Kelsey Grammer Biography

Kelsey Grammer, actor

Birthdate: February 21, 1955

Birthplace: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Sign: Pisces

Allen Kelsey Grammer, five-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe-winning actor best known for his two-decade of neurotic psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcoms Frasier and Cheers, was born in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was born to a singer mother and a musician father but moved to New Jersey when his parents divorced and was partly raised by his maternal grandparents.

Grammer experienced some great tragedies in his early life. When he was 13, his father was murdered on the front lawn of his Virgin Islands home. In 1975, his sister was abducted and murdered and in 1980, his younger half-brother was killed by a shark.

After his grandfather's death, Grammer spent two years at the Juilliard School of the Arts in New York. He later earned an internship at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego and a stint at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis before making his Broadway debut in 1981 with his role as Lennox in "Macbeth".

His television career began in a role as Stephen Smith in the 1983 mini-series "Kennedy". In 1984, he landed the role of Dr. Frasier Crane on the hit NBC sitcom Cheers and he would reprise the role for 20 years, nine on Cheers and eleven on his own successful spin-off, Frasier. The show ended in 2004 after 11 successful seasons.

Grammer has also been featured in films such as "X-Men: The Last Stand" where he played Beast and recently "Swing Vote", with Kevin Costner. He also often provides voiceover work, most famously for the character Sideshow Bob on TV's "The Simpsons". Grammer returned to television for the sitcom "Back To You" with Patricia Heaton which lasted only one season. He can next be seen in the comedy "Crazy on the Outside" with Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Ray Liotta.