Maris was famously kept offscreen for the entire run of Frasier - but she technically still "appeared" on the show twice. Maris was the wife of Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce), but despite the Crane men making jokes about her aloof nature and appearance, the show also made it clear that Niles genuinely loved her too.
This was primarily because they didn't want viewers to think that Frasier was simply riffing off with what Cheers did with Vera, Norm's (George Wendt) wife, who was often mentioned but never made it on screen. They planned on debuting Maris in episode 3, but the gag became too funny that they stuck with it.
Maris makes only two onscreen "appearances": once in the episode "Voyage of the Damned" when her shadow is seen through a shower curtain (she is spoken to but makes no reply), and again in "Rooms with a View", where she appears in Niles' memory, almost completely covered by bandages after surgery.
The Last Time I Saw Maris is the 8th episode of Season 3 of Frasier.
Maris disappears without a trace for two days; when a frantic Niles finds out that she has simply flown to New York for a shopping trip, he angrily confronts her, leading to their separation... Read all.
Niles's first wife is Maris Crane, the haughty, anorexic daughter of a wealthy Seattle family, who is never seen on the show, despite being referred to in nearly every episode during his relationship with her. Season 1 references that Niles married for money.
Maris was famously kept offscreen for the entire run of Frasier - but she technically still "appeared" on the show twice. Maris was the wife of Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce), but despite the Crane men making jokes about her aloof nature and appearance, the show also made it clear that Niles genuinely loved her too.
Bebe Neuwirth will reprise her role as Lilith Sternin on Paramount+'s upcoming Frasier revival. The ex-wife of Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane on the original sitcom, Lilith will appear in a guest star role in an upcoming episode centered on their reunion at son Freddy's (Jack Cutmore-Scott) birthday party.
In the final season of Cheers, Lilith has an affair with another man and leaves Frasier. The affair later unravels and Lilith returns, seeking reconciliation with Frasier.
Kelsey Grammer has only 2 minutes and 46 seconds of screen time in this episode, making it the only time he appears in the form of a cameo, as he was being treated for his addiction problems. As result, it was re-written and entirely centered around Niles (David Hyde Pierce).
16. Jane Leeves was pregnant twice during Frasier. While her second pregnancy was written into the final season, her first wasn't and the writers gave Daphne a storyline where she gains weight instead. In Season 8, Daphne begins gaining weight and becoming addicted to food.
As a member of the Church of Scientology, Alley chose not to, though was never asked to, reprise her role as Rebecca Howe on any episode of Frasier, because the series was centered on the field of medical psychiatrists; she was the only former Cheers regular not to do so.
Now, Grammer has said in a new interview that Niles will not be in the series. “David basically decided he wasn't really interested in repeating the performance of Niles,” Grammer told People .
The baby that Niles and Daphne have at the end of the show is not a result of a real life pregnancy of Jane Leeves, the actress who plays Daphne. However, she was pregnant earlier in the show. In season 8 the actress got pregnant and it was simply written into the show as a weight gain.
Daphne reveals that she knows about Niles' seven-year crush on her. She has tormented herself about her own feelings towards Niles and believes that she has fallen in love with him in return.
Daphne Sported An Actual Baby Bump
So much so that she put on weight and even sported a bulging tummy for the majority of Season 8. In real life, Jane Leeves was pregnant at the time, and Daphne getting fat was written into the show to explain her baby bump.
Maris Crane (Frasier, 1993 - 2004)
Maris Crane is Niles Crane's (David Hyde Pierce) first wife, an unseen character referenced comically throughout the series.
The cast of Frasier were notably close. Grammer calls Pierce the brother he never had. Along with the late John Mahoney, who played their dad, Martin, Pierce is godfather to Leeves's son. “David is a very easy person to love,” emails Leeves.
Kelsey Grammer once stated that "Dinner at Eight" was his favorite episode in Frasier.
Niles was never mentioned, simply because he literally didn't exist, as just as part of Frasier's backstory on Cheers. He also didn't exist for Frasier until a casting director noticed David Hyde Pierce's resemblance to Kelsey Grammer.
Jane Elizabeth Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daphne Moon on the NBC sitcom Frasier (1993-2004), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She also played Joy Scroggs on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.
"Moon Dance" (Season 3, Episode 13)
By this point in Frasier, Niles and Maris are recently divorced.