Kelsey Grammer can fill a room with his booming baritone voice and infectious smile. And for years he’s proved he can make us laugh, and occasionally cry, in performances that earned him a string of Emmys and other honors. He overcame a troubled youth and painful battles with addiction during what he calls his “wild years” to find fame as the acerbic and mildly pompous psychiatrist Frasier Crane, first on Cheers and then in 11 seasons of the spinoff series Frasier. He recently brought Frasier back for two seasons to critical acclaim.
In his new book, Grammer is looking back on a horrific, life-altering event. Karen: A Brother Remembers is a devastating and emotional memoir about his sister who, at the age of 18, was raped and murdered. Grammer was moved to share why he wants us all to remember Karen.
Watch Jeanne Wolf’s full video interview with Kelsey Grammer.
Jeanne Wolf: What you’ve told us all is so very personal.
Kelsey Grammer: We all have tragedy. My sister’s killing and rape was certainly more savage than some. I hoped a journey through our life together might help others understand how to heal. I couldn’t save Karen. Now I’ve been given a chance to make her live again in people’s minds, not for the way she died but the way she lived.
After Karen was gone, there was a great deal of, call it self-immolation: “Why am I still here?” I always felt I’d let her down. I would look for relief in overindulgence, addiction — bad ways to deal with unresolved grief. I made some colossal blunders in my life. Now, I am lucky in my marriage to Kayte Walsh. I didn’t know how to deal with people who are nice. Maybe I just wasn’t in the habit of knowing how to be a good guy. I always wanted to be. I fortunately found somebody that was capable of meeting me with the same intention.
JW: You got famous portraying a psychiatrist. You’ve probably seen a few. Did they help you deal with your demons after Karen’s death?
KG: I think that it’s almost impossible to really heal someone unless they do it themselves. A psychiatrist can’t really do that. It’s a real big challenge figuring out how to sort your choices and get aligned with what you think is the best version of who you can be. Honestly, I don’t think you get there with anybody else’s help — except God, of course.
Writing the book, memories came back with a clarity that was astounding to me. It was a wonderful reawakening of why I actually am an actor. My mom had a hard time. If I could get a laugh out of her on a difficult day, it was a big measure of success. I was pretty good at making her laugh. That’s where it all started.
JW: The reboot of Frasier was very well received, but it’s not being renewed. Is that the end of playing a guy who helped define you?
KG: I’m doing my best to find another way to bring Frasier back. I want to see a kind ending for him. I want him to become the man I think he was always meant to be. Sometimes, you look at your life and think something’s going to go wrong. You’re poised for it. I want to change that. I want to expect things to go right from now on. I’m aiming high. If Karen could read what I wrote, she would be very happy for me. My sister would say, ”There. You needed to get that off your chest!”
—Jeanne Wolf is the Post’s West Coast editor
This article is featured in the May/June 2025 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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