Kelsey Grammer
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 Grammer during Fleet Week, New York 2006 |
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| Born: | February 21, 1955 (age 51) Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands |
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| Occupation: | Actor, television director, writer |
| Net worth: | $120 million USD  (Feb, 2006) |
| Website: | KelseyLive.com |
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955, Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands) is an Emmy-winning American actor, best known for his twenty-year portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier. He has also worked as a producer, director, and writer.
Grammer is also known for guest starring on the long-running animated series The Simpsons, which he has done nine times since the show began in 1990, as deranged intellectual criminal Sideshow Bob.
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[edit] Acting career
Grammer was classically trained at Juilliard School for two years, but after losing focus due to personal tragedies he was asked to leave. He had a three year internship with the Old Globe Theater 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. In 1982 he appeared with Christine Baranski in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine production Sunday in the Park with George with Mandy Patinkin, and then a featured role of Cassio in a Broadway revival of Othello with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer.
Grammer's television career began in 1983 when he portrayed Stephen Smith in the NBC mini-series Kennedy. Grammer came to broader public attention as Dr. Frasier Crane in the TV sitcom Cheers; the show's creators originally wanted John Lithgow for the brief, recurring role, but Lithgow was unavailable[citation needed]. Grammer's former Juilliard classmate and Broadway co-star Patinkin suggested Grammer to the New York casting director and he got the job.[1] The character became the center of the successful spin off Frasier.
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.[2]
Grammer's smooth, deep voice makes him popular for voiceover work. He has provided the voice of Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons, winning an Emmy for his work in the episode "The Italian Bob"[3] He also supplied the voices for "Stinky Pete the Prospector" in Toy Story 2, Vladimir in the Fox animated movie Anastasia, Zozi the Bear in the subsequently-produced prequel Bartok the Magnificent, and the title character in the short-lived animated series Gary the Rat.
His most recent television work is on Fox's The Sketch Show. While appearing in some sketches, his role is closer to that of a host.[citation needed] He also produces the UPN sitcom Girlfriends. Prior to that he guest starred as The Angel of Death on Medium, which he also produces.
In film, his recent work includes the role of Dr. Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beast) in the third X-Men movie and the mysterious Marvin in The Fairly OddParents Movie.
[edit] Personal life
[edit] Family
Grammer was born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Grammer’s parents met at a music school in New York, where his father, Allen, fell for Sally Cranmer who was training to be a singer.[citation needed] After leaving college and the army, Allen Grammer started a dance band with his girlfriend as the chanteuse. The couple moved to St. Thomas, where Allen opened a bar, played in a band, taught music to the islanders’ children and later went on to present his own radio show. Kelsey Grammer was born in the small house behind the bar, and after the marriage failed Sally fled back to her family home in New Jersey where she gave birth to her baby daughter.
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 U.S. Virgin Islands;[4] in 1975, his sister was raped and murdered after being abducted outside a Red Lobster restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado where her boyfriend worked.[5] Kelsey, who was 20 at the time and enrolled in the Juilliard acting program, stopped attending classes and was asked to leave, citing a lack of focus.[6] In 1980, his twin half-brothers were killed in a freak accident while SCUBA diving.[7]
[edit] Relationships
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, an actress on the American soap opera As the World Turns. His second marriage, to stripper Leigh-Anne Csuhany in 1992, lasted one year. 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.[8] Also in 1992, Grammer had a daughter, Greer, with hair and makeup stylist Barrie Buckner.[7] His engagement to Tammi Alexander broke up due to rape allegations and her leaks to the tabloid press, and since August of 1997 Grammer has been married to Camille Donatacci, a former Playboy model. They have a son and a daughter together via a surrogate mother.[7] Grammer and Donatacci have homes in Los Angeles, Colorado, and New York, and a holiday home in Maui.
[edit] Politics
On September 21 2003, during an appearance on Hannity & Colmes on Fox News, Grammer expressed an interest in running for United States Congress as a Republican[9]. He indicated that it was something he would consider when his children are older. During an interview on the The Today Show, he told Matt Lauer that he wouldn't enter politics until he felt he was more knowledgeable on the subject.[citation needed]
He was a celebrity guest at George W. Bush's first inauguration.
His character on "The Simpsons" , Sideshow Bob, is also a Republican, reflecting his real life politics.
[edit] Quote
- "I think it's your duty to overcome what you inherit in life. It's the David Copperfield line: "Am I going to be master of my fate, or its victim?" I'm not gonna be its victim, though I've felt victimized — a lot." [10]
[edit] Selected film and television work
The image above is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted on 2006-12-16.
- The Simpsons Movie (2007), as Sideshow Bob (voice)
- Significant Others (2006), as Francis
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Dr. Hank Mccoy / The Beast
- Medium (2006), as Angel of Death
- Even Money (2006), as Detective Brunner
- The Good Humor Man (2005), as Mr. Skibness
- Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show (2005), as various characters
- A Christmas Carol (2004) (TV), as Ebenezer Scrooge
- Teacher's Pet (2004), as Dr. Ivan Krank (voice)
- Gary the Rat (2003) (TV series), as Gary 'The Rat' Andrews (voice)
- The Big Empty (2003), as Agent Banks
- Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor (2003) (TV), as George Washington
- Frasier (1993-2004) (TV series), as Frasier Crane
- The Simpsons (1990-present) (TV series), as Sideshow Bob (voice)
- Cheers (1982-1993) (TV series), as Frasier Crane
- Animal Farm(1999), as Snowball (voice)
- Down Periscope(1996), as Commander Dodge
[edit] Awards
| Preceded by Ted Danson for Cheers |
Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier 1994, 1995 |
Succeeded by John Lithgow for 3rd Rock from the Sun |
| Preceded by John Lithgow for 3rd Rock from the Sun |
Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier 1998 |
Succeeded by John Lithgow for 3rd Rock from the Sun |
| Preceded by Tony Shalhoub for Monk |
Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier 2004 |
Succeeded by Tony Shalhoub for Monk |
| Preceded by Tim Allen for Home Improvement |
Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy for Frasier 1996 |
Succeeded by John Lithgow for 3rd Rock from the Sun |
| Preceded by Michael J. Fox for Spin City |
Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy for Frasier 2001 |
Succeeded by Charlie Sheen for Spin City |
[edit] References
- ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800020246/bio
- ^ http://online.tvguide.com/newsearch/detail.aspx?id=160338&sourcetype=C&tvobjectid=160338
- ^ Grammer wins Emmy for Simpsons, a July 2006 Reuters article via CNN
- ^ http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/2005/11/12/a-suitable-case-for-treatment/
- ^ http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/karen_grammer/index.html
- ^ http://www.tvland.com/shows/cheers/actors/act7.jhtml
- ^ a b c http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/kelseygrammer/
- ^ http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/2005/11/12/a-suitable-case-for-treatment/
- ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98169,00.html
- ^ http://www.tribute.ca/bio.asp?id=3430
[edit] External links
- Grammer's official site
- Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Movie Database
- Kelsey Grammer article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Articles that include images for deletion | American television actors | American film actors | American voice actors | Emmy Award winners | Cheers actors | Frasier actors | Star Trek: The Next Generation actors | X-Men film actors | The Simpsons cast members | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Incarcerated celebrities | People treated for drug addiction | 1955 births | Living people
