Warning: contains graphic content and discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
Considering his status as a world-renowned comic actor with a career filled with accolades over many decades, one might assume that Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer has lived a life free from hardship.
However, many admirers of his work are only now discovering that Grammer’s achievements were preceded by a life filled with personal challenges and tragedies. This has led some to question how he managed to achieve success despite enduring such profound trauma.
The 70-year-old actor was raised by his grandparents starting at age two after his parents divorced. Just a decade later, he faced the loss of his grandfather, the only consistent father figure he had known.
A year following this loss, Grammer’s situation worsened when his biological father, Frank, was murdered during a violent home invasion. Frank was shot by a man named Arthur B. Niles while checking on a disturbance outside.
During court proceedings, Frank’s wife recounted how she had to move his body to prevent Niles from running it over.
Niles was acquitted on the grounds of insanity and subsequently spent several years under psychiatric care mandated by the court.
Unfortunately, Grammer’s series of hardships did not end there. Seven years after his father’s murder, he experienced another devastating loss.
In 1975, as Grammer was honing his skills at the Juilliard School, his sister was brutally raped and murdered by spree killer Freddie Glenn in Colorado Springs, who had killed three people before being apprehended.
Karen was abducted from her workplace, assaulted, and killed by Glenn and his accomplices. When her body was discovered by police, it fell to Grammer to identify her remains.
In the aftermath, Grammer found himself unable to continue his studies at Juilliard, ultimately leading to his expulsion and postponing his acting career.
“I abandoned the effort to find a reason to be alive,” he later shared with Radio Times, acknowledging he irrationally blamed himself. “It’s not rational. But it happens anyway. I know a lot of people who’ve lost their siblings and blame themselves.”
Tragically, Grammer’s familial losses continued.
Five years after his sister’s death, his two half-brothers from his father’s second marriage perished in a scuba diving accident.
While exploring the waters off Saint Thomas, one brother failed to surface, prompting the other to search for him. Both brothers ended up dying in the incident.
Despite enduring relentless personal tragedy, Grammer chose not to withdraw from the world and instead focused on his remarkable acting abilities.
A year later, he secured a significant role in a Broadway production of Macbeth, ultimately taking on the lead role due to the original actor dropping out.
After a series of stage performances, Grammer made his television debut as Dr. Frasier Crane during the third season of Cheers at 29.
While Grammer’s acting career flourished, he continued to grapple with his past tragedies, struggling with alcohol and drug addiction for many years.
He shared with Oprah that he had been attempting to escape the uncomfortable feelings he couldn’t confront. Eventually, following a heart attack in 2008, he decided to reevaluate and alter his lifestyle.
“Every one of us is going to experience some terrible loss,” he told Vanity Fair. “I just got a big dose. For every story you hear that’s tragic, there’s another that’s equally tragic or more so. I think you come to look at it as part of life.”