Kelsey Grammer is in his late 60s, but he's seen more tragedy than most people ever come close to. Still, he is not about feeling sorry for himself, or even complaining, he says. In a new interview, he told Page Six why not.
"It was an extraordinary challenge a lot of the time," he said of the horrific tragedies that seem to have followed him. "And there’s been a lot of pain and a lot of great joy. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it except to possibly bring back some people I care about.”
More from LittleThings: ‘Long Island Medium’ Has Brain Scanned During Intense Reading To Show What Happens
Kelsey has certainly lost a lot of people throughout his life. When he was just 6 years old, the trauma began. His father, Frank, was killed during a home invasion in 1968. Then, in 1975, his sister Karen was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Five years later, his two half-brothers died in a scuba diving accident.
For a long while, Kelsey used drugs to escape from his traumatic past. Back in the early years of his hit show Frasier, the cast had to intervene. They showed up at his house and held an intervention, unsure of what they would walk into. Luckily, Kelsey was at the end of his rope and checked into the Betty Ford Center in 1996.
Kelsey also had a series of failed marriages. Most notably, he went through a very tumultuous (and public) divorce from Camille Grammer, one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Now he is married to his fourth wife, Kayte Walsh, who is a British flight attendant.
Kayte and Kelsey seem to be really settled down. They now have three children together: Faith, 8; Kelsey Jr., 6; and Auden, 4. That's in addition to Kelsey's four other kids: Spencer, 37; Greer, 29; Mason, 19; and Jude, 16.
Kelsey has certainly gotten a bit of a reputation over the years, given he's had many wives and even more children. But it makes sense that he's had trouble holding onto relationships after everything he has been through. Now it seems he's finally found a sense of peace with Kayte and his family.
“I’ve [been] very blessed that I got a chance to live several lives, and that’s been a great, great satisfaction for me,” he said. “To have young children at this time of my life is just one of the most amazing joys a person could have. And to have my older children as well, it’s a true blessing. I mean, I have been given great gifts.”
He truly seems to be oozing gratitude. “You know, as corny as it sounds, a day at a time. You have to keep your chin up, not give in,” he said.
Kelsey has certainly done that, and as a result, not only is he experiencing happiness in his personal life, but his career is still thriving after all these years. He has a new movie coming out, The God Committee, and it was announced earlier this year that Frasier will be returning to TV. A reboot is expected to premiere next year on the Paramount+ streaming service.
“It’s not going to be the same show," Kelsey said. "It’s going to be different in many ways, but it will hopefully have the same group of actors and some new ones. [We're adding] some new ones because it’s got to be some new people.”
