Where Are the ‘Frasier’ Stars Who Aren’t Returning for the Paramount+ Revival?
Frasier has returned to TV on Paramount+, but fans of the original NBC sitcom won’t see many familiar faces. The revival, which debuted on Thursday, October 12, will see Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Crane move back to Boston, leaving his Seattle friends and family behind.
And Grammer is the only Frasier actor starring in the Paramount+ series full-time, though Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin will be back on a guest-starring basis to play Lilith Sternin and Roz Doyle, respectively. (We’re also holding out hope that some of Grammer’s Cheers costars will pop up on the new Frasier, too.)
So, where are the other Frasier stars, the ones who don’t appear to be reprising their parts anytime soon? Scroll down for updates on the bunch.
Frasier, Thursdays, Paramount+
Jane Leeves (Daphne Moon)
Leaves played Kit Voss on The Resident until the Fox hospital drama’s cancellation earlier this year. She told Entertainment Weekly in 2021 that she wouldn’t leave The Resident for the Frasier revival, which was still in the conceptual stage at the time.
David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane)
As the Frasier revival came together, Pierce “basically decided he wasn’t interested in repeating” the role of Niles, Grammer told People last year. Instead, the actor is playing Paul Child on the Max biopic series Julia, and he’s appearing in the posthumous Stephen Sondheim musical Here We Are, now playing an off-Broadway run.
John Mahoney (Martin Crane)
After Frasier, Mahoney appeared in the 2007 film Dan in Real Life and in that year’s Broadway production Prelude to a Kiss. And in the late 2000s and early 2010s, he returned to TV with recurring roles on Burn Notice and Hot in Cleveland. He died at age 77 in 2018.
Dan Butler (Bulldog Briscoe)
Butler continues to make periodic appearances on screen. He had roles in the 2020 film All My Life and the 2022 film Blonde, and he guest starred in the penultimate episode of the NBC series The Blacklist last year.
Tom McGowan (Kenny Daly)
McGowan recently recurred as Jax Rindell on The Good Fight, appeared in the TV movie One Royal Holiday, and guest starred on American Auto. He played Falstaff in a production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at San Diego’s Old Globe this summer.
Edward Hibbert (Gil Chesterton)
Hibbert has dropped out of the spotlight recently, but in the late 2010s, he made guest appearances on TV shows like 2 Broke Girls, Search Party, Grace and Frankie, and Blue Bloods.
Patrick Kerr (Noel Shemsky)
Kerr is still an active actor, recurring as Mr. Johnson, seen here, in the Apple TV+ series The Big Door Prize earlier this year, for example. Coincidentally or not, he and Hibbert both took on the role of Zazu from The Lion King, Hibbert in the animated film’s direct-to-video sequels and Kerr in the Las Vegas production of the Broadway musical.
Millicent Martin (Gertrude Moon)
Last year, Martin wrapped up a long-term recurring role as Joan-Margaret on Grace and Frankie. Her other TV roles of late include guest starring parts on Hot in Cleveland, 2 Broke Girls, and Code Black.
Saul Rubinek (Donny Douglas)
Rubinek starred as Murray Markowitz on the Prime Video series Hunters in 2020, and since then, he has guest starred on Schitt’s Creek, Billions, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and FBI. His recent filmography also includes the motion pictures Shttl, Blackberry, and Clock.
Moose and Enzo (Eddie)
This father-and-son Jack Russell Terrier team shared the role of Eddie, Martin Crane’s dog. Moose, seen here, died in 2006, followed by Enzo in 2010. The two dogs also split the title role in the 2000 film My Dog Skip — but they hated each other, Frasier co-creator Peter Casey told Vanity Fair in 2018. “They couldn’t be on the set together,” Casey added. “Apparently, it was one of those classic parent-child Hollywood rivalries.”
