The Biography Channel - Kelsey Grammer Biography

Kelsey Grammer biography
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[h3]Kelsey Grammer was christened Allen Kelsey Grammer. His father originally worked in the entertainment business, as he was a musician and owned a bar; Kelsey’s mother, Sally, was a homemaker. [/h3]

Kelsey’s early life was marked by tragedy, when his father was shot and killed on the front lawn of his house in St. Thomas when Kelsey was just twelve-years-old. Sadly, the instigator of this crime was never convicted of murder, since his attorney pleaded diminished responsibility on the grounds of mental illness. Following the shooting, Kelsey and his mother left St. Thomas, and lived alternately between Florida and New Jersey, where Kelsey was raised partly by his grandparents. Media critics have sometimes conjectured that Kelsey turned to acting as a form of escape from the death of his father. Whatever the cause, he developed a love of Shakespeare from an early age, and soon distinguished himself on stage in a high school production of a play called The Little Foxes.

Kelsey’s teenage acting success inspired him to apply to the prestigious Juilliard academy in New York, as a prelude to pursuing his dream of becoming a professional actor, and happily, he was successful. After two years or so at Juilliard, however, Kelsey dropped out, and headed west to take a three-year internship at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. During his time at the Globe, Kelsey gained in-depth experience of acting in Shakespearean and classical dramas. According to a news report, Kelsey loves to tell the story of how he was “discovered” by a casting director. Kelsey says, “When I was 21, I was painting offices for a famous director. As I stood at the top of the ladder, the casting director of the San Diego Shakespeare Festival looked up at me and said, “You’re an actor, aren’t you? - I don’t know how he got this from my butt!” The director offered him the chance to audition - and the rest as they say is history.

After San Diego, Kelsey returned to the east coast to do a stint at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, until finally, he realised his dream of acting on the Broadway stage in New York. He earned rave reviews for his portrayal of Lennox in Macbeth, and went on to take the lead role after the original actor stepped down. Kelsey’s other notable New York roles included Sunday In the Park with George, alongside Mandy Patinkin, followed by the role of Cassio in a Broadway revival of Othello, where his co-stars included [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/855:0/Christopher_Plummer.htm]Christopher Plummer[/urlnew] and James Earl Jones.

Kelsey’s early acting successes were marred by a string of further family tragedies, however. In 1975, when Kelsey was 20, his sister Karen was abducted from outside a restaurant in Colorado, and then brutally raped and murdered. Five years later, in 1980, his two half-brothers were both tragically killed in a scuba diving accident.

Despite this spate of tragic losses, Kelsey’s career continued to gather momentum, and it wasn’t long before he started make his first appearances on TV. His TV career proper began in the early 1980s, when he took the role of Stephen Smith in a mini-series called Kennedy. He earned small, regular credits on soap operas such as One Life To Live, and also launched his voiceover career by providing the voice for the villainous character of Sideshow Bob on [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/677:0/The_Simpsons.htm]The Simpsons[/urlnew].
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Kelsey would really begin to make his mark in the public eye when he was cast as Dr. Frasier Crane, in the hit TV series Cheers, which focused on a group of drinking colleagues in a downtown Boston bar. Rumour has it that Kelsey’s old buddy from Broadway days, Mandy Patinkin, put him forward for the job. Ironically, the character of Dr Crane was never intended to be included in the series long-term, but the viewing public loved it. So after Cheers came to an end, the producers created a spin-off series called Frasier, again starring Kelsey. The new storyline was based on the concept that Frasier had moved from Boston to Seattle, where he was now working as a radio psychiatrist. The show’s scripts revolved around the day-to-day routine of Frasier and his brother Niles, as well as Frasier’s dad Martin, a retired policeman who comes to live with Frasier, and Martin’s physical therapist-cum-housekeeper, Daphne Moon, an English beauty from Manchester, who keeps house for Frasier and his dad. Further complications were tossed into the pot via cameo roles for Frasier’s ex-wife, Lilith, and machiavellian agent, Bibi.

Frasier proved to be a major hit, although Kelsey himself could not have foreseen that the show would run for eleven years, and that he would, at one stage, become the highest-paid actor in American television. Almost overnight, Frasier became one of the most successful TV shows in the history of American broadcasting, and made him a star worldwide. During its lengthy run, Kelsey’s portrayal of Frasier earned a total of four Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, as well as two Golden Globe awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series.

In addition to his TV work, Kelsey found time to pursue movie acting. He made his film debut in 1992 in a movie called Galaxies Are Colliding, and won his first starring role in 1996, in Down Periscope. The critics panned the latter, but Kelsey has won widespread acclaim for his voiceover work, which he’s pursued in tandem with his television acting career. He took character voiceover roles in Anastasia, Toy Story 2 and Animal Farm, as well as perennial appearances in The Simpsons.

Behind the scenes, however, Kelsey’s personal life did not run quite as smoothly as his career. During the 1980s and 1990s, he fought an ongoing battle with alcohol and substance abuse, and was arrested in 1988 for drunken driving and possession of cocaine. In 1990, he was re-arrested and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Despite his close encounters with the law, Kelsey had clearly still not conquered his problem, for he was involved in an alcohol-related car accident in 1996, where he actually flipped over his sports car. Miraculously, Kelsey escaped serious injury but was sufficiently shaken by the incident to become a voluntary patient at the Betty Ford Centre, where he was treated for alcoholism and substance abuse.

Kelsey’s love life has also had its share of scandals, tragedies and dramas. He has been married three times to date; he was married to dance instructor Doreen Aldermann between 1982 and 1990, and has a daughter called Spencer from that marriage. Next, in 1992, he married a stripper Leigh-Anne Csuhany, and this second marriage lasted a year. Kelsey has claimed that during the marriage, Ms Csuhany was abusive, and that after they began discussing the possibility of divorce, she attempted suicide. Happily, she survived the suicide attempt, but tragically, suffered a miscarriage. Also in 1992, Kelsey had a daughter, Greer, as a result of a relationship with hair and makeup artist Barrie Buckner. After publishing his autobiography “So Far..” in 1995, Kelsey was sued by a former girlfriend, Cerlette Lamme, for “defamation of character and invasion of privacy.” These accusations culminated in a costly lawsuit.

Happily it seems to be “third time lucky” for Kelsey, who married former model Camille Donatacci in August 1997. The couple had a son called Jude Gordon, and a daughter called Mason Olivia. Kelsey and Camille divide their time between their homes in Malibu, California, Colorado and New York.

The last series of Frasier was aired in 2004, but Kelsey has since returned to TV on Fox’s The Sketch Show. He has also diversified his professional interests by producing two sitcoms, namely Girlfriends and The Game. He has also been a guest star on Medium, which is a show that he also produces. Kelsey is currently co-starring in the Fox sitcom, Back To You, alongside Patricia Heaton, which was first broadcast in September 2007.

[i]Jane Bowles[/i]
Kelsey Grammer biography

- Is born under the astrological star sign of Pisces

- Became the highest paid TV actor in America whilst acting in Frasier; at one stage, his salary was $1.6 million per episode.

- Has a holiday home in Maui.

- Has said that one day he would like to run for the US Congress as a Republican.

- His daughter, Spencer, is also an actress. (She has appeared in the soap operas As The World Turns and the ABC Family show, Greek.

- Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001.

- Did the voice for TV commercials advertising the Hyundai Sonata and Azera cars.

- Has appeared in two separate TV series playing Dr Frasier Crane.

- His portrayal of Dr Frasier Crane over a 20-year period equals the previous record set by James Arness in Gunsmoke for the longest time playing the same character on TV.

- Was the first American actor ever to be nominated for multiple Emmy awards for playing the same character.

- Provided the opening speech and piano in the Vandals song, “Phone Machine”.

- Has vowed to prevent his sister’s murderer ever being paroled from prison.

- Has appeared in ten episodes of The Simpsons.

- Won an Emmy for doing the voice for the Simpsons episode “The Italian Bob”.
Kelsey Grammer biography

Back To You (TV) (2007)

Even Money (2006)

Significant Others (2006)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Medium (TV) (2006)

My Mistress (2006)

Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show (TV) (2005)

Jump Shot (2005)

A Christmas Carol (2004)

Teacher’s Pet (2004)

The Good Humor Man (2004)

Gary The Rat (TV: voice) (2003)

The Big Empty (2003)

Benedict Arnold; A Question of Honour (TV) (2003)

Mr St. Nick (TV) (2002)

Just Visiting (voice) (2001)

Fifteen Minutes (2001)

Bartok The Magnificent (voice) (1999)

New Jersey Turnpikes (1999)

Standing On Fishes (1999)

Toy Story 2 (voice) (1999)

Animal Farm (voice) (1999)

The Real Howard Spitz (1998)

The Pentagon Wars (TV movie) (1998)

Anastasia (voice) (1997)

Down Periscope (movie) (1996)

Runaway Brain (voice) (1995)

Frasier (TV) (1993-2004)

Galaxies are Colliding (1992)

The Simpsons (TV) (1990-2008)

Cheers (TV) (1984-1993)
Kelsey Grammer biography