Who Plays Poppy On Frasier & Why Will MCU Fans Recognize Her?
"Frasier" sported quite a thick catalog of accomplished actors and actresses during its time on the air. Among those stars is Katie Finneran, who played Poppy Delafield twice on the show. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans likely remember best from the Marvel Studio's Disney+ series "Secret Invasion." Finneran portrays Dr. Rosa Dalton, who is kidnapped and replaced by a Skrull. The actress appears in 5 episodes of the program.
In "Frasier," however, Finneran's character is of a sunnier sort. Poppy Delafield first appears in Season 7's "Everyone's a Critic." During the episode, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) becomes so jealous of Niles' (David Hyde Pierce) new position as an art critic at a local magazine that he tries to start his art criticism show on KACL. Frasier's attempt at courting Poppy's attention and winning her station-owning father owner over only results in Poppy taking his concept and turning it into a show of her own. Finneran appears on the show one more time during the same season, in "Rivals." Poppy finds herself caught in a love quadrangle when Niles falls for her, but falsely believes that Frasier has designs on her.
Though this proves to be Poppy's final appearance on the show, Katie Finneran has gone on to do a whole host of other things since her role on "Frasier" concluded.
Katie Finneran has been a working actress for quite some time
Outside of her television and film work, Katie Finneran may best be known as a Broadway actress. She won a Tony in 2010 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for "Promises, Promises" — an award that was ironically given to her by her "Frasier" co-stars David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer. Her other credits there include "My Favorite Year," "The Heiress," "Noises Off" and the 2012 revival of "Annie," where she played Miss Hannigan.
Beyond Broadway, she was a regular on the Netflix drama "Bloodline" throughout its run. Finneran also starred as Sharon Tyler in the beloved cult sitcom "Wonderfalls," and was Melody Sim on "The Inside." In addition, the actor also put in time as Naomi Harte during Season 1 of "Why Women Kill," and has recurred on "The Gilded Age," "Brockmire" and "Up Here."
Film fans will remember her from "Freaky," "Bewitched," and the 1990 version of "Night of the Living Dead," where she appears as Judy. From the smallest cult hit to the biggest Broadway production, it looks like Finneran's managed to build up quite the career since playing Poppy.