Who Plays Bob Vernon On Frasier & Was The Character Based On A Real-Life Host?
In "Frasier" Season 8, Episode 8, titled "Mary Christmas," Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) becomes obsessed with hosting a local Christmas parade for his radio station, KACL. His passion for the job comes from his nostalgia for coverage of the parade from when he was a child; a man named Bob Vernon hosted the broadcasts.
Playing Vernon in his single-episode "Frasier" appearance is Peter Haskell. While he was a prolific actor during his lifetime — he died at 75 years old in 2010 — he worked primarily as a TV guest star, albeit on plenty of shows popular in their heyday. Arguably, his best-known role is toy company CEO Mr. Sullivan in both "Child's Play 2" and "Child's Play 3."
Haskell's "Frasier" character, notably, shares a name with a real-life TV and radio host, who worked for WNBC news in New York City and WGAR in Cleveland. While nobody who worked on "Frasier" has explicitly confirmed whether or not the fictional Vernon is based on his real-life counterpart, considering the large number of writers, actors, and directors who regularly contributed to the show, it's more than likely at least one of them grew up listening to Vernon in either New York or Cleveland and thought his name would be a fun addition.
Peter Haskell has more than 75 TV credits to his name
Peter Haskell started acting in 1964, more than three decades before his "Frasier" appearance. That year, he showed up in single episodes of "Death Valley Days" and "The Outer Limits." The following year, he worked on five TV shows, including "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Rawhide." From then on, he was regularly on the small screen through the 2000s, appearing in series like "JAG" and "Cold Case." His final part was in a Season 15 episode of "ER" in 2009.
Some of the most noteworthy roles from his lengthy career include the recurring character Kevin Grant in the NBC drama "Bracken's World" between 1969 and 1970; Charlie Estep in the ABC miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man Book II" between 1976 and 1977; over 100 episodes as Lloyd Kendall on soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" between 1983 and 1985; and even Rooney in the 1993 sci-fi film "Robot Wars."
Following his death in 2010, Haskell's TV filmography was so considerable that the official website for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences published his obituary. By the time he played what may well be a fictionalized version of the real-life newscaster Bob Vernon, Haskell had firmly established himself as a mainstay of the TV industry.