One of the reasons I undertook this new series is because I am always amazed and fascinated when tragedy and comedy collide. It’s the true stuff of human drama. Such is the case with the great comic actor Kelsey Grammer, a talent who for decades has made America laugh and cry, and afforded us many great moments in entertainment. Fate at first seemed to have other ideas. Long before we knew him as Dr. Frasier Crane on “Cheers” and “Frasier,” Kelsey was the victim of not one, but two separate murders in the family. Read on for details of Kelsey’s family tragedies, and click here for more true-crime news…
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Photo credit: Getty Images
First, Kelsey’s father,
Frank, was tragically gunned down during the 1968 civil-rights riots that swept the nation in the wake of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Kelsey was only 13.
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Photo credit: Files
Then, years later,
Kelsey’s sister Karen (left), with whom he was very close, was murdered at the tender age of 18 by a gang of marauding thugs, strangers to her. Without ID on her person, it took authorities days to figure out who Karen was.
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Photo credit: Colorado Dept of Corrections
Meanwhile, Kelsey and his family desperately tried to locate his missing sister. Great detective work led the police to the killers (including
Freddie Glenn, left) and took the criminals off the streets forever. All of this would be enough to send anyone else into hiding for the rest of their life.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
But in the face of unspeakable tragedy, Kelsey (shown here with "Cheers" costar
Shelley Long) threw himself into acting and became a public figure, the opposite of a broken hermit with tragic luck. Was
Kelsey saddled with demons?
Of course, how could he not be, given what he’s endured?
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Photo credit: Getty Images
But his talent as an actor and performer could not be denied. And not simply a journeyman, Kelsey has won six Emmy Awards in his career so far. If, as they say, living well is the best revenge, then Kelsey has truly transcended his family’s tragic history.
See the full story unfold on “Geraldo Rivera’s Murder in the Family: Kelsey Grammer” premiering Sat., November 10, at 9ET/PT on REELZ.
First, Kelsey’s father,
Frank, was tragically gunned down during the 1968 civil-rights riots that swept the nation in the wake of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Kelsey was only 13.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Then, years later,
Kelsey’s sister Karen (left), with whom he was very close, was murdered at the tender age of 18 by a gang of marauding thugs, strangers to her. Without ID on her person, it took authorities days to figure out who Karen was.
Meanwhile, Kelsey and his family desperately tried to locate his missing sister. Great detective work led the police to the killers (including
Freddie Glenn, left) and took the criminals off the streets forever. All of this would be enough to send anyone else into hiding for the rest of their life.
Photo credit: Colorado Dept of Corrections
But in the face of unspeakable tragedy, Kelsey (shown here with "Cheers" costar
Shelley Long) threw himself into acting and became a public figure, the opposite of a broken hermit with tragic luck. Was
Kelsey saddled with demons?
Of course, how could he not be, given what he’s endured?
Photo credit: Getty Images
But his talent as an actor and performer could not be denied. And not simply a journeyman, Kelsey has won six Emmy Awards in his career so far. If, as they say, living well is the best revenge, then Kelsey has truly transcended his family’s tragic history.
See the full story unfold on “Geraldo Rivera’s Murder in the Family: Kelsey Grammer” premiering Sat., November 10, at 9ET/PT on REELZ.
Photo credit: Getty Images