Who exactly is that Daphne person on Frasier?

she is the father's home heath care aide (now that you mention it, it is kind of odd. The father isn't that disabled and Fraiser isn't rich enough to employee her full time.---he's in radio.)

I thought she was his physical therapist but that makes even less sense. Who's ever heard of a live-in PT person.

[quote]she is the father's home heath care aide

But isn't she married to Frasier's brother or something?

many years into the show she married the brother

No surprise! Americans fall for British accents like idiots. They would even like Fenella Fielding.

Obviously Daphne morphed into a live-in housekeeper/cook/PT.

And DR. Frasier Crane is mainly a psychiatrist, a job title not associated with penury.

but the actress is really British. does she sound funny to Brits, why?

[quote] Americans fall for British accents like idiots.

Talking of which, on the show I watched today, Daphne's former boyfriend from Manchester turned up. It was the worst attempt at a 'British' let alone Manchester accent I've ever heard. There are tons of British actors in Hollywood why they cast a Malibu surfer dude I can't imagine. He almost killed the episode.

[quote]many years into the show she married the brother

But continues to live in the apartment looking after the father?

Fraiser dosn't have any patients. He just does the radio show. Niles still practices.

I think there is an episode where they address that the father doesn't really need her. Shes about to move out but they don't want her to go so they allow her to rent her room and do a little cleaning to get a better price.

no r8 after they marry she moves into Niles' house.

[quote]and do a little cleaning to get a better price.

LOL.

Does she live in the maid's room off the kitchen?

Frasier wasn't ALWAYS on the radio, DUH. (See: "CHEERS.")

And married Daphne and Niles DO NOT live in Frasier's apt.

OMG, these questions are so stupid.

Thanks for the responses.

You can understand how a occasional viewer might be confused by her role.

For years I've been wondering who the fuck is she? Now I know.

Has the actress gone on to other things? I'm wondering where else in America she'd find another job, unless she can do a good American accent, which would be quite a feat when you listen to how she speaks normally.

She's currently on the show Hot in Cleveland.

OP may want to check out Wikipedia for questions like these.

[quote]but the actress is really British. does she sound funny to Brits, why?

Because she is a Southerner putting on a Mancunian accent and sounding like someone putting on an accent.

Daphne's accent is funnier when you know John Mahoney was raised in Manchester.

Since the Mahoney character was a cop injured in the line of duty, I imagine Daphne's fee was picked up by the state. And the poster upthread is right: there was confusion about her live-in status early on so Frasier made adjustments in order to hire Daphne.

I loved that show. Even at its worse, it was better than most shows.

[quote]I'm surprised an American show cast someone with an accent like that, but the Americans obviously bought it.

Most Americans aren't well acquainted with British regional accents, so they wouldn't be able to discern a Mancunian from a Geordie. We have a popular commercial here with a talking Cockney gecko but many people I've encountered think he's Australian! So yes, we bought the accent and didn't think twice about its authenticity.

This is still my favorite show to watch. I can watch it over and over again on Netflix. So many stand out episodes. Voyage of the Damned, A Valentine for Niles, and the one where Frasier gets caught in the gay bar in tight little shorts borrowed from Niles are among my favorites.

I've always been curious as to what happened to the actress who played Roz. I don't thinks she's been in anything since Frasier.

R19, Peri Gilpin (Roz) was on "Make It or Break It" on the ABC Family network and "Men at Work" on TBS. She also does a lot of voiceover work.

According to wikipedia, Peri Gilpin and Jane Leeves (Daphne) formed a production company called "Bristol Cities." So far, they've only produced a failed pilot, an American remake of "The Vicar of Dibley" with Kirstie Alley.

Roz (can't think of the actress' name) is one of the biggest voiceover "stars" in the biz. She makes a killing.

Peri has a wonderful voice.

Jane is on Hot in Cleveland.

[quote]Daphne's former boyfriend from Manchester turned up.

I don't remember who played that character. But Daphne's brother was played by Anthony La Paglia (an Aussie) and her mother by Millicent Martin (a Brit.)

You're surprised an American show cast someone with an accent like that?

Have you never heard of the many non-American actors who are stars in America including many who do not attempt American accents?

Have you also not been aware that in your own country tv shows sometimes star Americans?

[quote]Have you never heard of the many non-American actors who are stars in America including many who do not attempt American accents?

[quote]Have you also not been aware that in your own country tv shows sometimes star Americans?

It's always the very stupid people who address others as though they're the stupid ones.

r23 Peri studiously avoids skydiving.

Peri is now a semi-regular on CSI (the original) as Ted Danson's wife. She looks OLD.

Most Americans are not going to give a shit if a British accent is "authentic" or not, as long as the character works.

I spent an afternoon home sick developing a pretty good imitation of her. Maybe it's easier to mimic a fake accent, like everyone and Borat.

Here you are, R30...give it a go!

She was funny as Miles' girlfriend Audrey on Murphy Brown, too.

The character of Daphne originally claimed to have psychic abilities but the writers jettisoned that schtick soon after.

The actress who plays Daphne is Jane Leeves, who got her start in British TV as one of the bikini girls on Benny Hill.

Her accent on Frasier was a put-on she did mainly for her own amusement. You can hear how she really talks on Hot in Cleveland and old episodes of Murphy Brown, where she played Miles'(not Niles) girlfriend.

OP, if you really are curious about Jane Leeves, check her out in the 1986 film To Live and Die in LA. She's hardly in the movie, but her role as a mute lesbian and the action in the film alone are worth the viewing. She was also in a pre-Frasier sitcom called Throb, which also concerned a radio station. She used to be a Benny Hill girl too.

Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard:

"DOCK-tuh KRAAAAAAANE!!!!!"

When Peri Gilpin was 22 years old, her father was killed while attempting to save his own, and the life of another during a skydiving accident.

And R27 is an asshole.

Here you all go. Leeves explains the weird accent in her own words (and her own accent).

She was a bikini girl? She had no figure. Flat ass, flat chest.

And man hands.

Who is she? Who was she? Who does she hope to be?

Jane was perfect as Jerry's girlfriend Marla in the infamous "The Contest" episode.

"Your all horrible people, absolutely horrible!"

[quote]Most Americans aren't well acquainted with British regional accents, so they wouldn't be able to discern a Mancunian from a Geordie.

In fact, in one or two of the episodes Daphne's mother and brothers come to visit from England. The actors all have different regional accents. Some northern, some southern. I think there's even a cockney accent in there.

It was very funny to see but of course Americans wouldn't be able to tell the difference. All they hear is an "English" accent.

She was another turd in that toilet of a sitcom.

R44 that "turd" was a hell of a lot better than most tv out there.

Hey British people! We're not very impressed by most of your actors' attempts at American accents. They sound just as phony to us.

[quote]Hey British people! We're not very impressed by most of your actors' attempts at American accents. They sound just as phony to us.

Yes, well, at least British actors don't put on a deep south accent when they're playing someone from New York.

I think Americans can tell a bit, but it doesn't make much of a difference.

For example, in Keeping Up Appearance the sisters are were all raised together, yet some have posher accents than others.

It seems like all the main actors from Frasier, except Grammer are close. Peri and Jane are godmothers to each other's kids and David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney are godfathers to another of Jane's kids.

Another funny episode not mentioned "Mixed Doubles" is when Daphne starts dating Niles' doppelganger Roger.

I loved Frasier's Wives of Henry the VIII's coffee set.

I believe Niles deliberately smashed Catherine of Aragon R51.

We had a thread a while back about characters you hate on TV shows you love. Hated to say it, but "Daphne" was my choice. She made me laugh maybe twice the entire run of the show.

I have no idea why I made VII possessive at R51.

Was it deliberate or was it the sudden shock that "that Popinjay" was actually just like him?

Gosh, OP. We're so glad you discovered this historical gem of American television.

Just wait until "77 Sunset Strip" and "Naked City" make it to your neck of the woods. You'll love them, although if you prefer comedies maybe "My Mother the Car" will wow you with its topical humor.

Yes, R49, but I once heard DHP talk about Cheers at a dinner party, and he said that KG was the most generous star he had ever worked with. Evidently Grammer enjoyed his co-stars' success and did what he could to encourage it. He often suggested giving his funny lines to another character if doing so made the show funnier. He may be a Republican, but he seems to be a decent guy, at least to his colleagues.

R33,

You obviously do not know the show. Daphne's psychic powers was reaffirmed in the episode where Niles got a dragon as a gift. It was one of my favorites.

[quote] You obviously do not know the show. Daphne's psychic powers was reaffirmed in the episode where Niles got a dragon as a gift. It was one of my favorites.

How could we all forget?

[quote]For example, in Keeping Up Appearance the sisters are were all raised together, yet some have posher accents than others.

That was done on purpose to show that Hyacinth was a pretentious social climber. She had a working class background but found a way into the middle class when she married Richard.

Violet also married up, but she wasn't as pretentious.

She had room for a pony, though.

[quote]We had a thread a while back about characters you hate on TV shows you love. Hated to say it, but "Daphne" was my choice. She made me laugh maybe twice the entire run of the show.

She's a hell of a lot funnier on the show than she is in that incredibly flat interview linked earlier in this thread. I think she was meant to be more warm, than funny...or that was the outcome anyway.

Though David H Peirce or whatever he's called is pretty witty on Letterman.

I'll link it again.

At first, I thought the gecko was Australian myself.

Daphne was a cute redhead, but she was no Velma.

Someone mentioned the Frasier in the gay bar episode, upthread.

I saw it again recently and it was very funny...he says to the bartender "I'll bet you're surprised to see me in here" & his face & "OK" response is priceless.

[quote]She was a bikini girl? She had no figure. Flat ass, flat chest.

You're right

"She was a bikini girl? She had no figure. Flat ass, flat chest. "

You don't need 4 kilos of silicon to be hot. Back in the day she definitely qualified.

R65 tells the truth.

Accents on American television are more about making the character cartoonish instead of authentic.

Haven't you ever noticed how cab drivers and building supers often have New York accents no matter where they are living and working?

She's the Crane men's live-in fucktoy. They pass her around like a bag of chips, basically.

If that's true R68, She must have a feminine penis...

[quote]We have a popular commercial here with a talking Cockney gecko but many people I've encountered think he's Australian!

Interestingly, Kelsey Grammer voiced the Geico Gecko in the original ad before they switched to Jake Wood and the Cockney accent.

Wasn't the gecko accent initially posh and then became cockney later in the campaign? At least that's my recollection.

Her Benny Hill appearances were in the '80s, long before big fake tits spread from the porn industry to Hollywood and then to the mainstream. Europe was immune to the phenomenon until pretty recently.

Kelsey Grammer's politics are pretty odious, but I tend give him a pass. His life has been very difficult and traumatic, enough to make a lot of people unhinged drug and alcohol abusers. He has a long history of instability.

They had to throw in some cunt to appease middle America

[quote] Benny Hill appearances were in the '80s, long before big fake tits spread from the porn industry to Hollywood

This is by far the stupidest thing anyone has ever said, at any time, at any place.

Breast implants weren't all that common, even in HW, before the '80s. Really.

She made the best fried pussycat

I never believed the Daphne/Niles relationship. After they got together the show went downhill.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

The best "Frasier" episode for Daphne and Niles fans, is "Moon Dance".

And for the record, I agree with those above who extol the virtues of "Frasier". An excellent, and adult, sitcom with very clever writing. The kind we don't see much of anymore, unfortunately

For the Accent People......a wacky scene from HOT IN CLEVELAND.

[quote]An excellent, and adult, sitcom with very clever writing. The kind we don't see much of anymore, unfortunately

Did we see much of it then?

[quote]Americans fall for British accents like idiots.

They did a thing on this in the show -- Daphne's brother comes to visit and he speaks in a thick, unintelligible working class accent, but Roz swoons because it is British and declares, "He sounds like a prince!"

r8 Everyone I know from Manchester found her "Manchester" accent pretty hilarious. It's more like some sort of weird Yorkshire one.

R80 considering most of the drivel on now, yes, it was quite well written and the actors all had great chemistry.

It was a great show the first five years, but when it fell off -- it really went downhill fast. A lot of people blame Niles and Daphne becoming an actual couple, and the strange mean-spirited storylines of how they got together did not help --- Niles bitter divorce, Daphne involved with a bonorish boyfriend the leaving him at the alter while Niles abandons his second wife and then goes through a second divorce. I think the bigger problem is how much the show started to focus on Fraiser's maudlin quest for true love with a string of multi-episode guest stars with whom he had no chemistry. His whiny soul-searching sucked a lot of the comedy out of the series.

r84, I agree with you. The early seasons are brilliant though.

R84 and r85 are absolutely right. The marriage of Daphne and Niles was the beginning of the end of what was a great show. But doesn't that seem to happen--shows going over their reasonable limit?

Syndication rights--where the big, no gigantic, money really comes from

Daphne was a the fag hag. Fraiser was the lez chaser, but he was straight but like to watch two lezzies "lez off" IF you know what I mean.

You're a funny funny guy, R87.

You should write for sitcoms like Frasier, no trouble.

I hated it. Pretentious shite as me Northumberland grandfather would have said.

"Pretentious shite "

Wasn't that the point? I don't understand how you complain about Niles and Frasier being pretentious when nearly every episode was a setup to mock and puncture their balloon of pomposity.

I loved the boys' embarrassment, shame for his working class blue collar beginnings father. Sometimes this happens,irl,. It's the case of two trash acting couple but with fine ancestors throughout the centuries. Luck of the genetic draw. And we've all know classy kids and young adults just naturally elegant and aristocratic in their demeanor and values. Parents turned out trash and then the snooty kids haunt them by favoring their grandparents. Like their own mother reappears as offspring. Gotta be a killer for all involved.Dysfunctional . in essence the breeders gave birth to their own parents. Genetics are odd. So some kids end up being their parent's parents again by the luck of the draw.

Your genetics play a bigger part in who you are than you could ever even imagine.

No, it was all pretentious.

r91 delusional

[quote]She had room for a pony, though.

Big deal. I had room for a HORSE.

This show managed to be both funny and classy. I loved the Niles/Daphne relationship. Far more believable than any other couple on TV at the time.

I think one of the segments that has to be rated as among the best is the Valentine episode where Niles is preparing to go on a date. He starts off ironing his pants and then inch by inch he makes everything worse until he finally sets fire to the couch. There's no dialogue but DHP does this bit brilliantly.

R95: agreed!! I am not normally a fan of physical humor/pratfalls but that episode was perfection.

My favorite episode of Frasier, I laugh my ass off every time.

[quote]The character of Daphne originally claimed to have psychic abilities but the writers jettisoned that schtick soon after.

R33, they were still on the psychic abilities for Daphne long after she and Niles were married, they didn't use it in every episode but it was never dropped soon after.

I remember two hilarious episodes - the one where Frasier and Niles buy a restaurant and Roz, Niles and Daphne have to work as staff. And the other one was when Frasier gets them all to play parts on his radio program Return To Nightmare Inn.

I wanted to have an apartment done just like Frasier's. Except without the chair Martin sat in because it was all mended with duct tape.

Inspector, none of mah guezz could be a muwwiblle mubbewer.

[quote]Violet also married up, but she wasn't as pretentious.

Violet married money but she didn't marry up. Bruce isn't as upscale as Richard, but he has more money.

R99 and R101 "Look out!! He's got NUG"

Jane Leeves and her sister were on last week's episode of Valerie Bertinelli's cooking show. Val made a proper English tea for them.

They just kept her around because of her looks. She didn't need to live there.

Jane Leeves played the virgin in Seinfeld's "The Virgin" episode. Jerry wanted to take Jane's virginity and Elaine wanted to have sex with JFK Jr. Since Jerry and Elaine were stupid assholes, neither of them got what they wanted and Jane ended up losing her virginity to JFK Jr.

Jane was better on set than Carolyn was before takeoff, R106

One of the early episodes when Niles is worried that Maris is having an affair with the fencing instructor, and they have to keep translating German and Spanish, was one of the best! Frasier: "Yes, Niles, that's just what we need, a Fourth Language!"

Some more from that one: Gretchen: It means, "my little liver dumpling." That used to be his pet name for me. Frasier: Well, maybe he's writing to you. Gretchen: It can't be me. He says he loves her beautiful little body, as thin as his sword, and her skin as white as bratwurst, and that she's his NichteinmenschlichFrau. Frasier: What is that? Gretchen: I don't know if there's a word in English. The closest translation is, "not quite human woman."

Daphne could be very uppity considering she was the help.

Frasier was great for most of it's run. The writing was smart, but they could do broad farce like few other sitcoms. My two favorite episodes were when Frasier doesn't realize he's on a date with his new boss , a man (Niles: "Dad wanted to tell you, but I won the coin toss"); and the Ski Chalet episode, where everyone is chasing the wrong person. The show also had some great recurring characters, like Jean Smart's Lana and Frasier's agent Bebe, who would be a Datalounge favorite.

Like David and Maddie on Moonlighting, the show dipped a bit after Niles and Daphne actually got together. Had I been writing the show, I would've switched the emphasis to their being so opposite, but instead they just made Daphne a bitchy shrew.

I also had no idea who Daphne was... I just thought she worked for one of the men or something. I think I only ever watched a few episodes of Frasier... couldn't stand any of the male characters. I only recall watching when Diane from Cheers showed up.

Daphne should have had more compassion for Mel.

R5 the thing is, Americans are not hung up on accents like the Brits. Whereas Americans are generally more accepting when a Brit attempts an American accent and leave it at that, the Brits go "That's not even close" and won't give Americans a break. I think this is mainly due to the Brits having a love/hate relationship with Americans. They have an inferiority complex when it comes to Americans, so this is their way to one-up them or something.

Did they ever explain why Daphne's brother had a Cockney accent? Were they raised separately?

Daphne's accent was completely ripped to pieces here in the UK when the programme was shown here years back.

People refused to believe the actress was even British, it was so bad.

I like to quote something Daphne said. It was raining and Daphne said whenever it rained her mother would say to the kids, “Enjoy it now. There’ll be no water in hell.”

R114, the roots of English accents today go back centuries to a time when they were distinct languages. It isn't just being hung up on accents, it is living culture, history and identity, it should be respected as such. It is, however, not demanded.

As a whole, most British people have a largely favourable view of Americans. But not the government.

On topic: Frasier and Friends are my joint second funniest American sitcoms. It didn't occur to me to question what Jane's character did. It is TV after all.

Daphne was Martin's personal fucktoy. It was unusual to have such a character on a sitcom, but they downplayed its bizarrity.

[quote] It was very funny to see but of course Americans wouldn't be able to tell the difference. All they hear is an "English" accent.

Even more vague, it's all a "British" accent to some of us.

Did Martin pay rent?

Why did they change Daphne so much after the marriage? She went from ditzy/lovable to all-out bitch.

And why did Bulldog go from recurring to cast regular to recurring to non-existent?

R122, Daphne's characterisation followed the same path as Phoebe Buffay's. Phoebe, like Daphne, started out as a sweet-natured, dippy kook who believed in the supernatural. Around season five, she started to become much more self-centred and acerbic, and gave off a superior air.

I felt the Niles character was almost NEVER funny.