Show
Frosty the Ice Queen
Niles Crane (ex-husband)
CharacterLilith is the ex-wife of Dr. Frasier Crane, and the mother and primary caregiver of their son Frederick Crane. She appears on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier. Lilith is Jewish, and shares the name with a demon goddess. She has a mother, Betty Sternin, who appeared on Cheers, played by Marilyn Cooper. She also has a half-brother, named Blaine, played by Michael Keaton. StoryBOSTON Lilith first appears in the Cheers episode "Second Time Around," as Frasier's date. The date does not go well and Lillith ends up walking out on him. She returns in the episode "Abnormal Psychology," where they again feel a mutual attraction after Diane gives her makeover. They end up making out during a television appearance and decide to make another attempt at a relationship. Sometime after this, Lilith moves in with Frasier and they get married in 1987. In the Cheers episode "The Stork Brings a Crane," Lilith gives birth to her and Frasier's son, Frederick in the back of taxi (though the birth happens off-screen). In 1992, the marriage begins to show cracks. In the Cheers episode "One Hugs, the Other Doesn't," Lilith finds out that Frasier was previously married to Nanette Guzman (now known as the popular children's entertainer, Nanny G) and ends up attacking her at Frederick's birthday party after she sang a song implying romantic feelings for Frasier (knowing full well that he had remarried). Later that year, Lilith admits her affair with another man - Dr. Louis Pascal. Lilith ends up leaving Frasier and nearly drives him to suicide until Lilith talks him down and promises him that their marriage can be saved. Lilith then leaves with Pascal to live in an eco-pod. Frasier is still distraught and nearly sleeps with Rebecca Howe until Lilith unexpectedly returns in early 1993. Upon her return, Lilith reveals that the experiment was a disaster and that Pascal turned out to be claustrophobic (among other problems) and that she abandoned the project to return to Boston. Soon afterwards, Frasier, Rebecca and Pascal himself show up to the bar in pursuit of Lilith. Pascal shows up armed with a pistol, threatening to shoot Frasier and the others if Lilith does not return to him. However, Lilith tells Pascal that he needs to shoot her first, which causes Pascal to back down and surrender to the police. Even after all this, Frasier is initially reluctant to take Lilith back but ends up being won over by her pathetic sobbing, implying that they can possibly reconcile. SEATTLE A reconciliation never comes to pass as Lilith and Frasier divorce sometime between the Cheers finale and The Good Son. Additionally, it is revealed that Lilith was given custody of Frederick while Frasier was granted with visitation rights. Lilith makes her first appearance on Frasier in The Show Where Lilith Comes Back, in which she calls into Frasier's radio show and criticizes the advice he gives to his callers. Later at Frasier's Apartment, Lilith reminisces with Frasier about the times they had together. It is here Lilith reveals that she found a letter from Frasier a month earlier about a possible reconciliation but he tells her he wrote that letter an entire year earlier. Frasier and Lilith make love at one point, though they both end up regretting it, thus ending any possibility of a reconciliation. A running gag is that she is a very cold person (Martin once calls her "Frosty the Snow-wife"), though when she gets emotional, it's usually in abundance. She also has very pale skin, which is also the subject of several jokes. People also make jokes describing her as a witch or demon (in season 2, Martin says the signs of Lilith's presence on an island are "the sea starting to churn and all the birds taking flight from the trees"). She is a strict mother and does not let Frederick do many things his friends enjoy (her reaction to him turning goth is never seen, though she didn't inform Frasier of it in advance when Frederick visited him). She first appears on Frasier to reunite with her ex-husband, hoping they can find love again. She appears in the second season by chance, and goes to Seattle to tell Frasier she is getting remarried. After her husband leaves her for a man, she is so desperate she ends up sleeping with Niles. She later returns to seek sperm from Frasier, hoping to mother a sibling for Frederick. However, they call it off. She later encounters a man on a plane (played by Brent Spiner), with whom a romance is implied. Her final appearance is the Frasier episode Guns N' Neuroses, where she is unknowingly set-up on a blind date with Frasier by one of her colleagues. However, the two end up meeting for drinks but both end up canceling the blind date with neither of them knowing that it was with each other. Later on, Frasier and Lilith manage to resolve a dispute between a young married couple in the hotel they're staying at and end up spending the night together watching TV, falling asleep on the couch. The next morning, she says goodbye to Frasier and they part on good terms without ever restarting their romance. She also had a guest appearance on the show Wings, and appeared alongside Frasier. She was played by Bebe Neuwirth. Trivia
Episodes
Bebe Neuwirth, who played Dr. Frasier Crane’s ex-wife Lilith Sternin in the hit sitcom "Frasier," said she has not been approached to appear in a possible reboot — at least not yet. “Frasier,” a spinoff of “Cheers,” told the story of Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), who moves back to his hometown of Seattle, settles with his father and works as a radio psychiatrist. KELSEY GRAMMER SPOTTED HOLDING A 'FRASIER' SCRIPT The hit show aired from 1993 until 2004. Grammer originally played Crane starting in 1984, when he appeared on “Cheers” from 1984 until 1993.
“No, I just see lots of chatter about it,” the 60-year-old actress told Closer Weekly. “I don’t know anything. I haven’t heard anything personally.” According to the magazine, the Tony Award-winning star first appeared as Frasier’s girlfriend-turned-wife on "Cheers" from 1986 until 1993. For “Frasier” she frequently returned with the onscreen couple’s child Frederick (Trevor Einhorn) in a recurring guest role. Neuwirth won two Emmys for playing Lilith on “Cheers” and obtained a single nomination for “Frasier.”
When asked if she was open to the idea of a “Frasier” reboot, Neuwirth responded: “Sure, but reboots are tricky because the original is so fine. So if you’re going to do it, it better be really phenomenal. I do trust Kelsey, though, and his taste and his intelligence. If he does it again, I’m sure he’ll do it really, really well and the best version. Absolutely.” KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS HE HOPES TO BRING 'FRASIER' BACK Neuwirth also shared she has faith in the show’s original writers, one of the many secrets behind the show’s lasting success. “I trust those writers,” said Neuwirth. “I never imagined what had happened from the first time my character walked into the bar on ‘Cheers.’ I never would have imagined, but they were the greatest writers in TV comedies. It was brilliant. All of their choices were brilliant. As for working with Grammer, Neuwirth insisted she has nothing but fond memories collaborating with the star. “Every time I looked in his eyes, he’s just the greatest,” she gushed.
A revival of the NBC sitcom has been rumored for many years. In April of this year, TMZ indicated that “Frasier” might be getting the band back together. The outlet snapped a photo of the 64-year-old walking on the streets of London with a “Frasier” script-in-hand. The binder also sported Grammer’s production company logo, Gramnet. KELSEY GRAMMER ADDRESSES POSSIBILITY OF 'FRASIER' AND 'CHEERS' REBOOTS Representatives for Grammer said that people submit ideas, which Grammer considers, but there’s no real movement on a potential revival at this time. The statement is in line with comments the star previously made at the show’s 25th-anniversary celebration in Los Angeles, where he admitted that he’d be open to reprising the role of Frasier Crane provided his co-stars David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin reprise their roles as well. "No, there’s been no premise that has come along that has the necessary fire,” Grammer said at the time. “A lot of us are quite committed to the concept that you would never try to redo what we once had,” he added.
Sadly, there can never be a true revival of the cast following the death of actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane for more than 10 years. Martin was Frasier's father and was meant as the heart of the show. Grammer tweeted an image at the time of Mahoney hugging him shortly after his death with the caption, “He was my father. I loved him.” In March, Grammer told “This Morning” he had hoped for the series to return. 'FRASIER' STAR JOHN MAHONEY TELLS ALL “Well, my hope is that we can bring it back, [but] we’re sort of shopping for the right idea,” said Grammer. “’Will & Grace’ have done a continuation now, and it’s basically the next day from when they were last on the air, and I don’t think that’s appropriate for ‘Frasier.’" Grammer shared that so far, no one has approached him with the possibility of bringing “Frasier” back as a reboot.
Back in 2017, Grammer told Fox News it never gets tiring for fans to still recognize him as Crane. “Listen, I would be a fool if I took umbrage with that,” he explained. “He was a wonderful character. Frasier Crane is a wonderful character. He was fun to play, brought me great success, brought me great financial reward, and honestly, an enormous amount of satisfaction in having helped so many people.” “The number of people that come up to me is never aggressive or unhappy,” he continued. “They’re always smiling and thankful and grateful for the work. And then, of course, there are others who paid more attention to the show and had a little more understanding of some of the drama. So, it’s just a career. I’ve been at it for a long time. And it would be indecorous of me to take issue with the fact that I’m recognized for Frasier. It’s a great character.” Fox News’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report. |