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Kelsey Grammer extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Kelsey Grammer
during Fleet Week, New York 2006
Born	Allen Kelsey Grammer February 21, 1955 (1955-02-21) (age 55) Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Occupation	Actor, producer, director, writer, voice artist and Comedian
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Doreen Alderman (1982–1990) Leigh-Anne Csuhany (1992–1993) Camille Donatacci (1997–present)

Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955), best known as Kelsey Grammer, is an American actor, producer, director, writer, voice artist and comedian best known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC situation comedies Cheers (nine years) and Frasier (eleven years), and providing the voice of Sideshow Bob on the Fox animated series The Simpsons. He was nominated for numerous Emmys, including one for playing Frasier Crane on three different sitcoms (the third being a guest appearance on Wings). He has worked as a television producer, director, writer, and a voice artist.

Contents 1 Personal background 1.1 Early years 1.2 Family tragedies 2 Career 2.1 Stage 2.2 Television 2.3 Voice work 2.4 Production work 2.5 Other work 2.6 Awards 3 Personal life 3.1 Family 3.2 Defamation lawsuit 3.3 Sex tape lawsuit 3.4 Copyright lawsuit 3.5 Substance abuse 3.6 Health problems 3.7 Politics 4 Filmography 4.1 Films 4.2 Television 4.3 Video games 5 References 6 External links

Personal background

Early years

Grammer was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to Sally (née Cranmer), a singer, and Frank Allen Grammer, Jr., a musician and owner of a coffee shop and a bar & grill.¹²³ He is descended from Massachusetts Governor Thomas Dudley. His parents' marriage ended when he was young; his mother took him to live with her, and he was raised partly in New Jersey by his maternal grandparents, Evangeline Dimmock and Gordon Cranmer.

Family tragedies

Grammer's family life has been plagued by tragedies. In 1968, when Grammer was thirteen years old, his father, whom he had seen only twice since his parents' divorce, was killed on the front lawn of his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands.² In 1975, his sister, Karen, was raped and murdered⁴ after being abducted outside a Red Lobster restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where her boyfriend worked.⁵ In 1980, his fraternal twin younger half-brothers were killed in a freak scuba diving accident.⁶⁷

Grammer has sworn to prevent his sister's murderer, Freddie Lee Glenn, from being paroled;⁸ in July 2009, Glenn was denied parole at least in part due to a letter Grammer submitted to the parole board.⁹¹⁰

Career

Stage

After leaving Juilliard, he had a three-year internship with the Old Globe Theatre, 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 1983, he performed on the demo of the Stephen Sondheim–James Lapine production Sunday in the Park with George, starring Mandy Patinkin. Also featured on the demo was Christine Baranski, who later starred as Mrs. Lovett to Grammer's Sweeney Todd in the 1999 LA Reprise! production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Grammer then played Michael Cassio in a Broadway revival of Othello, with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer. On April 18, 2010, Grammer will make his Broadway musical debut playing the role of Georges in a revival of the Jerry Herman/Harvey Fierstein musical La Cage aux Folles.

Television

His television career began in the early 1980s when he portrayed Stephen Smith in the NBC miniseries Kennedy. Grammer came to broader public attention as Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC sitcom Cheers. Grammer's former Juilliard classmate and Broadway co-star Patinkin suggested Grammer to the New York casting director, and he got what was supposed to be a six-episode job but ended up as a regular cast member.¹¹ The character became the center of the successful spin-off Frasier. Grammer reprised his role of Dr. Frasier Crane in a commercial for Dr Pepper.

In 2001, he negotiated a US$700,000-per-episode salary for Frasier, and his 20-year run playing Dr. Frasier Crane ties a length set by James Arness in playing Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1975.¹²

In 2005, he returned to series television on Fox, by attempting to create an American adaptation of The Sketch Show, a British sketch show. The main cast consisted of Malcolm Barrett, Kaitlin Olson, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Paul F. Tompkins, as well as Lee Mack from the British version of the show. Grammer appeared in only short opening and closing segments in each episode. Many of the sketches from the British version were recreated, such as the "California Dreamin'," "English Course," and "Sign Language" sketches. Only six episodes of the show were made, and it was canceled after only four of them had aired.

In addition to being producer, he guest-starred as the Angel of Death on Medium.

In 2007, Grammer returned to the sitcom format as the central character in the American sitcom Back to You, co-starring with Patricia Heaton. It was canceled by Fox after its first season.

Grammer's ABC sitcom Hank was canceled in its first season on Nov 11, 2009, saying at the end, "Honestly, it just wasn't very funny." ¹³

Voice work

Grammer's smooth, deep voice and Mid-Atlantic accent make 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."¹⁴ He has appeared in eleven episodes since the show's inception in 1989, the most recent being "Wedding for Disaster" that aired in early 2009. Grammer 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. He provided the opening speech and piano in The Vandals' song "Phone Machine" from the album Fear of a Punk Planet, and sang a rewritten version of the "grinch" on an episode of Just Shoot Me!. He was the voice of the mad scientist, Dr. Frankenollie, in the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain.

Production work

His production company, Grammnet Productions, produces the CW sitcoms Girlfriends and The Game, the CBS drama Medium, and is involved in many other projects.

Other work

In film, his recent work includes the role of Dr. Hank McCoy (also known as Beast) in X-Men: The Last Stand and the voice of Snowball in the live-action film adaptation of the George Orwell classic book Animal Farm. Kelsey starred in the movie Swing Vote; the plot is based in part on the tight races for President of the United States, in which the vote is so tight that it comes down to one man's vote to determine the winner. Kelsey plays the Republican incumbent, a role that aligns with his own views. He played another role as General George S. Patton in An American Carol.

As part of his voice-over work, Grammer's voice has been featured in commercials. He was the voice of the original GEICO gecko, a talking reptile created by The Martin Agency in 1999. In the commercial, the gecko pleads for people to stop calling him in error, mistaking gecko for GEICO. Since 2006, Grammer has provided the voice for television commercials advertising the Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Veracruz, and Hyundai Azera. He was chosen because his "refined and luxurious voice" would help build the up-and-coming car maker's new image as an affordable luxury automobile.

Recently he went onto the Internet and started www.KelseyLive.com and developed a new concept which he refers to as a "Branded Social Television Network". The site is a cross between Facebook and MySpace but branded to him then mixed with Amazon as there is shopping and Television where you can find all his old Frasier and Cheers episodes plus other film and TV projects he has done in the past. From his site he plans on developing new content for the net and also the studios. His most current project involves an animated cat call Gary Geezley which is in pre-production currently.

Awards

He won a number of Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Award, 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).

Grammer has received at least 45 nominations for major awards and has won on 18 occasions.¹⁵ He has received 14 individual Emmy Award nominations for 4 different television shows (plus an additional 2 as part of the Frasier ensemble) and has won on 5 occasions. At the Golden Globes, he has received eight nominations and twice been victorious. He has received two People's Choice Awards, and in 1999 his directorial skills were recognised with a nomination for a Directors Guild of America award for directing an episode of Frasier. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in X-Men: The Last Stand. On May 22, 2001, he was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television. On April 20, 2009, Grammer was presented the inaugural Television Chairman's Award at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas. ¹⁶

The following table gives a selection of the awards he has won.

Year	Award	Category
1994	Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Frasier)
1995	Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Frasier)
1995	American Comedy Award	Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (Frasier)
1996	Golden Globe	Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series Comedy/Musical (Frasier)
1996	American Comedy Award	Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (Frasier)
1998	Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Frasier)
2001	Golden Globe	Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series Comedy/Musical (Frasier)
2004	Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Frasier)
2006	Emmy	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance (The Simpsons)

Personal life

Family

Grammer has been married three times. His first marriage, to dance instructor Doreen Alderman, lasted from 1982 to 1990. They had one daughter, Spencer Grammer (born October 9, 1983), an actress on the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns and the ABC Family show Greek.

His second marriage, to stripper Leigh-Anne Csuhany in 1992, lasted one year. Grammer says that she was abusive and that, after talk of divorce, she attempted suicide, which resulted in the miscarriage of their child.¹⁷ During this marriage, Grammer had a daughter out of wedlock, Greer Kandace (born February 15, 1992), with hair and makeup stylist Barrie Buckner.⁶

Grammer has been married since August 1997 to Camille Donatacci, a former Playboy model. They have a daughter, Mason Olivia (born October 24, 2001), and a son, Jude Gordon (born August 28, 2004), both born via surrogate mother.⁶ Grammer and Donatacci have homes in Malibu, California; Colorado; and New York. They have a holiday home on Maui.

Defamation lawsuit

In 1995, Grammer was sued by ex-girlfriend Cerlette Lamme for defamation of character and invasion of privacy over content he included in his autobiography So Far.¹⁸

Sex tape lawsuit

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.¹⁹ IEG President Seth Warshavsky told the New York Post, "We have been presented with another Kelsey Grammer tape. But we have no plans to air it. We are still evaluating it at this time."²⁰ Grammer later told Maxim, "Whether or not you’re a celebrity—even if you’re just an old slob with a video camera—you don’t realize you shouldn’t do it. So you throw the tape in the back of a dark closet until your old girlfriend remembers it’s there because you’re famous now and she’s not. But if you’re not prepared to do the time, don’t do the crime."²¹

Copyright lawsuit

In August 2008, Bradley Blakeman, a former aide to George W. Bush, filed a copyright lawsuit in federal court on Long Island over Grammer's movie Swing Vote, claiming that parts of its plot and marketing had been stolen from him. The lawsuit claimed that Blakeman had given a copyrighted screenplay called Go November to Grammer in 2006, and that Grammer agreed to develop the project and star as a Republican president but instead ended up playing a similar role in Swing Vote, which was released on August 1, 2008. Grammer's spokesman dismissed the claims as "frivolous" and a "waste of time". The lawsuit claims that Blakeman's copyrighted screenplay had the same basic plot as Swing Vote.²²

Substance abuse

Grammer began drinking at age nine²³ 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 was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $500, and given 300 hours of 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 Dodge Viper while intoxicated and subsequently checked in to the Betty Ford Center for 30 days.²⁴

Health problems

Grammer suffered a heart attack on May 31, 2008. He told Jay Leno on the July 24, 2008, airing of The Tonight Show that he had to wait one and a half hours for paramedics to arrive. He was hospitalized in Hawaii after he had symptoms while paddle-boating with his wife, Camille.²⁵ He was released on June 4, 2008, and was listed as "resting comfortably" at his Hawaiian residence.²⁶ Seven weeks after his attack, Grammer told Entertainment Tonight that, although at the time his spokesman described the attack as mild, it was in fact more severe, almost leading to his death, as his heart had stopped.²⁷

Grammer blamed Fox's decision to cancel his TV sitcom Back to You for his health problems, stating that "It was a very stressful time for me, and a surprise that it was cancelled. But you know, everything that doesn't kill us—which it almost did—makes us stronger!"²⁸

On June 28, 2008, Grammer checked into an undisclosed New York hospital after complaints of feeling faint. His publicist said that it may have been due to a reaction to medication.

Politics

Grammer is a member of the Republican Party and has expressed an interest in someday running for United States Congress.²⁹

Grammer was a celebrity guest at President George W. Bush's first inauguration, along with Drew Carey, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Fred Thompson.

Grammer endorsed Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 presidential primary and later campaigned for John McCain in the general election.³⁰³¹

When asked by Maxim magazine about his political ambitions, Grammer replied, "It's a notion I have about the future, to run for office, to do the world some good. Maybe in 15 years or so, there may be a run for office. But I don’t know what I’d run for."²¹

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1992	Galaxies Are Colliding	Peter
1995	Runaway Brain	Dr. Frankenollie	Short film
1996	Down Periscope	Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge
1997	Anastasia	Vladimir
1998	The Real Howard Spitz	Howard Spitz
1999	Animal Farm	Napoleon
	New Jersey Turnpikes	Unknown
	Standing on Fishes	Verk
	Toy Story 2	"Stinky Pete" the Prospector
	Bartok the Magnificent	Zozi	Direct-to-video release
	Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas	Narrator	Direct-to-video release
2001	15 Minutes	Robert Hawkins
	Just Visiting	Narrator	Uncredited
2003	The Big Empty	Agent Banks
	Barbie of Swan Lake	Rothbart	Direct-to-video release
2004	Teacher's Pet	Dr. Ivan Krank
2005	The Good Humor Man	Mr. Skibness	Also executive producer
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Dr. Henry 'Hank' McCoy/Beast
2007	Even Money	Detective Brunner
2008	Swing Vote	President Andrew Boone
	An American Carol	General George S. Patton
2009	Fame	Joel Cranston
2010	Crazy on the Outside	Frank
	Bunyan and Babe	Norm Blandsford	Post-production
	Middle Men	Frank Griffin	Post-production
TBA	Alligator Point32	TBA

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Macbeth	Ross	TV film
1983	Kennedy	Stephen Smith	TV miniseries
1984	Kate & Allie	David Hamill	Episode 1.1: "Allie's First Date"
	George Washington	Lt. Stewart	TV miniseries
1984-1985	Another World	Dr. Canard	Recurring role
1984-1993	Cheers	Dr. Frasier Crane	Appeared in 201 episodes
1986	Crossings	Craig Lawson	TV miniseries
1987	Biography	George Washington	Episode: "Benedict Arnold"
	J.J. Starbuck	Pierce Morgan	Episode 1.3: "Murder in E Minor"
1988	Dance 'til Dawn	Ed Strull	TV film
1989	Top of the Hill	Unknown	TV film
	227	Mr. Anderson	Episode 4.24: "For Sale"
1990	The Tracey Ullman Show	Mr. Brenna	Episode 4.12: "Maria and the Mister"
1990-	The Simpsons	Sideshow Bob	Has appeared in eleven episodes
1991	Baby Talk	Russell	Episode 1.7: "One Night with Elliot"
1992	Wings	Dr. Frasier Crane	Episode 3.16: "Planes, Trains and Visiting Cranes"
	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Captain Bateson	Episode 5.18: "Cause and Effect"
1993	Roc	Detective Rush	Episode 2.25: "To Love and Die on Emerson Street: Part 2"
	Beyond Suspicion	Ron McNally	TV film
1993-2004	Frasier	Dr. Frasier Crane	Appeared in all 264 episodes; also executive producer and director of 37 episodes
1994	The Innocent	Det. Frank Barlow	TV film
1995	The John Larroquette Show	Dr. Frasier Crane	Episode 3.1: "More Changes"
1996	London Suite	Sydney Nichols	TV film
1997	Fired Up	Tom Whitman	Episodes 1.3: "Who's the Boss" and 2.3: "You Don't Know Jack"; also executive producer
1998	The Pentagon Wars	Major General Partridge	TV film
	Just Shoot Me!	Narrator	Episode 3.10: "How the Finch Stole Christmas"
1999	Animal Farm	Snowball	TV film
2000	Stark Raving Mad	Professor Tuttle	1.17: "The Grade"
2001	Neurotic Tendencies	N/A	TV film; executive producer, director and writer
2000-2008	Girlfriends	Executive producer
2001	The Sports Pages	Howard Greene	TV film
2002	Mr. St. Nick	Nick St. Nicholas/Santa Claus the 21st	TV film
2002-2003	In-Laws	N/A	Executive producer
2003	Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor	George Washington	TV film
	Becker	Rick Cooper	Episode 5.13: "But I've Got Friends I Haven't Used Yet"
	Gary the Rat	Gary "The Rat" Andrews	Appeared in all 13 episodes; also executive producer
2004	A Christmas Carol	Ebenezer Scrooge	TV film
	The Soluna Project	N/A	TV film; executive producer
2005	Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show	Various characters	Appeared in all four aired episodes; also executive producer
	Out of Practice	N/A	Directed episodes 1.1 and 1.18
2006	Medium	Angel of Death	Episode 2.21: "Death Takes a Policy" Also executive producer
	My Ex Life	N/A	Director
2006-2009	The Game	N/A	Executive producer
2007	Dash 4 Cash	N/A	TV film; executive producer
	Everybody Hates Chris	N/A	Directed episode 2.22: "Everybody Hates the Last Day"
2007-2008	Back to You	Chuck Darling	Appeared in all 17 episodes Also executive producer
2009	Hank	Lead role	Also executive producer33

Video games

• The Simpsons Game (2007) - Sideshow Bob

References

External links

• Kelsey Grammer's official website

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kelsey Grammer

• Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Movie Database
• Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Broadway Database
• Kelsey Grammer at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Kelsey Grammer at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series Jack Albertson (1976) Â· Carroll O'Connor (1977) Â· Carroll O'Connor (1978) Â· Carroll O'Connor (1979) Â· Richard Mulligan (1980) Â· Judd Hirsch (1981) Â· Alan Alda (1982) Â· Judd Hirsch (1983) Â· John Ritter (1984) Â· Robert Guillaume (1985) Â· Michael J. Fox (1986) Â· Michael J. Fox (1987) Â· Michael J. Fox (1988) Â· Richard Mulligan (1989) Â· Ted Danson (1990) Â· Burt Reynolds (1991) Â· Craig T. Nelson (1992) Â· Ted Danson (1993) Â· Kelsey Grammer (1994) Â· Kelsey Grammer (1995) Â· John Lithgow (1996) Â· John Lithgow (1997) Â· Kelsey Grammer (1998) Â· John Lithgow (1999) Â· Michael J. Fox (2000) Complete list: (1950–1975) Â· (1976–2000) Â· (2001–present)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series Eric McCormack (2001) Â· Ray Romano (2002) Â· Tony Shalhoub (2003) Â· Kelsey Grammer (2004) Â· Tony Shalhoub (2005) Â· Tony Shalhoub (2006) Â· Ricky Gervais (2007) Â· Alec Baldwin (2008) Â· Alec Baldwin (2009) Complete list: (1950–1975) Â· (1976–2000) Â· (2001–present)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Hank Azaria (2001, 2003) Â· Ja'net Dubois (2001) Â· Peter Macon (2002) Â· Pamela Adlon (2002) Â· Dan Castellaneta (2004, 2009) Â· Keith David (2005, 2008) Â· Kelsey Grammer (2006) Complete list: (1990–2000) Â· (2001–present)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Ted Danson (1990) Â· Burt Reynolds (1991) Â· John Goodman (1992) Â· Jerry Seinfeld (1993) Â· Tim Allen (1994) Â· Kelsey Grammer (1995) Â· John Lithgow (1996) Â· Michael J. Fox (1997) Â· Michael J. Fox (1998) Â· Michael J. Fox (1999) Â· Kelsey Grammer (2000) Â· Charlie Sheen (2001) Â· Tony Shalhoub (2002) Â· Ricky Gervais (2003) Â· Jason Bateman (2004) Â· Steve Carell (2005) Â· Alec Baldwin (2006) Â· David Duchovny (2007) Â· Alec Baldwin (2008) Â· Alec Baldwin (2009) Complete List Â· (1970–1989) Â· (1990–2009)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e The Simpsons cast members Main cast Dan Castellaneta Â· Julie Kavner Â· Nancy Cartwright Â· Yeardley Smith Â· Hank Azaria Â· Harry Shearer Recurring cast Pamela Hayden Â· Tress MacNeille Â· Maggie Roswell Â· Russi Taylor Â· Karl Wiedergott Recurring guest stars Albert Brooks Â· Kelsey Grammer Â· Jan Hooks Â· Jane Kaczmarek Â· Maurice LaMarche Â· Jon Lovitz Â· Joe Mantegna Â· Marcia Wallace Former cast Christopher Collins Â· Doris Grau Â· Jo Ann Harris Â· Phil Hartman Â· Marcia Mitzman Gaven Â· Frank Welker