can you believe this guy was originally born in Britain? It's true! He moved to the US at 19 and in his mid-30s found Chicago and made it his home away from home. Coincidentally, he attended acting classes at St. Nicholas Theatre founded byDavid Mamet then later joinedSteppenwolf Theatre Company at the urging of his pal,John Malkovich. '80s flick junkies will remember Mahoney as the tax-evading dad of Ione Skye in Cameron Crowe's. . . Say Anything (1989; interestingly, Mahoney cites this role as his favorite cinematic performance).
Now an Oak Park resident, you can see Mahoney in the Emmy Award winning TV sitcomFrasier, in which he plays Frasier Crane's cantankerous father, Martin Crane (recently winning him an Emmy Nomination). Other film acting credits includeThe Iron Giant (1999)Barton Fink (1991),In the Line of Fire (1993),The Hudsucker Proxy (1994),She's the One (1996), andPrimal Fear (1996).
One of my favorite moments inMoonstruck (1987) is when a young female student throws a drink in Mahoney's face.
Mahoney moved from a bleak post-war Britain in 1959 to the US, signed a declaration of intent to stay, and joined the army, to speed up the citizenship process. He got a bachelors degree at Quincy College and a masters in English at Western Illinois University, and briefly tried teaching before taking a job as an editor with theJournal for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.
It wasn't until the age of 37 that he rediscovered acting (which he had done as a child in England) -- he signed up for acting classes at the St. Nicholas Theatre (started by David Mamet, Steven Schachter, and W.H. Macy), moved to Lakeview, and quit his job. In his second play at St. Nicholas (Ashes), he played opposite John Malkovich who invited Mahoney to join Steppenwolf. Since then, he's appeared in more than 20 productions there, includingThe Man Who Came to Dinner,Death of a Salesman,Balm in Gilead,Born Yesterday,The Song of Jacob Zulu,Death and the Maiden, andSupple in Combat. He won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk nomination for his performance in the company's off-Broadway production ofOrphans.
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