Let's talk about Cheers and the resilience of one of its actors. No, it's not Ted Danson. Usually, I make more of an effort to bury the lede in articles like this for suspense's sake. However, I'll cut right to it. We're talking about an actor who was so good in Cheers that they gave his character his own successful spin-off show: Kelsey Grammer!
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Before we get into this one, we're going to be exploring some dark subject matter. But I promise this is more a story of resilience and overcoming insurmountable odds than a sad tale. So, Grammer played Frasier Crane, Cheers' beloved psychiatrist. Grammer is also known for playing many other iconic characters. (We'd be here all day if I painstakingly listed them all.)
However, behind the scenes, Grammer's life was fraught with many difficult hardships. Per Vanity Fair, Grammer's father was shot to death when the actor was only 13 years old. He had two half-brothers who were eaten by sharks in a scuba-diving accident. His sister was abducted, sexually assaulted, and ultimately killed by Freddie Glenn, a spree killer. Grammer had to identify his sister's body, notifying his grief-stricken mother afterward.
All these tragedies and traumas drove Grammer to abuse drugs and alcohol. With an early life like Grammer's, it's hard to blame the actor for going down such a dark path.
Kelsey Grammer, A Popular Actor On 'Cheers,' Struggled While Filming The Show
Through all the pain of his life experiences, Grammer managed to find a reason to live to fight another day. He has six Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award. When asked how he managed to persevere, he had a poignant answer.
"I just put [that pain] where it is: in the past. But it's a pain that you can always stumble into again. It's with you 24/7, especially in the case of tragic death, and there have been a few of those."
Despite the devastation, pain, and loss, Grammer forged a path forward, finding love and success along the way. He said it best when speaking to Vanity Fair. "Every one of us is going to experience some terrible loss. I just got a big dose. For every story you hear that's tragic, there's another that's equally tragic or more so. I think you come to look at it as part of life."
