Kelsey Grammer made his way into our hearts playing the lovable Dr. Frasier Crane on both
Cheers and Frasier for over two decades.
He's built a career on his charm and humor, which is why it's so hard to believe his personal
life has been marred by so much tragedy.
Following numerous personal losses, his love life was also riddled with heartbreak and
left him with three failed marriages.
From depression, addiction, loss, and heartache, here's everything you need to know about Kelsey's
life and how he overcame his demons.
Please note that this story features sensitive topics which some viewers may find offensive
or triggering.
In 1968, when Grammer was just 13 years old, a man broke into his father's home and shot
him to death.
Kelsey explained, "I suppose, the assailant lit a ring of fire around his house and as
my father came down to investigate what was going on, he shot him and, uh, shot him several
times and, uh, dad died,"
Sadly, there was little justice found for the murder of his father since the killer
was later found "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Grammer set his eyes on acting after falling in love with Shakespeare in high school.
He began his studies at Julliard, New York's prestigious performing arts school, in 1973,
but it wasn't long before his family was yet again struck with misfortune.
Grammer ran into more bad news in 1975 when his 18-year-old sister Karen was kidnapped.
According to reports, she had just gotten off of work and was waiting for her boyfriend
to give her a ride home when she was abducted by spree killer Freddie Glenn "and two accomplices."
In the most tragic turn of events, Karen was later found dead with 42 stab wounds.
In addition to the horrific murder, it was 20-year-old Grammer who had to identify Karen's
brutalized body and inform his mother of the news.
By Grammer's own admission, it was a tragedy that sent him reeling, plunging him into an
abyss of self-destructive behavior and addiction.
Kelsey confessed, "I was her big brother.
I was supposed to protect her — I could not....
It very nearly destroyed me."
At the time, Grammer received no financial support from his family, and in order to afford
attendance at Julliard, he was left homeless, spending "months at a time sleeping in Central
Park" while working random jobs, including "as a hotel lackey and a builder."
Unfortunately, following Karen's death, he was kicked out of the university for "lack
of focus."
In 1980, just five years after his sister's death, tragedy struck the Grammer family once
again.
A freak accident involving Grammer's half-brothers, Stephen and Billy, sadly passed away while
scuba diving off St.Thomas that June.
Even sadder is the fact that Grammer has seemingly gotten used to the misfortunes.
In an interview, the actor spoke about dealing with the pain of the tragic deaths in his
life.
Grammer explained, "There have been a few of those.
It's just part of life.
Maybe I learned a little earlier than most, but it's just the way it goes."
After suffering so much at such a young age, by his early twenties, Kelsey felt like his
life was falling apart.
He had no idea how to take control over all the chaos that seemed to continuously happen
around him.
So, in order to escape the pains of his losses and his expulsion from Julliard, Grammer started
drinking heavily and abusing drugs.
The actor shared, "My love affair with cocaine, which was my drug of choice, was motivated
by a few other things, about not really deserving the things I had got.
Also, I liked it."
In the meantime, Kelsey also began the habit of falling in love hard and fast.
His romances moved at a whirlwind rate and resulted in five engagements and four marriages
over the next few years.
The actor met his first wife, Doreen Alderman, while they were both working on Broadway.
The couple got married in 1982 and welcomed a daughter, Spencer, the following year.
Unfortunately, Kelsey and Doreen later divorced in 1990.
Two years later, Grammer welcomed a daughter, Greer , with hair and makeup artist Barrie
Buckner.
However, the two never got engaged or married.
Then, in September 1992, Grammer married his second wife, Leigh-Anne Csuhany , an exotic
dancer.
Leigh-Anne soon fell pregnant, and the couple then moved to Los Angeles together.
While this may have been Kelsey's second marriage, from the outside, they seemed to have the
makings of a perfect love story.
However, what happened behind closed doors was an incredibly tumultuous marriage.
Grammer later confessed in his 1996 autobiography 'So Far…' that Laugh-Anne was abusive toward
him.
He wrote, "She'd spit in my face, slap me, punch me, kick me, break glasses over my head,
break windows, tear up pictures of my loved ones, threaten to kill me, kill herself."
The domestic abuse resulted in Kelsey filing for annulment in 1993, just nine months after
the couple had exchanged vows.
In the papers, he charged Leigh-Anne with 'fraud' and being of "unsound mind."
At the time, Leigh-Anne was 3 months pregnant, and Kelsey also filed for full custody of
their unborn child.
After kicking her out of their home, she later attempted to take her own life, writing a
note that read, "Kelsey doesn't love me."
Thankfully, Leigh-Anne was found and immediately sent to the hospital, where doctors were ultimately
able to save her.
Sadly, following her suicide attempt, Leigh-Anne chose to terminate her pregnancy.
Grammer later released a heartfelt statement on the loss of their baby, saying he was "deeply
saddened" that their child was no more.
He shared, "I had dreamed of raising the baby in a stable and loving environment."
In 1994, Kelsey met Tammi Baliszewski one evening at a bar.
Just three months later, the pair were engaged and even featured on the cover of People Magazine.
Unfortunately, their romance was short-lived, and the couple eventually called off their
engagement.
Two years later, Grammer met Camille Grammer , on a blind date.
By August of the following year, the couple announced their engagement and got married
during a lavish Malibu ceremony.
They welcomed their first son, Mason, in 2001 and their second son, Jude, three years later.
Along with Kelsey's fame, the couple garnered a lot of attention with their appearance on
'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where they portrayed a seemingly happy couple.
However, it did appear that Grammer was often away from home, leaving Camille to take care
of their two children.
Unfortunately, just like his previous marriages, his relationship with Camille soon crumbled.
After being married for 13 years, the actor filed for divorce after admitting to having
an affair with a flight attendant, Kayte Walsh , for over six months.
Kelsey accidentally let details of the affair slip during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel
Live.
He spoke about how he met and fell for the British flight attendant when she served him
on a plane in December 2009.
He claimed that after meeting on the flight, they spent a 'magical night' together in London.
Grammer told the chat show host: "We actually met in the air on a plane to England.
'It was very romantic, she was working on the plane."
He explained that after the flight, he and Kayte went out for coffee a few days later
and had a "magical night in the snow in London around Christmas time."
His affair with Kayte continued over the next six months, and he never told Camille that
he wanted a divorce until June of 2010.
It was only when one of Camille's friends warned her that Kelsey was planning on leaving
her that she confronted him, and he admitted that he wanted to end their marriage.
. Camille claimed that Grammer then sent her
a text message officially ending their relationship.
The text read, "'I don't want to be married anymore."
Kelsey, then fifty-five years old, moved to New York shortly after he met 30–year-old
Kayte.
The actor then went on to marry the flight attendant just fifteen days after his divorce
from Camille was finalized.
Despite the scandal surrounding their union, Grammer insisted that he had had the full
support of his friends when it came to his most recent marriage.
The newlyweds faced troubles of their own after they decided to have children.
Kelsey shared, "Kayte and I had a couple of miscarriages before we had our first child.
That was devastating.
These things are hard."
In 2012, the couple welcomed their first child together, a baby girl they named Faith.
However, Kayte continued to face endless backlash for breaking up Kelsey's previous marriage.
So, that same year, she and Kelsey sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey on an
episode of Oprah's Next Chapter.
Kayte admitted, "I'm not proud of the way we started out.
Because he was in a marriage."
Interestingly enough, Walsh came up with an inventive way to ensure her husband didn't
stray from their marriage.
Grammer admitted to getting a tattoo of Kayte's name on his crotch, revealing that it was
her idea to put the permanent ink there so that he wouldn't cheat.
The actor explained, "It was more of sort of an ownership thing … I guess it was sort
of based on the idea that if ever I thought maybe a peccadillo outside the marriage was
a good idea, that whoever might be … you know … seeing this particular piece of equipment
would see it was already signed and owned by someone named Kayte."
Whether it was just an inside joke or Walsh knew her husband's tendency to be unfaithful,
she made sure to leave her mark on him either way.
The couple later went on to welcome two more children together, including Kelsey Gabriel
Elias in 2014 and Auden two years later.
Both Kelsey and Kayte do their best to stay out of the spotlight for the most part and
tend to keep their family life private.
These days, Grammer is loving the life of being a parent since he now has a total of
seven children.
He shared, "My youngest son, James, is walking, and talking, and eating all the time.
And my four-year-old, Gabriel, is starting to figure out stuff.
They discover things every day.
It's wonderful."
Thankfully, as the years passed, Kelsey was able to come to terms with the death of his
sister and honored her memory by making sure that her killers remained in prison.
He spoke out against Glenn's bid for parole in 2014, explaining that letting him free
"would be a betrayal of his sister's life."
The plea worked, and Freddie remained behind bars.
There's no doubt that Kelsey Grammer has had to face an unimaginable amount of tragedy
in his life, followed by a mountain of heartbreak.
However, while it may have taken some time for him to get back on his own feet and work
through his pain, it seems as though he has finally been able to put his past behind him
and find happiness.
We only wish Kelsey and Kayte the best for their future together.