Daphne Moon
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| Daphne Moon Crane | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "The Good Son" |
| Last appearance | "Goodnight, Seattle" |
| Portrayed by | Jane Leeves |
| Information | |
| Gender | female |
| Occupation | physical therapist |
| Family | Gertrude Moon (mother) Harry Moon (father) Simon Moon (brother) Stephen Moon (brother) Nigel Moon (brother) Michael Moon (brother) Billy Moon (brother) (never seen) Reginald Moon (brother) (never seen) Peter Moon (brother) (never seen) David Moon (brother) (never seen) |
| Spouse(s) | Niles Crane |
| Children | David Crane |
| Relatives | Martin Crane (father-in-law) Hester Crane (mother-in-law, deceased) Frasier Crane (brother-in-law) Grammy Moon (grandmother) |
Daphne Moon Crane (b. 1961) is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Frasier, played by Jane Leeves.
Daphne is a recent immigrant from England who is employed by Frasier Crane as a live-in housekeeper and physical therapist for his father, Martin. Her quirky personality and claims to psychic abilities provided comic relief on the show, while her relationship with Frasier's brother Niles Crane was a major dramatic plotline during the run of the series, progressing from infatuation on Niles' part at the beginning of the show to marriage at the beginning of season ten.
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[edit] Biography
Daphne was born in Manchester, England, the only daughter in a large, working-class family of nine children. She thus spent much of her childhood playing nurse and housemaid to her brothers. She has a complex love-hate relationship with her domineering and ever-complaining mother, Gertrude Moon (played by Millicent Martin); her relationship with her father, Harry (played by Brian Cox), is much warmer and closer.
As a young girl, Daphne was an actress in the fictional hit British sitcom Mind Your Knickers. Her career ended at age 16 when she became too tall and busty to play her short, pre-teen character. During her youth, she gained considerable skill at billiards, claiming to have won many tournaments. Daphne then took up a career as a physical therapist, working one-on-one with various invalids and shut-ins until being hired by Frasier Crane to assist Frasier's father, Martin Crane, with his daily activities and exercises. Martin suffers pain and discomfort from a bullet wound he received years ago while working on the Seattle police force. Daphne immediately catches the attention of Frasier's brother, Niles Crane, upon their meeting. Even as the two develop a close friendship, Niles does not confess his feelings for her because he is scared that she will reject him. Not knowing of Niles' feelings for her, Daphne continues to swing in and out of relationships until eventually becoming engaged to Niles' divorce attorney, Donny. After Daphne accidentally learns of Niles' deep love for her from Frasier, she slowly begins to realize her own feelings for Niles. Over the next few months, Daphne becomes confused and emotionally distraught as she struggles to decide which man she truly loves. When she confronts Niles about her own feelings towards him at her rehearsal dinner, she decides that she and he can never be. She changes her mind on her wedding day, however, and leaves Donny at the altar so she can finally be with Niles. The two later wed and, in the final episode, have a son named David.
[edit] Personality
Like most characters on Frasier, Daphne has many eccentricities. She often tells rambling stories about her family, cheerfully remembering rather grim or traumatic events, to the considerable discomfort of the Crane family. She is also a firm believer in the supernatural, and believes herself to be "a bit psychic". Daphne's apparent psychic abilities are often treated with ambiguity on the show, and her various 'visions' are sometimes shown to have come true (albeit in a somewhat roundabout way). She once proclaimed a soon-to-occur visit from Lilith as a "great evil" and suffered from a migraine during her stay. When she first met Lilith and shook her hand, she claimed she lost all feeling in her arm. As the series progressed, Daphne's psychic abilities were down played considerably.
[edit] Role on the series
Daphne's most significant developing relationship over the course of the series is with Frasier Crane's younger brother, Niles Crane. Unbeknownst to Daphne, Niles falls in love with her in the third episode, when they first meet; despite the increasing obviousness of Niles' infatuation, Daphne remains utterly oblivious to Niles' feelings towards her, though they become increasingly close friends. During this time, she embarks on numerous (frequently unsuccessful) relationships with other men, each one earning Niles' envy.
Niles' feelings are ultimately, and accidentally, revealed by Frasier in Season 7. Shocked to discover Niles' true feelings towards her, Daphne finds herself falling in love with Niles in return, placing her in the position Niles had been in for many years - in love with someone unaware of her true feelings.
Heartbroken to discover that he had, on impulse, married his girlfriend Mel, Daphne intends to go ahead with her own marriage to Niles' divorce lawyer Donny, until Frasier intervenes. In a two-part episode closing Season 7 and opening Season 8, Niles finally confesses his feelings to her, and although initially rejecting him, Daphne eventually changes her mind, abandoning Donny at the altar. The guilt she suffers as a result, and the difficulties in Daphne and Niles' new relationship, cause Daphne to temporarily gain sixty pounds, which Niles does not notice until Daphne finally reaches her breaking point when she falls to the floor and is too heavy to get up without the help of Frasier, Niles and Martin (Prompting Martin's classic line; "Hey Daph I just thought of something funny, it took three Cranes to lift you"). The weight problem was written into the show to allow Leeves to continue working while pregnant. During the episode "It Takes Two to Tangle" in which she did not appear while at the hospital, Niles tells Roz that Daphne had lost 9 pounds, 12 ounces - the weight of Leeves' baby.
In the first episode of Season 10, Daphne and Niles marry in a small, private ceremony in Reno, Nevada. In Season 11, they have their first child, David, in the final episode of the series, "Goodnight, Seattle". (He is named after the show's co-creator David Angell who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks.)
[edit] Family
Daphne grew up in a very large dysfunctional family. They are often the subject of her long winded tales that sometimes leave the Cranes somewhat perplexed. Although frequently mentioned, the first time one of her family members appears on the show is in the season 7 episode "Dark Side of the Moon", in which Donny surprises Daphne with a visit from her brother, Simon (Anthony LaPaglia), not knowing that she dislikes him. In "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue" Daphne's mother makes her first appearance, while her father only makes his debut in Season 9.
Five out of Daphne's eight brothers have appeared on the show; unfortunately, few of them maintained consistency with Daphne's Northern accent. LaPaglia, an Australian actor, faked a Cockney (London) accent, while Robbie Coltrane played Daphne's brother Michael with a muddled Brummy (Birmingham) accent. Most of the brothers are portrayed as lawless ne'erdowells and womanisers, except for Billy, who is implied to be gay.
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