Biography
Professional career
Grammer, who came to public attention in the classic TV sitcom Cheers, was able to successfully spin off his character, Dr. Frasier Crane, into a television series in its own right, named Frasier. Originally intended as a minor recurring role on Cheers, the part of Dr. Frasier Crane originally was to be played by John Lithgow, but Grammer got the role when Lithgow became unavailable.
Grammer won a number of Emmys 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). His US$1.6 million per episode salary for Frasier was the highest in the history of American television at the time, and his 20-year run playing Dr. Frasier Crane ties a record set by James Arness in playing Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1975.
Grammer's trademark smooth, deep voice makes him popular for voiceover work. He has provided the voices of Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons, "Stinky Pete the Prospector" in Toy Story 2, and the title character in the short-lived animated series Gary The Rat. He was also the voice of Vlad in the Fox animated movie, Anastasia. He sang the title theme for Frasier, starred in the film "Down Periscope", and also guest-starred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect", as the captain of a Starfleet vessel, the U.S.S. Bozeman. His voice style was imitated for the character of Murcuremon in Digimon Frontier.
Kelsey Grammer as Beast in X3
His most recent work is on Fox's The Sketch Show. While he does appear in some sketches, his role is similar to that of a host. He also produces the UPN sitcom Girlfriends. His next roles will be Dr. Henry McCoy a.k.a. Beast in the third X-Men movie and the mysterious Marvin in The Fairly OddParents Movie (a role resembling one of Mom's henchmen in Futurama).
Personal life
Grammer has been married three times. His first marriage to dance instructor Doreen Alderman spanned eight years, from 1982 to 1990, and produced one child, a daughter named Spencer. His second marriage, to stripper Leigh-Anne Csuhany, lasted one year (1992–1993). Grammer claims she was abusive and that, after talk of divorce, she attempted suicide by overdosing on Tylenol and wine, which resulted in the miscarriage of their child. Since August of 1997, Grammer has been married to Camille Donatacci, a former nude model. They have a son and a daughter together via a surrogate mother. Grammer has one additional daughter, Greer, born in 1992, with hair and makeup stylist Barrie Buckner.
Born in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, Grammer moved to New Jersey with his mother after his parents' divorce. In 1968, when Kelsey was 13, his father, whom he had only met twice, was murdered on the front lawn of his home in the Virgin Islands; in 1975, his sister was raped and murdered after leaving a Red Lobster restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelsey, who was 20 at the time and enrolled in the Juilliard acting program, stopped attending classes and was expelled. In 1980, his twin half-brothers were killed in a shark attack while SCUBA diving.
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.
Grammer began drinking at age 9 and became a frequent abuser of alcohol. In 1988 he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for drunk driving and cocaine possession. He was again arrested for cocaine possession in August 1990 and sentenced to three years' probation, fined $500 and given 300 hours' community service. In January 1991 he was given an additional two years' probation for violating his original probation through additional cocaine use. In September 1996 he flipped his car while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and subsequently checked in to the Betty Ford Clinic for 30 days.
In the mid-'90s Grammer was accused of statutory rape by the parents of his child’s 15-year-old babysitter, but a New Jersey grand jury declined to indict due to lack of physical evidence.
In 2005, Grammer fell off a stage while presenting a speech at Disneyland
After publishing his autobiography, "So Far..." in 1995, he was sued by a former girlfriend for defamation of character and invasion of privacy.
Grammer says he constantly has supernatural experiences.
Politics
In September of 2003, Grammer expressed an interest in running for the U.S. Senate from California during an appearance on Hannity & Colmes.[1] While remaining vague about his particular political beliefs, he said he would likely run as a Republican, though he says he's not conservative (although his character Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons is quite a hardcore Republican). "I consider myself a centrist, I suppose, but I basically believe in trying to preserve as much opportunity for the individual, as long as that individual chooses to work as hard as he can". Oddly enough, the next open Senate seat belonged to Barbara Boxer, the only Democrat Grammer ever donated money to.
He declared in 2005 that he was the "only person in Los Angeles" to support President George W. Bush.
Grammer has appeared on Sean Hannity's syndicated conservative radio program. He was offered a job as a guest. He did not turn it down.
Grammer was also a celebrity guest at the first swearing-in ceremony of President George W. Bush.
Quotes
"I dreamt that Frasier was over and I was on this Sketch Show."
“I'm not sure sophisticated comedy has a place on television any more. I'd like to think it still does ... But I'm not sure the networks are interested, I'm not sure anybody else is interested in sophisticated comedy any more.”
"I guess Frasier and I have always looked for the same thing in life: being happy and making an honest living, trying to do some good in the world and changing a few minds if we can. Or at least lifting somebody's burden for a time.”
