Maris Crane
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Maris Crane is the ex-wife of Dr. Niles Crane on the American television sitcom Frasier that aired on NBC September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004.
In the beginning of the series, Niles is still married to her, even though he starts developing a crush on Daphne Moon. Maris is described as being a very insecure, petty, domineering, and generally unpleasant woman, and as the series progresses, Maris and Niles start drifting apart. Finally Niles divorces Maris after he catches her having an affair with their marriage counselor. Distraught, Maris repeatedly tried to lure Niles back, both with threats and bribes. Despite a few one night stands, Niles eventually proved firm on his decision, causing Maris to respond with a bitter, prolonged divorce lawsuit. Niles eventually hired pro lawyer Donnie Douglas to win the case. Ironically, Donnie then proceded to fall in love with Daphne Moon, Niles' longtime secret crush.
During the last year of the show, Maris is arrested for murdering her then-boyfriend, though it was in self-defense. Maris is placed under house arrest, using the bracelet system, but she still fears that she may not get a fair trial. The bracelet slips off and she escapes to her private island in the Carribean. However, she hides the bracelet in a painting, getting him into some misadventures. This painting was a portrait of Niles as Pan, the Greek mythological character, who was half human and half goat.
Character
She is described as being extremely thin and rarely eats, consuming only tiny morsels of food when she does. Frasier once called her "bleached, 100 per cent fat free and best kept in an air-tight container." It was later revealed she actually had an eating disorder. Chubby as a child, she had struggled to stay thin, only to then gain a lot of weight after her divorce from Niles.
She is extremely wealthy, inheriting a fortune based on urinal cakes- though she always lied about this fact. Her wealth apparently made her obsessed with social standing and she is portrayed as being a selfish shopaholic.
Her interests include sensory deprivation, cosmetic surgery, fencing and interpretive dance.
No actress played Maris. She was talked about but never seen or heard. The closest one gets to seeing her, is when she is drinking with a straw through the hole in the box she is hiding in, in order to ship herself out of the USA. Her (very blurry) silhouette was also once seen through a shower curtain. As the show progressed it would often become somewhat of a running gag to briefly trick the viewers into thinking they were seeing Maris, only to be immediately disappointed. For example, one episode featured Fraser waiting for Maris in the coffee shop, and eventually a thin woman in a headscarf and sunglasses walked in. Fraser stood up and exclaimed "there you are!" only to have the thin woman walk past him to reveal Maris' maid, apologizing that "Missy Crane" could not come.
Maris' unseen nature was inspired by Vera Peterson, Norm's oft-mentioned but rarely seen wife on Cheers. Frasier writers took it one step further; although Vera was heard on occasion and once seen with her face covered with a cream pie (played by George Wendt's real-life wife, Bernadette Birkette), Maris was never seen or heard.