Frasier star John Mahoney has died at age 77.
His publicist confirmed to Digital Spy that the veteran of stage and screen passed away in Chicago on Sunday (4 February) following a period in hospice care for a "short illness". A family statement will be released in the days to come.
Mahoney earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Frasier Crane's wisecracking father Martin in the Cheers spin-off Frasier.
What most fans are not aware of is that only a year before the launch of the spin-off, Mahoney had played a completely separate character — jingle writer Sy Flembeck — in a scene where he interacted with future co-star Kelsey Grammer on Cheers.
Martin would later provide much comic relief on NBC's Must-See-TV hit as a counter-balance to his sons Frazier and Niles' (David Hyde Pierce) more neurotic personalities.
Three years after Frasier signed off the air in 2004, the trio were reunited when The Simpsons cast Mahoney and David Hyde Pierce as Sideshow Bob's (Grammer) estranged father and brother.
Later TV roles included playing a troubled CEO in HBO's In Treatment and multiple guest appearances in the TV Land comedy series Hot in Cleveland.
The British actor also had an esteemed film career, having most memorably played Ione Skye's disapproving father in Cameron Crowe's 1988 romantic comedy Say Anything.
Other memorable film credits include the Academy Award-winning Moonstruck, baseball drama Eight Men Out, Joel and Ethan Coen's Hollywood satire Barton Fink, Clint Eastwood political thriller In the Line of Fire and Steve Carell's rom-com Dan in Real Life.
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