Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955), best known as
Kelsey Grammer, is an American actor 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 also worked as a
television producer,
director,
writer, and a
voice artist.
Personal background
Early years
Grammer was born in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. to Sally (
née Cranmer), a singer, and Frank Allen Grammer, Jr., a musician and owner of a
coffee shop and a bar & grill.
["Grammer's Lesson" from Smoke magazine]["A suitable case for treatment" from Ginny Dougary's blog][Kelsey Grammer Biography (1955-)] 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.
In 1975, his sister, Karen, was raped and murdered
[Kelsey Grammer Faces Sister's Killer] after being abducted outside a
Red Lobster restaurant in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, where her boyfriend worked.
[Murder of Kelsey Grammer's sister] Grammer has sworn to prevent his sister's murderer from being paroled
["Kelsey Grammer Vows to Speak for Sister if Killer Pursues Parole" from FoxNews], and in July 2009, her convicted murderer was denied parole at least in part due to a written letter submitted to the parole board.
["Parole denied for Kelsey's sister's killer"][www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0727_kelsey_wm.pdf] In 1980, his paternal twin younger half-brothers were killed by a
shark in a
scuba diving accident.
[— Kelsey Grammer][Showbiz - News - Ten Things You Never Knew About Kelsey Grammer - Digital Spy]
