Although a classically trained actor with a number of impressive stage performances on his resume, Kelsey Grammer was best known for playing the pompous, but ultimately likable psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on two classic and award-winning sitcoms, "Cheers" (NBC, 1984-1993) and "Frasier" (NBC, 1993-2004). Prior to him landing the role that defined his career, Grammer was struggling on stage and in small roles to make a name for himself, while behind the scenes, suffering from numerous personal tragedies that befell both himself and his family. Perhaps as a means of coping with the seemingly unending string of deaths of loved ones, Grammer fell into a dependency of drugs and alcohol namely cocaine which he later attributed to his inability to cope after the rape and murder of his sister by a man released on the grounds of insanity. For years, Grammer struggled to cope with his addictions, while audiences saw little to nothing of his problems in their enjoyment of Frasier Crane. Entering rehab for the first time in 1990, Grammer eventually attained sobriety in 1996, well into his Emmy Award-winning run on Frasier, largely considered to be one of the most successful television spin-offs of all time. After Frasier finally left the airwaves in 2004, Grammer was finally able to concentrate on other projects. Despite memorable performances in other sitcoms and in features, Grammer was indelibly linked to the beloved character he had played so convincingly for years.
Born on Feb. 21, 1955 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Grammer was raised in New Jersey and Florida after his parents divorced when he was two. Grammer lived with his mother and maternal grandparents, but suffered tragedy when his beloved grandfather died when he was 11. Adding to further heartbreak, the young Kelsey saw his father, Allen, only twice before he was murdered on his front lawn when Grammer was just 13. His father's killer was acquitted on the grounds he was insane at the time of the crime. His life was plagued by more personal tragedy when his younger sister, Karen, was raped and murdered outside a Red Lobster in Colorado Springs, CO. But through it all, Grammer tried to have some semblance of a normal life. After discovering acting while performing in plays at Pine Crest Preparatory High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Grammer attended The Juilliard School alongside Christopher Reeve, Robin Williams and Mandy Patinkin. But his sisters murder proved to be too much to bear, causing him to miss classes and eventually get expelled.
In an attempt to exercise his personal demons, Grammer flung himself into work, performing with the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, CA for three years in the late 1970s. After a short stint at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN, he made his Broadway debut as Lennox in a 1981 production of Macbeth, eventually taking over the lead role. Then tragedy struck yet again almost as if his family were cursed the year before when his two twin half-brothers, Billy and Stephen, were killed by a shark while SCUBA diving. Meanwhile, Grammer had his first onscreen break playing shipping magnate and Kennedy insider Stephen Smith in the three-part miniseries, Kennedy (NBC, 1983). After playing Lieutenant Stewart in the sweeping eight-hour miniseries George Washington (CBS, 1984), Grammer landed the role that defined the rest of his career, playing psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane, fianc
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