Kelsey Grammer
Birthdate – February 21, 1955 (69 Years Old)
Birthplace – St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Kelsey Grammer (birthname: Allen Kelsey Grammer) is best known as Dr. Frasier Crane in two long-running hit sitcoms, Cheers (1984-1993) and Frasier (1993-2004), he has also a number of feature film credits, many of them as vocal performances in animated movies.
His animation credits are as follows: the Don Bluth/Gary Goldman-directed Anastasia (1997) with Meg Ryan and John Cusack; John Lasseter’s Pixar masterpiece, Toy Story 2 (1999), with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, and famed for being one of the few Hollywood sequels superior to its original; Disney’s musical comedy, Teacher’s Pet (2004), with Nathan Lane, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Stiller; the indie-produced Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (2013), with Lea Michele, Patrick Stewart, Jim Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd; Warner Bros.’ animated Storks (2016), with Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jordan Peele.
The indie-produced adventure comedy, Bunyan and Babe (2017), with John Goodman, Jeff Foxworthy, and Mark Hamill; and Grammer also the voice of William F. Buckley for Robert Gordon’s and Morgan Neville’s documentary, Best of Enemies (2015), with John Lithgow, Dick Cavett, Christopher Hitchens, and James Wolcott, and premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
Grammer’s first significant starring role in a feature was under David S. Ward’s direction in the military comedy, Down Periscope (1996), with Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, William H. Macy, Rip Torn, and grossing $37.5 million globally. Grammer’s next notable feature role was opposite Robert De Niro and Edward Burns in writer-director John Herzfeld’s buddy-cop movie, 15 Minutes (2001), but grossing barely above its $42 million cost. Director Mark Rydell cast Grammer in the crime movie, Even Money (2006), with Kim Basinger, Nick Cannon, Danny DeVito, Carla Gugino, Ray Liotta, Tim Roth, and Forest Whitaker, and which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Kelsey Grammer’s first MCU credit was as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast in the Brett Ratner-directed X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), with Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Famke Janssen, and Patrick Stewart, and grossing $460.4 million globally. Grammer joined Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, and George Lopez in writer-director Joshua Michael Stern’s Swing Vote (2008), underperforming at $17.6 million. One of its hit movies for Grammer was Fame (2009), starring Debbie Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Megan Mullally, and Bebe Neuwirth, earning $77.2 million at the global box office.
Kelsey Grammer’s next significant movie credit was for The Expendables 3 (2014), written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, with Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a mildly robust $214.7 million gross. Grammer joined another movie franchise with director Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), starring Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci, powering to a $1.1 billion worldwide gross. Grammer was cast in an Australia-China sci-fi horror movie, Guardians of the Tomb (2018), starring producer Li Bingbing, and earning $8 million worldwide.
Among over two dozen movies that were either Netflix or other streaming releases, commercial bombs, and/or critically lambasted, Grammer starred in a few somewhat well-received theatrical releases such as writer-director S.E. DeRose’s historical drama, Charming the Hearts of Men (2021), with Anna Friel and Sean Astin. Grammer co-starred with Joel Courtney in the Christian drama, Jesus Revolution (2023), released by Lionsgate. Grammer co-starred with writer-director-star Dolph Lundgren in the action movie, Wanted Man (date to be announced). Grammer then joined Vivica A. Fox and Erik King for writer-director Matthew Rocca’s crime drama, Neighborhood Watch (date to be announced).
Personal Details
Kelsey Grammer was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and raised by parents Frank (musician-restauranteur) and Sally (singer-actor) Grammer. Grammer has one sister, Karen, and four half-siblings from his father’s second marriage. His parents divorced when he was young, leading to Grammer moving with his mother to New Jersey and then to Pompano Beach, Florida. Grammer studied at the private prep school, Pine Crest School, in Ft. Lauderdale, where he had his first performing experience.
Grammer earned a scholarship to the Julliard School, but stopped attending drama classes in the wake of his sister’s murder, and was finally expelled. During his teen years and early 20s, Grammer experienced several family tragedies: His father Frank was murdered by a cab driver; his sister Karen was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Colorado Springs; his half-brothers both died in a scuba diving accident. Grammer began his pre-professional career after being expelled from Julliard by interning for three years at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Grammer was married to dance instructor Doreen Alderman from 1982 to 1990; the couple has one child, actor Spencer Grammer. Grammer then had a relationship with Barrie Buckner and had a child with her, daughter-actor Kandace. He was then married to Leigh-Anne Csuhany, from 1992 to 1993, but Grammer fired an annulment three months into the marriage after he claimed that Csuhany was abusive and fired a gun at him; Csuhany became pregnant but had a miscarriage.
Grammer went public about his substance abuse problems in 1994 when he had a relationship with and was engaged to Tammi Baliszewski; they later called off the engagement. Grammer’s third marriage was to dancer-model Camille Donatacci from 1997 to 2011; the couple has two children, born in surrogacy. Grammer planned to have his next child with girlfriend and flight attendant Kayte Walsh in 2010, but Walsh experienced a miscarriage, while the couple married in 2011; the couple has one daughter and two sons, and have a home in Somerset, U.K., as of January 2023. Grammer’s height is 6’ 1”. Grammer’s estimated net worth is $80 million.
Filmography
The God Committee
Dr. Andre Boxer (2021)
Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return
Tin Man (2014)
Storks
Hunter (2016)
The Space Between
(2021)
Jesus Revolution
Chuck Smith (2023)
Some Facts About Kelsey Grammer
Politics: Kelsey Grammer has long been a right-wing Republican, supporting such GOP politicians as Rudy Giuliani, Ben Carson, Michelle Bachmann, and Donald Trump, as well as the Tea Party movement.
Drug and Health Problems: Grammer has had a complex and involved history involving drug abuse, including multiple arrests and sentences. He also experienced a heart attack while vacationing in Hawaii.
Legal Problems: Kelsey Grammer was not only arrested multiple times for cocaine possession and DUIs, and was accused of sleeping with his child’s underage babysitter, but charges were eventually dropped.
Awards
Six-time Winner, Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series/Best Voice-Over Performance/Best Performance in an Animated Program, Emmy Awards (1994-1995, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2017); Nominee, Best Director in Comedy Series, Directors Guild of America (1999); Three-time Winner, Best Actor in Television Series, Golden Globe Awards (1996, 2001, 2012); Two-time Winner, Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series/Favorite Male TV Performer; Winner, Best Ensemble in Comedy Series, Screen Actors Guild (2000); Winner, Hollywood Star Walk of Fame (2001).
