Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, producer, director, writer, singer and activist. Grammer is known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcoms Cheers and Frasier. He has won five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes, and has also worked as a television producer, director, writer, and as a voice artist on The Simpsons as Sideshow Bob. Grammer has been married four times and has six children.
Early life and family
Grammer was born February 21, 1955 in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the son of Sally (née Cranmer; 1928â€"2008), a singer, and Frank Allen Grammer, Jr. (1929â€"1968), a musician and owner of a coffee shop and a bar & grill called Greer's Place. He had one younger sister, Karen Elisa Grammer (July 15, 1956 â€" July 1, 1975) who was less than two years younger than Kelsey. Grammer was two years old when his parents divorced. Grammer attended Pine Crest School, a private preparatory school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and later spent two years at the Juilliard School. In 1968 Grammer met Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel heir Ben Novack, Jr. at the Pine Crest School, and they remained friends for forty years until Novack was murdered by his wife, Narcy Novack.
Many of Grammer's family and close friends were killed in violent or accidental manners. In 1968, his father, whom he had seen only twice since his parents' divorce, was shot dead, while in 1975, his younger sister, Karen, was abducted, raped, and murdered by spree killer Freddie Glenn. In 1980, his twin half-brothers died in a scuba diving accident; and David Angell, close friend and producer of Frasier, died in the 9/11 attacks.
Career
Stage
After leaving Juilliard, he had a three-year internship with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in the late 1970s before a stint in 1980 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He made his Broadway debut in 1981 as "Lennox", in Macbeth taking the lead role when Philip Anglim withdrew after receiving negative reviews. Grammer then played Michael Cassio in a Broadway revival of Othello, with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer. In 1983 he performed on the demo of the Stephen Sondheimâ€"James Lapine production Sunday in the Park with George, starring Mandy Patinkin. In 2000, Grammer again played Macbeth on Broadway, in a production that closed after only 10 days.
On April 18, 2010, Grammer made his Broadway musical debut playing the role of Georges in a revival of the Jerry Herman/Harvey Fierstein musical La Cage aux Folles, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.
Television
His television career began in the early 1980s when he portrayed Stephen Smith in the NBC miniseries Kennedy.
Cheers and Frasier
Grammer came to broader public attention as Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC sitcom Cheers. Grammer's former Juilliard classmate and Broadway co-star Patinkin suggested Grammer to the New York casting director, and he got what was supposed to be a six-episode job, but ended up as a regular cast member.
The character became the center of the spin-off Frasier, one of the most successful spin-offs in TV history. In addition to starring, he also directed more than 30 episodes, especially during the second half of the series, and sang the closing theme "Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs." Frasier won and was nominated for many awards during its 11-year run.
In 2001, he negotiated a US$700,000-per-episode salary for Frasier. His 20-year run playing Dr. Frasier Crane ties a length set by James Arness in playing Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1975 and Richard Belzer in playing Det. John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1993.
Post-Frasier
In 2005, Grammer returned to television. He produced and appeared in an American adaptation of the British show The Sketch Show, which aired on Fox. The main cast consisted of Malcolm Barrett, Kaitlin Olson, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Paul F. Tompkins, as well as Lee Mack from the British version of the show. Grammer appeared in only short opening and closing segments in each episode. Many of the sketches from the British version were re-created, such as the "California Dreamin'", "English Course", and "Sign Language" sketches. Only six episodes of the show were made, and it was canceled after only four of them had aired.
In 2007, Grammer starred with Patricia Heaton in the American sitcom Back to You. It was canceled by Fox after its first season.
His next attempt, ABC's Hank, fared even worse. It was canceled after only five episodes had aired. Grammer later commented, "Honestly, it just wasn't very funny."
In 2011 and 2012, Grammer starred in the Starz drama series Boss as a fictional mayor of Chicago in the mold of Richard J. Daley which premiered in October 2011. It is his first dramatic TV series. At the 2012 Golden Globe Awards Kelsey Grammer won the award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama for his role on Boss. The show ran for 18 episodes over two seasons.
Grammer played a villain in the Paramount's Transformers movies' fourth installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, starring Mark Wahlberg. Grammer and comedian and actor Martin Lawrence paired up to star in the comedy Partners for Lionsgate TV. The Lionsgate-produced show will be written and executive produced by Robert L. Boyett and Robert Horn, known for writing hit shows like, Family Matters, Living Single, Full House, Designing Women, and Perfect Strangers.
Other appearances
In addition to being producer, he guest-starred as the Angel of Death on Medium, and Captain Morgan Bateson in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect".
Voice work
Grammer's well-known voice and Mid-Atlantic accent make him popular for voiceover work. He has provided the voice of Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons, winning an Emmy Award for his work in the episode "The Italian Bob", his fifth Emmy win. He has appeared in thirteen episodes since the show's inception in 1989, the most recent being "Clown in the Dumps" that aired in 2014, in which his character makes a cameo speaking appearance. Grammer supplied the voices for "Stinky Pete the Prospector" in 1999 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 2, Vladimir in the Fox animated movie Anastasia, Rothbart in Barbie of Swan Lake, Zozi the Bear in the subsequently produced sequel Bartok the Magnificent, and the title character in the short-lived animated series Gary the Rat. He provided the opening speech and piano in The Vandals' song "Phone Machine" from the album Fear of a Punk Planet, and sang a rewritten version of the "grinch" on an episode of Just Shoot Me!. He was the voice of the mad scientist, Dr. Frankenollie, in the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain. He was also the narrator of "Mickey Mouse â€" Once Upon a Christmas".
Grammer's voice has been featured in many commercials. One of the earliest was a 1998 commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios, where he played the voice of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Since 2006, Grammer has provided the voice for television commercials advertising Hyundai. In 2008, Grammer reprised his role of Dr. Frasier Crane in a commercial for Dr Pepper (Frasier and Cheers co-star Bebe Neuwirth also reprised her role as Lilith Sternin in the same commercial, albeit in voice only).
Production work
His production company, Grammnet Productions, produces the CW sitcoms Girlfriends and The Game (now on BET), the NBC drama Medium, and many other projects.
Other work
In 1996, he starred in the feature comedy Down Periscope. Also, in the 1990s, he did several commercials for Snapper Mowers. Additionally his film work includes the role of Dr. Hank McCoy (also known as the Beast) in X-Men: The Last Stand, and he was the voice of Snowball in the live-action film adaptation of the George Orwell book Animal Farm. Grammer co-starred in the movie Swing Vote, playing the Republican incumbent. He played General George S. Patton in An American Carol. In 2010, he starred in The Kelsey Grammer Bill Zucker Comedy Hour.
Personal life
Family
Grammer has been married four times and has six children and one grandchild as of 2012. His first marriage, to dance instructor Doreen Alderman, lasted from 1982 to 1990, although they were separated for the last six years of that period. They have one daughter, Spencer Grammer (born October 9, 1983), an actress on the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns and the ABC Family show Greek. Spencer's son, Emmett Emmanual Hesketh (born October 10, 2011), is Grammer's grandson.
After his divorce from Alderman, Grammer had a daughter, Kandace Greer Grammer ("Greer Grammer"; born February 15, 1992), with hair and makeup stylist Barrie Buckner. Greer is currently a cast member on MTV's hit show Awkward..
His second marriage, to former exotic dancer Leigh-Anne Csuhany in September 1992, lasted one year. Grammer filed for an annulment when Csuhany was three months pregnant and evicted her from their home. Grammer claimed that she was abusive and fired a gun at him.
In 1994, he met 28-year-old Tammy Baliszewski, also known as Tammy Alexander, at a bar in Manhattan Beach, California. In December 1994, the two of them appeared on the cover of People magazine, announcing their engagement and Grammer's substance abuse problems. They broke up in 1995.
In August 1997, Grammer married Camille Donatacci, a former Playboy model. They met on a blind date in 1996. They have a daughter, Mason Olivia (born October 24, 2001), and a son, Jude Gordon (born August 28, 2004), both born to a surrogate mother. During their marriage, several of Grammer and Donatacci's homes were featured in magazines, including ones in Malibu, California (February 2001, InStyle), Maui (May 2004, InStyle), Long Island, New York (April 2008, InStyle), Bachelor Gulch, Colorado (Architectural Digest), and Bel Air, Los Angeles (Architectural Digest). It was announced on July 1, 2010, that Donatacci had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Grammer and Donatacci's divorce was finalized on February 10, 2011.
On August 12, 2010, Grammer announced that he was going to be a father for the fifth time with girlfriend Kayte Walsh, a British flight attendant who is 25 years his junior. However, in October, Grammer announced that Walsh had miscarried six weeks earlier. The couple announced their engagement in December 2010. At the beginning of February, Grammer and Walsh booked the ballroom at the Plaza Hotel for their wedding, at a cost of more than $100,000 for the reception, despite rumors of Grammer's divorce not being finalized. The couple wed there on February 25, 2011, two weeks after the finalization of his third divorce. In January 2012, Grammer announced that he and Walsh were expecting twins. On July 13, 2012, Walsh gave birth to a daughter, Faith Evangeline Elisa. Faith's expected twin, a boy, died in utero. In March 2014, Grammer announced that he and Walsh were expecting a second child together. On July 22, 2014, Walsh gave birth to a boy they named Kelsey Gabriel Elias.
Murder of Karen Grammer
Shortly after Grammer left Juilliard, his younger sister Karen was abducted, raped, and murdered by Freddie Glenn. Her murderer was up for parole in June 2009. In a letter to the parole board upon Glenn's hearing, Grammer (who was unable to attend the hearing as planned due to inclement weather delaying his flight) wrote:
She was my best friend and the best person I knew. . . . I loved my sister, Karen. I miss her. I miss her in my bones. I was her big brother. I was supposed to protect herâ€"I could not. I have never gotten over it. . . . It very nearly destroyed me.
In an interview with Oprah he stated that he could forgive the men if they would at least take responsibility for the crime, as they all continue to say they had no involvement. In the same interview he expressed his loss of faith for a few years after Karen's passing.
His oldest daughter, Spencer Karen Grammer, was named in part for her aunt.
Sex tape lawsuit
In 1998, Grammer filed a lawsuit against Internet Entertainment Group, which Grammer claimed had stolen from his home a videotape of him having sex with a woman. IEG countersued Grammer, denying they were in possession of such a tape, and Grammer's suit was eventually dropped. IEG President Seth Warshavsky told the New York Post, "We have been presented with another Kelsey Grammer tape. But we have no plans to air it. We are still evaluating it at this time." Grammer later told Maxim, "Whether or not you're a celebrityâ€"even if you're just an old slob with a video cameraâ€"you don't realize you shouldn't do it. So you throw the tape in the back of a dark closet until your old girlfriend remembers it's there because you're famous now and she's not. But if you're not prepared to do the time, don't do the crime."
Substance abuse and legal issues
Grammer allegedly began drinking alcohol at the age of nine; although he denies this in his autobiography, he did become a frequent abuser of alcohol. In 1988, Grammer was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession and sentenced to 30 days in jail. In August 1990, Grammer was arrested again for cocaine possession and was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $500, and required to perform 300 hours of community service. In January 1991, Grammer was given an additional two years' probation for violating his original probation through additional cocaine use. The cast and producers of both Frasier and Cheers held interventions to attempt to help him. Grammer's personal problems affected his work; costar Bebe Neuwirth and writer Ken Levine cited delays with rehearsals and filming due to his erratic behavior. Writer Dan O'Shannon recalled, however, that
He would ooze into the studio, his life all out of sorts. Jimmy would say "Action," and he would snap into Frasier and expound in this very erudite dialogue and be pitch-perfect. And Jimmy would yell "Cut!" and he would ooze back into Kelseyâ€"glazed-over eyes, half asleep, going through whatever he was going through. It was the most amazing transformation I'd ever seen.
In 1995, Grammer was sued by ex-girlfriend Cerlette Lamme for defamation of character and invasion of privacy over content he included in his autobiography So Far. In September 1996, he crashed his Dodge Viper while intoxicated, and subsequently checked into the Betty Ford Center (an alcohol rehabilitation clinic) for 30 days.
In August 2008, Bradley Blakeman, a former aide to George W. Bush, filed a copyright lawsuit in federal court on Long Island over Grammer's movie Swing Vote, claiming that parts of its plot and marketing had been stolen from him. The lawsuit claimed that Blakeman had given a copyrighted screenplay called Go November to Grammer in 2006, and that Grammer agreed to develop the project and star as a Republican president but instead ended up playing a similar role in Swing Vote, which was released on August 1, 2008. Grammer's spokesman dismissed the claims as "frivolous" and a "waste of time". The lawsuit claims that Blakeman's copyrighted screenplay had the same basic plot as Swing Vote.
Health problems
On May 31, 2008, while paddleboarding with his then-wife Camille in Hawaii, Grammer experienced symptoms of a heart attack. After being hospitalized, it was confirmed that he had experienced a heart attack. He was released on June 4, 2008, and was said to be "resting comfortably" at his Hawaiian residence. Seven weeks after the attack, Grammer told Entertainment Tonight that, although at the time his spokesman described the attack as mild, it was in fact more severe, almost leading to his death, as his heart had stopped. Grammer thought Fox's decision to cancel his TV sitcom Back to You contributed to his health problems, stating that "It was a very stressful time for me, and a surprise that it was cancelled. But you know, everything that doesn't kill usâ€"which it almost didâ€"makes us stronger!".
On June 28, 2008, Grammer checked into an undisclosed Manhattan hospital after complaints of feeling faint. Other reports said Grammer was hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat. His publicist said that it may have been due to a reaction to medication.
Politics
Grammer is a member of the Republican Party and has expressed an interest in someday running for United States Congress. He is also interested in running for Mayor of New York. Grammer was a guest at President George W. Bush's first inauguration. Grammer endorsed Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 presidential primary and later campaigned for John McCain in the general election. Grammer promotes RightNetwork, a conservative start-up American television network. He endorsed Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination for president in 2012. After Mitt Romney won the nomination, Grammer endorsed him.
Awards
Grammer won a number of Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globes for his work on Frasier. He was the first American actor ever to be nominated for multiple Emmy awards for portraying the same character on three different television shows (Cheers, Frasier, and Wings).
Grammer has received at least 45 nominations for major awards and has won on 18 occasions. He has received 14 individual Emmy Award nominations for 4 different television shows (plus an additional 2 as part of the Frasier ensemble) and has won on 5 occasions. At the Golden Globes, he has received nine nominations and thrice been victorious. He has received two People's Choice Awards, and in 1999 his directorial skills were recognized with a nomination for a Directors Guild of America award for directing an episode of Frasier. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in X-Men: The Last Stand. On May 22, 2001, he was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television. On April 20, 2009, Grammer was presented the inaugural Television chairman's Award at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas. In 2010, Grammer enjoyed his first Tony Award nomination for La Cage Aux Folles as Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
The following table gives a selection of the awards he has won.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Theme park
As executive producer
References
Further reading
- Grammer, Kelsey. So Far. New York: Viking Press, 1995. Print. ISBN 978-0-670-86671-7. OCLCÂ 32743033. His Autobiography.
External links
- Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Movie Database
- Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Broadway Database
- Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Neal, Rome (February 4, 2003). "'Frasier' Meets 'Becker'". CBS News.Â
- Kelsey Grammer at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
