Maris Crane is a character on the American television sitcom Frasier. Though often discussed on the show, she is never seen nor heard (except for two instances, once when she was covered in bandages and another time when she was hit in the face with a pie). This allowed the writers to 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, however, 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. A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Frasier is a popular American situation comedy television series that starred Kelsey Grammer. ... Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters who are never seen or heard by the audience, but only described by other characters. ... In modern psychology, the term neurosis, also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, is a general term that refers to any mental imbalance that causes distress, but (unlike a psychosis or personality disorder) does not prevent rational thought or an individuals ability to function in daily life. ... Vera Kreitzer Peterson was an almost unseen character on the American television show Cheers, who is the wife of popular Cheers patron Norm Peterson. ... Hillary Norman Norm Peterson was a character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by George Wendt. ... Cheers was an American situation comedy produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC. Cheers was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. ...

Background and role in the series

Much of Maris's 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 adult life. An entire branch of her family tree was slaughtered by the Huguenots (or so she claimed). For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Huguenot was applied to a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, historically known as the French Calvinists. ...

Maris is described as 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". Frasier also once sarcastically referred to Maris as "ounces of fun". She is intensely 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. A neurosis, in psychoanalytic theory, is an ineffectual coping strategy that Sigmund Freud suggested was caused by emotions from past experience overwhelming or interfering with present experience. ... The term phobia, which comes from the Ancient Greek word for fear (φόβος, fobos), denotes a number of psychological and physiological conditions that can range from serious disabilities to common fears to minor quirks. ... Binomial name Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758) Ocelot range The Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), (from the Nahuatl ocelotl) also known as the Painted Leopard or McNenneys Wildcat, is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad...

Her interests include sensory deprivation, cosmetic surgery, fencing and interpretive dance. She is host of a sherry-tasting group, and plays the autoharp. A dedicated shopaholic, Maris makes an annual pilgrimage to Dallas, site of the first Neiman Marcus store. A prisoner at the United States Camp X-ray facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba being subjected to sensory deprivation, through the use of ear muffs, visor, breathing mask and heavy mittens. ... Plastic surgery is a general term for operative manual and instrumental treatment which is performed for functional or aesthetic reasons. ... Fencing advertisement for the 1900 Summer Olympic Games This article is about the sport, which is distinguished from stage fencing and academic fencing (mensur). ... Interpretive dance is a family of dance styles that seeks to interpret the meaning inherent in music rather than by performing specific preformatted moves. ... An Autoharp The Autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers which, when depressed, mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord. ... The name, coined after Sophie Kinsellas novels, describe a person who is addicted to shopping. ... Dallas redirects here. ... Categories: Stub | Retail companies of the United States ...

When the series begins, Maris is married to Niles Crane, Frasier's younger brother. Niles met Maris when he stopped his car in front of her house to assist her in getting through a balky security gate. Five years older than Niles, she had been married to him for 15 years by the episode "Are You Being Served?". She is part of Seattle's social elite, and claims that her family's wealth comes from timber; 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 dislike Maris greatly. Dr. Niles Crane is a fictional character on the American sitcom Frasier, a spin-off of the popular show Cheers. ... Frasier Winslow Crane is a character on American television sitcoms Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. ... Are You Being Served is the title of the twenty-first episode of the fourth season of the American television sitcom Frasier. ... Image of a urinal deodorizer block taken in June 2004 at Georgia Southern University, College of Information Technology, USA. Urinal deodorizer blocks are the small disinfectant blocks found in urinals. ... Frasier Winslow Crane is a character on American television sitcoms Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. ... Martin Crane (often called Marty) is a fictional character of the TV show Frasier. ...

Maris is exceptionally domineering and emasculating towards Niles. Despite this, Niles is devoted to his wife, but as the series progress, 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 drawn-out divorce initiated by Niles after he discovers Maris is having an affair with their marriage counsellor. Jane Leeves as Daphne Moon Daphne Moon is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Frasier, played by Jane Leeves. ...

Maris repeatedly tries to lure Niles back, but Niles remains firm, prompting Maris to respond with a bitter divorce lawsuit in which she nearly bankrupts Niles financially as well as socially.

After their divorce, Maris is 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 wife, comes first. Besides the main characters Frasier Crane, his father Martin and brother Niles, Daphne Moon, Roz Doyle and a few others, there are several minor characters who regularly appear on the American television sitcom Frasier, or who have important but limited roles. ...

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. In justice and law, house arrest is the situation where a person is confined (by the authorities) to his or her residence. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ...

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, slightly webbed fingers and an underbite. Perfume gives her hives and her skin has no pigmentation. When she gets angry her eye twitches.

Foods she claims 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 also claimed she was hypoglycaemic. This was proven false during the seventh season when she became grotestquely fat in reaction to Niles and Mel Karnofsky's relationship, eating sausages, chalupas, rich pastries and so forth. It is revealed that Maris had an eating disorder, probably anorexia, despite her small height and that she was paranoid about gaining weight due to it, explaining her normal emaciated state. Hypoglycemia (hypoglycæmia in the UK) is a medical term referring to a pathologic state produced by a lower than normal amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. ... Chalupa boats at Xochimilco. ... For the symphonic black metal band, see Anorexia Nervosa (band) Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. ...

She has a fear of flying (since a bad experience when she was "bumped" from first class). Fear of flying is a fear of air travel. ...

She cannot have pets because, according to Niles, she distrusts anything that loves her unconditionally (this contradicts the statement about the ocelot and the dogs, mentioned above).

She is too light to activate a whoopie cushion and is so weak that she once became trapped in a revolving door. 1955 Advertising Card A Whoopee Cushion, also known as The Poo-Poo Cushion and The Razzberry Cushion, is a Practical joke device that produces a noise resembling a Bronx cheer or human flatulence. ... A revolving door is a type of door that, as its name suggests, revolves in its frame. ...

She once sprained her wrist from having too much dip on a cracker.

She cannot ride a horse because her quadriceps are so tight she cannot straddle anything larger than a border collie. Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... Muscles of the iliac and anterior femoral regions. ... The Border Collie is a hardworking breed of herding dog that originated in the border country of England and Scotland. ...

It was alluded to in the season three episode "Where there's smoke, there's fired" that she once was addicted to cough syrup. Dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXM for short) is an antitussive drug that is found in many over-the-counter cold remedies and cough syrups. ...

In another episode, Niles commented that wearing a pair of the latest hooped-earrings had compressed Maris' spine.

Quotes

• [Through a keyhole]
  

Roz: I see her coat on a hat rack
Frasier: Look closer, is the hatrack moving?
Roz: Oh, my god!

• [On a saucy film Niles and Maris watched together]
  

Niles: I don't mind telling you we pushed our beds together that night. And that is no mean feat as you know, her room is across the hall.

• [About dinner reservations]
  

Frasier: Will Maris be joining us?
Niles: Oh, I'm afraid not; we were there one Christmas, seated next to a table of Italian soccer players. Maris announced she was in the mood for a goose and, perhaps inevitably, tragedy ensued.

Frasier: I thought Maris was joining us? Niles: No we were getting ready for dinner when I came in and saw Maris on the bed she looked up and sighed, I knew then that dinner was not to be

• [On Maris not being able to have pets]
  

Niles: She distrusts anything that loves her unconditionally.

• [At a banquet]
  

Niles: Oh look, Maris has cornered Mrs Beaumont, she's been wanting to discuss getting on the museum board for months. Oh, Mrs Beaumont thinks to escape with the old freshen the drink ploy, she obviously has no idea who she's dealing with. That's right Maris, chug that sherry, on with the chase! It's Mrs Beaumont and Maris, coming around the ice sculpture, Mrs B and Maris, Mrs B and Maris, and yes, they meet again! (Roz, Frasier, Niles, Martin, and Father Mike all clap)

• [Niles, Roz and Fraiser are watching out the window of Cafe Nervosa]
  

Niles: Look, you see that rotund woman coming out of 'Chock Full o' Donuts'? Watch. Before she gets to her car, she'll finish that bear claw, and then go back in - this is her third time.
Roz: You called us over to show us that? It's rude.
Frasier: It's childish. [He and Roz walk away]
Niles: It's Maris! [They come back]

• [Niles is watching Maris walk into a deli after Chock Full o' Donuts]
  

Niles: Oh, the manager just took the three-foot salami out of the window.

• [At Frasier's peephole]
  

Niles: It's Maris! ... at least I think it is, you need a bigger peephole.

Niles: I got Maris into Dad's bedroom, but I had to butter her up a bit.
Fraiser: I was afraid that narrow doorway might pose a problem.

• When Maris doesn't arrive at Frasier's party.

Niles: She tires quickly under the pressure to be interesting.

References

The Simpsons episode "Brother from Another Series" stars Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce as brothers, Bob and Cecil, reminiscent of their roles on Frasier. According to The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary, writers for this episode ran the script by NBC executives and writers for Frasier. The only thing they took exception to was a brief scene showing a character named "Maris". Their argument was, "We don't show Maris." To which Kelsey Grammer repeats, "You can never show Maris." One Maris reference remained in the episode: Simpsons redirects here. ... Brother from Another Series is an episode from the eighth season of The Simpsons. ... Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is a five-time Emmy and Golden Globe-winning American actor who is best known for his two decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC sitcoms Cheers and Frasier. ... David Hyde Pierce (born April 3, 1959) is an American actor, known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the sitcom Frasier. ... Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known by his stage name Sideshow Bob, is a fictional character on The Simpsons. ... This list is of one-time fictional characters from the American animated television comedy series The Simpsons. ... Mr Sparkle. ... A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. ... NBC (a former acronym for National Broadcasting Company) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

• Bart [holding Cecil's eyes closed from behind]: Guess who?
  Cecil: Maris?

See also

• List of unseen characters.