John Mahoney is the talented actor who plays Frasier's father Martin Crane on the hit U.S. sitcom Frasier.
Before joining the cast of Frasier he appeared in small roles in movies, most notably Moonstruck, Say Anything, Barton Fink and In The Line Of Fire.
Born in Manchester, England in 1940 during World War II Mahoney emigrated to the US when he was 19 and served briefly in the US army. Settling in Chicago, he earned his Bachelor and Master's degrees in English literature and edited a medical journal.
During his life he had always been drawn to the theatre. At the age of 37 he pursued his dream and took acting classes. This led to him joining the Chicago Steppenwolf theatre to which he is associated with to this day.
Source
The Unofficial John Mahoney Page: http://www.geocities.com/area51/9825/mahoney/welcome.htm
Paramount Bio Page: http://www.paramount.com/television/frasier/cast/mahoneybio.html