Maris Crane
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Maris Crane is a character on the American television sitcom Frasier. Often discussed on the show, she is never seen or heard. This allowed the writers to greatly exaggerate her physical characteristics and various neuroses to great comic effect, though according to the writers, they had intended Maris to appear in later episodes. After a time, they realized it would be impossible to cast an actress to match Maris' description, which had become "too reptile-like." Having Maris as an unseen character was inspired by Vera Peterson, Norm's oft-mentioned but rarely seen wife on Cheers.
Background and role in the series
Much of Maris' early background is unknown. A wealthy heiress, she had a luxurious and privileged upbringing, but seemingly battled body-image issues and eating disorders which continue to plague her in later life. An entire branch of her family tree was slaughtered by the Huguenots.
Maris is an exceptionally insecure, petty, domineering, and generally unpleasant woman, selfish, and obsessed with social standing. She is described as being extremely thin and rarely eats, consuming only tiny morsels of food when she does. Frasier compares her to a bag of flour: "bleached, 100% fat-free and best kept in an air-tight container." She is intensly neurotic and suffers from a wide array of medical conditions and phobias. She sleeps with a pearl handled revolver under her pillow, and has an ocelot as well as several dogs.
Her interests include sensory deprivation, cosmetic surgery, fencing and interpretive dance. She hosts a sherry-tasting group, and plays the autoharp. A dedicated shopaholic, Maris makes an annual pilgrimage to Dallas, site of the first Neiman Marcus.
When the series begins, Maris is married to Niles Crane, Frasier's younger brother. When exactly Maris and Niles met and married is not established. Four years older than Niles, by the episode "Are You Being Served?", the two have been married for fifteen years. She is part of Seattle's social elite, and claims that her family's wealth comes from lumber; Niles later discovers that it actually comes from urinal cakes. Nevertheless, she disdains her husband's lower-class origins and rarely deigns to involve herself in family functions with them. Niles' brother and father greatly dislike Maris.
Maris is exceptionally domineering, emasculating and dominating towards Niles. Despite this, Niles is devoted to his wife, but as the series progresses, Maris and Niles start drifting apart, partly because Niles begins to fall in love with Daphne Moon, his father's physical therapist. This culminates in a lengthy separation and ultimately an acrimonious and long-drawn out divorce initiated by Niles after he discovers Maris is having an affair with their marriage counselor.
Maris repeatedly tries to lure Niles back, but Niles remains firm, prompting Maris to respond with a bitter, prolonged divorce lawsuit in which she nearly bankrupts Niles financially as well as socially.
Following their divorce, Maris is only heard from infrequently; on discovering that Niles has begun dating her plastic surgeon, Mel Karnofsky, Maris sinks into a depression and begins binge-eating, swelling to an enormous size. During the last year of the show, Maris is arrested for murdering her then-boyfriend, Esteban DeRojo, though she claims it was in self-defense. Frequently calling on Niles for support, she begins dominating him again until Niles finally puts his foot down and declares that Daphne, his current wife, comes first.
Maris is placed under house arrest but manages to slip off the electronic bracelet and escapes to her private island in the Pacific, to live extradition-free.
Maris' quirks and medical conditions
Among other problems, it is revealed during the series that Maris exhausts easily under the pressure to be interesting, cannot produce saliva, once had a $25,000 face lift, and is allergic to roses. She also has abnormally rigid vertebrae, and perfume gives her hives. When she gets angry her eye twitches.
Foods she cannot eat (due to allergies or other reasons) include shellfish, poultry, red meat, saturated fats, nitrates, wheat, starch, sulfites, MSG, dairy, and nuts. She is hypoglycaemic.
She has a fear of flying (since a bad experience when she was "bumped" from first class).
Quotes/References
- ''[Through a keyhole]
Frasier: Is the coatrack...moving?
Roz: Oh my god!
- [About dinner resevations]
Niles: Oh, I'm afraid not, we were there one Christmas, seated next to some Italians. Maris announced she was in the mood for a cooked goose and, naturally, tragedy ensued.
- [At a banquest]
See also
| Frasier characters |
| Main characters: Frasier Crane | Niles Crane | Martin Crane | Daphne Moon | Roz Doyle Eddie the dog Recurring characters: Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe | Gil Chesterton | Maris Crane | Lilith Sternin | Bebe Glazer | Gertrude Moon | Noel Shempsky | Kenny Daley Other characters Minor characters on Frasier |
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