchester was heavily bombed during the Second World War. He started school at St Joseph's College, Blackpool. 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 Children's Youth Theatre. His Irish father, Reg, was a baker.[1]
Mahoney moved to the US 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 U.S. citizenship process; he received citizenship in 1959.[2] He lived in Macomb, Illinois, and taught English at Western Illinois University in the early 1970s, before settling in Forest Park, Illinois and later in Oak Park, Illinois. He served as editor of a medical journal through much of the decade.
Career [edit]
Early work [edit]
Dissatisfied with his career, Mahoney took acting classes at St. Nicholas Theatre, which inspired him to quit his day job and pursue acting full-time, and after a stage production in 1977, 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. Gary Sinise, co-founder of Steppenwolf, said in an interview for Bomb Magazine that Lyle Kessler's play Orphans "kicked John Mahoney, Kevin Anderson and Terry Kinney off into the movie business"[3] after their Steppenwolf performance in it where he won the Derwent Award and the Theatre World Award.[4] He won Broadway's Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves.
Frasier [edit]
He appeared in Frasier from its inception in 1993 until the final episode in 2004; Mahoney received numerous Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations for this role. He played the role of Martin (Marty) Crane, the father of Frasier and Niles Crane. NBC executives so highly esteemed Mahoney that Warren Littlefield declared he was pre-approved when the Frasier creative team suggested casting him as the father.[5]
Mahoney appeared in episode 5 season 11, of Cheers as an inept jingle writer named Sy Flembeck. His appearance included a brief conversation with Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer). Mahoney also appeared as a priest in Becker, which starred another Cheers regular, Ted Danson.
Voice acting [edit]
Mahoney's first voice job was in W. B. Yeats' "The Words upon the Window-Pane" for the award-winning National Radio Theater of Chicago. He provided the voices for several characters in the animated film Antz (1998), Preston Whitmore in Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: Milo's Return, 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). In 2007, he provided the voice of Sideshow Bob's father, Dr. Robert Terwilliger Sr., in "Funeral for a Fiend", an episode of The Simpsons. This reunited him with his Frasier co-stars Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, who voiced his character's sons: Sideshow Bob and Cecil, respectively.
Post-Frasier [edit]
Mahoney co-starred as The Old Man in the Broadway revival of the play Prelude to a Kiss at the American Airlines Theater in a limited-run engagement from previews February 17, 2007 through April 29, 2007.[6][7] He appeared in season 13 of ER as an elderly drag queen in the episode, "Somebody to Love", and in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dan in Real Life, co-starring as the father of Steve Carell, himself a veteran of Chicago theatre. In March 2008 he opened in the world premiere of Better Late at the Northlight Theatre.[8] He is also the narrator for Midwest Airlines commercials. On March 5, 2009, Mahoney made a brief appearance on USA's Burn Notice at the end of its second season. His character, referred to only as "Management", is a senior covert intelligence agency official and apparently the main mover of the conspiracy which blacklisted Michael Westen. He also appeared in the third season finale, broadcast on March 4, 2010—in a cliffhanger that suggests his role will continue into the fourth season.[9][10]
Mahoney joined the cast of the HBO drama, In Treatment, for the show's (2009) second season, portraying a frenetic CEO, overwhelmed by his personal and professional responsibilities, who experiences chronic physical anxiety attacks and arrives for therapy demanding a "quick fix", because his time is of the essence.
In 2010, he made a guest appearance on $#@! My Dad Says as an anti-homosexual retired naval officer Lt. Commander Wally Durham.
Despite the numerous successes throughout his career, Mahoney has maintained that his early work in Lyle Kessler's play Orphans has "affected people more than any other play I've ever done. I still get mail from it, I still get people stopping me on the street, and it's twenty years later".[11]
Beginning in April 2011, Mahoney began rehearsing The Outgoing Tide, a new play by Bruce Graham at Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago). The play also stars fellow Chicago actors Rondi Reed and Thom Cox.
In 2011, he had two guest appearances on the TV Land sitcom Hot In Cleveland, playing a waiter and a love interest for Betty White's character, Elka.[12] This reunited him with his Frasier co-stars Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick, whose character he eventually married in Frasier, and his co-star in the movie The American President.
Currently, he is a featured ensemble cast member in The Birthday Party playing in Chicago's Steppenwolf theatre from January 24 to April 28, 2013. [13]
Personal life [edit]
Along with on-screen son, David Hyde Pierce, John is godfather to Frasier co-star Jane Leeves's son, Finn.[14]
Filmography [edit]
Film [edit]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Code of Silence | Prowler Representative |
| 1986 | The Manhattan Project | Lt. Col. Conroy |
| 1987 | Suspect | Judge Matthew Bishop Helms |
| Tin Men | Moe Adams | |
| Moonstruck | Perry | |
| 1988 | Frantic | U.S. Embassy Official |
| Betrayed | Shorty | |
| Eight Men Out | William 'Kid' Gleason | |
| 1989 | Say Anything... | James Court |
| 1990 | Love Hurts | Boomer |
| The Russia House | Brady | |
| 1991 | Barton Fink | W.P. Mayhew |
| 1992 | Article 99 | Dr. Henry Dreyfoos |
| 1993 | In the Line of Fire | Sam Campagna |
| Striking Distance | Lt. Vince Hardy | |
| 1994 | A Hard Rain | Ross Stewart |
| Reality Bites | Grant Gubler | |
| The Hudsucker Proxy | Chief | |
| 1995 | The American President | Leo Solomon |
| 1996 | Mariette in Ecstasy | Dr. Claude Baptiste |
| Primal Fear | Shaughnessy | |
| 1998 | She's the One | Mr. Fitzpatrick |
| Antz | Grebs (voice) | |
| 1999 | The Iron Giant | General Rogard (voice) |
| 2000 | The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy | Jack |
| 2001 | Almost Salinas | Max Harris |
| Atlantis: The Lost Empire | Preston B. Whitmore (voice) | |
| 2003 | Atlantis: Milo's Return | Preston B. Whitmore (voice) |
| 2005 | Kronk's New Groove | Papi (voice) |
| 2007 | Dan in Real Life | Poppy |
| 2010 | Flipped | Chet Duncan |
Television [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes/Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Chicago Story | Lt. Roselli | |
| 1985 | Lady Blue | Capt. Flynn | |
| 1986 | Trapped in Silence | Doctor Winslow | |
| 1987 | Saturday Night Live | Fast Eddie Felson Paul Newman |
|
| American Playhouse | Artie Shaughnessy | ||
| 1988 | Favorite Son | Lou Brenner | |
| 1990 | The Image | Irv Mickelson | |
| H.E.L.P. | Chief Patrick Meacham | ||
| 1991 | The American Experience | ||
| The 10 Million Dollar Getaway | Jimmy Burke | ||
| 1992 | The Human Factor | Dr. Alec McMurtry | |
| The Secret Passion of Robert Clayton | Robert Clayton Sr. | ||
| The Water Engine | Mason Gross | ||
| Screenplay | Walter Partin | ||
| Cheers | Sy Flembeck | ||
| Unnatural Pursuits | Paddy Quinn | ||
| 1993-2004 | Frasier | Martin Crane | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1999, 2003) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (1994, 2001) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1995-2004) Nominated - Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical Nominated - Q Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series (1998, 2000) Nominated - TV Guide Award for Supporting Actor of the Year in a Comedy Series |
| 1995 | Biography | Narrator | |
| 1996 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Dr. Leonard Hamlin | |
| 1997 | Tracey Takes On... | Jeffrey Ayliss | |
| 1998 | Nothing Sacred | Vince Reyneaux | |
| 2000 | Becker | Father Joe D'Andrea | |
| 2003 | Gary the Rat | Steele | |
| 2005 | Fathers and Sons | Gene | |
| 2006 | ER | Bennett Cray | |
| 2007 | Mobsters | Narrator | |
| The Simpsons | Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr. | ||
| 2009 | In Treatment | Walter | Nominated - Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline |
| 2009-2010 | Burn Notice | Management | |
| 2010 | $#*! My Dad Says | Lt. Col. Wally Durham | |
| 2011 | Hot in Cleveland | Roy |
References [edit]
- ^ "John Mahoney (Martin Crane)". Personal.umich.edu. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ "John Mahoney Biography (1940-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Loud, Lance. "BOMB Magazine: Gary Sinise by Scott Elliott". Bombsite.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
- ^ "In 1986". Steppenwolf.org. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Levine, Ken (2010-12-15). "How Frasier Came to Be". Kenlevine.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Internet Broadway Database: ''Prelude to a Kiss''". Ibdb.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ "Mahoney, Parisse, Tudyk to Headline Roundabout's ''Prelude to a Kiss''". Broadway.com. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Associated Press (Apr 20, 2011). "Northlight Theatre set for The Outgoing Tide". Theatre in Chicago. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "usanetwork.com". usanetwork.com. 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (Jun 23, 2011). "Review: 'Burn Notice' - 'Company Man': Back in from the cold?". http://www.hitfix.com. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "Associate Artistic Director Curt Columbus Speaks With Kevin Anderson and John Mahoney | Watch & Listen | Steppenwolf Theatre Company". Steppenwolf.org. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
- ^ Das, Lina (30 July 2010). "How Benny Hill babe Jane Leeves became the queen of U.S. TV". http://www.dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "The Birthday Party". Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ^ Mulkerrins, Jane (2011-02-13). "Jane Leeves in Hot in Cleveland has struck sitcom gold again". Dailymail. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Mahoney |
- John Mahoney at the Internet Broadway Database
- John Mahoney at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- John Mahoney at the Internet Movie Database
- NBC biography: John Mahoney
- Centerstage.net: John Mahoney
- Q&A: John Mahoney at Broadway.com
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- 1940 births
- Living people
- Actors from Chicago, Illinois
- American film actors
- American people of Irish descent
- Clarence Derwent Award winners
- English emigrants to the United States
- English people of Irish descent
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- American television actors
- English voice actors
- People from Bispham, Blackpool
- Quincy University alumni
- Tony Award winners
- United States Army soldiers
- Western Illinois University faculty
- 20th-century American actors
- 20th-century English actors
- 21st-century American actors
- 21st-century English actors
