John Mahoney dies: Tributes pour in for British-born Frasier actor

British-born actor John Mahoney, who starred as Martin Crane in US sitcom Frasier, has died at the age of 77.

Mahoney, who appeared in the long-running show between 1993 and 2004, died in Chicago on Sunday, his manager said.

He was born in Blackpool and later portrayed Andrew Del Mar in an episode of ITV drama Foyle's War in 2015.

He played the much-loved, straight-talking father of Frasier and Niles Crane for 11 seasons of the show, starring from the very first episode. 

For the role, Mahoney earned two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. When the show ended in 2004, he returned to Broadway in Prelude To A Kiss.

Jeff Greenberg, the casting director for Frasier, said he had "not known a kinder man nor more brilliant actor".

Wartime evacuee

Born in June, 1940 to a family evacuated from wartime Manchester, Mahoney was the seventh of eight children.

In a 2015 interview, he recounted memories of huddling in an air raid shelter and playing among bombed-out houses. The accounts his four older sisters shared with him, he said, included tucking him into a baby carriage outfitted with a shield against feared gas attacks.

One sister, who moved to the US after marrying an American sailor, was responsible for Mahoney's decision to make his life in the States. He visited Chicago as a college student and fell in love with it.

"The lake, the skyline, the museums, the symphony, the lyric opera," he said in extolling the city in 2015. Add in reliably friendly Midwesterners, Mahoney said, and it's "my favorite place in the world."

With his sister, he moved from Blackpool to the US in his late teens, becoming an English teacher and later the editor of a medical journal. 

Dissatisfied with his career, it was not until his late 30s he pursued acting - taking on the role he is best known for at the age of 53. 

Fellow cast member Peri Gilpin, best known for her role in the series as radio producer Roz Doyle, tweeted:

Mahoney earned legions of fans for his portrayal of the cranky Marty, father of Kelsey Grammer's Frasier.

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."

John Cusack, who appeared with Mahoney is the 1989 film "Say Anything," tweeted that he was a great actor and a "lovely kind human - any time you saw him you left feeling better."

A stalwart of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Mahoney said that he gave up "nothing" professionally by living in the city.

The theatre's founder, Gary Sinise, paid tribute to "an old friend... and wonderful actor".

Cancelling its scheduled performance on Monday, the theatre added in a statement: "John's impact on this institution, on Chicago theatre and the world of arts and entertainment are great and will endure."