One of the most popular and successful sitcoms in history, Frasier took its final bow in
2004, and an astounding 33 million viewers tuned in for the show's emotional finale.
With 37 Emmy wins, the scripted series held the record until HBO's Game of Thrones took
the crown in 2016.
Fans might assume the brilliant, tight-knit cast was living the dream, but painful stories
and scandals lurked just behind the scenes.
Here are some of the dark secrets the stars of Frasier tried to hide.
Grammer's family tragedies
Kelsey Grammer is best known for portraying the flawed and pompous, yet iconic and lovable
Dr. Frasier Crane for 20 consecutive years across three TV series: Cheers, Frasier, and
even one episode of Wings.
But despite his success, Grammer's personal life was plagued by tragedy.
In 1968, when Grammer was 13 years old, his estranged father was fatally shot.
Grammer later explained, "A man who was proven to be, at least in court, of questionable
sanity, I suppose, lit a ring of fire around his house and as my father came down to investigate
what was going on, he shot him…several times and...dad died."
In 1975, tragedy struck again when Grammer's 18-year-old sister, Karen, was abducted, assaulted,
and fatally stabbed by "spree killer" Freddie Glenn.
In 2009, Glenn was up for parole — which Grammer successfully opposed, by writing to
the board: "I miss her in my bones...I was her big brother.
I was supposed to protect her — I could not…It very nearly destroyed me."
Then, in 1980, Grammer's half brothers, Stephen and Billy, died in a scuba accident off St.
Thomas.
According to People, when Billy failed to surface, Stephen dove in to try to find him
but "suffered a fatal embolism during an improper ascent.
Billy's body was never recovered."
Grammer's substance abuse
In the two decades following his sister's murder, Grammer turned to drugs and alcohol
and faced trouble with the law.
As the actor admitted, his addiction was exacerbated by his newfound fame during Cheers in 1984.
He told The Post, "I was drinking too much, I was doing too much cocaine...I was in my
early 30s.
I was making enough money to do pretty much anything I really wanted to do, and I did
that."
After two arrests for DWI and possession, it was in 1996 that Grammer was allegedly
driving under the influence when he lost control of his car near his home in Malibu, rolling
his Dodge Viper.
But although Grammer's complex personal life never severely affected Frasier, his fellow
cast members were well aware of his troubles and decided to stage an intervention.
Production on Frasier shut down for a month when Grammer agreed to seek help.
Two years later, the now-sober actor won his third Emmy for best actor in a comedy, thanking
his castmates in his speech:
"To a very special, small group of people that came to me a while back in a very dark
time in my life…
I love you, and thank you."
Gilpin's rough start
Only a few days into production on Frasier, the role of Roz was suddenly recast from Friends'
Lisa Kudrow, to Peri Gilpin.
Casting Director Jeff Greenberg told Entertainment Weekly, "You could see Kelsey [as Frasier]
was going to be able to railroad [Kudrow] and do what he wanted…there was not going
to be the conflict there."
The team reportedly brought in Peri because, quote "she could go toe-to-toe with Kelsey."
As Gilpin revealed in 2016, she and Grammer struggled to collaborate early on.
She recalled working on a comedic bit in which Frasier and Roz perform a silly Monday morning
cheer.
"So, I was standing there with Kelsey and Jimmy, and Jimmy goes, 'Well, what're you
gonna do?'
And I was like, 'Well…,' and Kelsey goes, 'Ugh, I wish Kirstie was here.'"
Grammer may have been momentarily longing for his former Cheers co-star, Kirstie Alley,
but Gilpin eventually found her character — and a place in sitcom history.
Mahoney's privacy and personal struggles
John Mahoney is most known for playing Frasier and Niles' gruff ex-detective dad, Marty Crane,
who couldn't be more different from his persnickety sons.
In real life, Mahoney never quite grew as comfortable with fame as his co-stars did.
He told the Chicago Tribune in 1996, "I come from a secretive Irish family.
I cherish my privacy."
When Frasier ended, the actor left Hollywood, returning to his native Illinois and settled
in a suburb of Chicago.
He's continued to work — mainly in the city's famous Steppenwolf Theatre.
Mahoney confessed to being "a bit of a hermit," but says he's happier spending his free time
dining out, going to the movies, fishing, and playing cards.
Mahoney was born in Manchester, England and grew up during World War II, and his childhood
was fraught with hardship.
He told The Guardian, "When I was growing up there, I was playing in the air-raid shelters
and bombed-out buildings.
I associate Manchester with need and want and ration books…with dirt and smoke and
smog and fog."
Life at home was just as bleak, particularly due to his parents' unhappy marriage, which
affected Mahoney's own love life.
He said, "I was never very mature in my relationships with women.
First sign of conflict, I was gone.
Wouldn't discuss it, because I was afraid it would lead to an argument."
But his solo existence has been impacted by more than his stormy childhood.
He told TimeOut in 2008, "Twenty-three years ago I had cancer of the colon.
I had to have major surgery, and I have a colostomy.
I really couldn't have sex after that.
I'm very happy by myself and with my friends, but no, I'm definitely not involved with anybody.
Nor do I ever look to be."
Grammer's volatile marriages
After's Grammer's first marriage to Broadway dancer Doreen Alderman ended in divorce in
1990, he then married Leigh-Anne Csuhany, a former exotic dancer.
In his 1996 autobiography So Far…, Grammer wrote of Csuhany's violent temper: "She'd
spit in my face.
Slap me.
Punch me.
Kick me.
Break glasses over my head.
Break windows.
Tear up pictures of my loved ones.
Threaten to kill me, kill herself."
Grammer filed for an annulment nine months in, and then a pregnant Csuhany allegedly
attempted suicide by swallowing five bottles of Tylenol pills.
She survived, but their unborn child did not.
According to the Daily Mail, as that marriage crumbled, Grammer had an affair with make-up
artist Barrie Buckner and fathered a daughter named Greer.
Grammer met his third wife, former Playboy model Camille Donatacci, on a blind date in
1996, and they wed the following year.
They had a daughter, Mason, and a son, Jude, before Camille filed for divorce after 13
years, citing "irreconcilable differences."
The actor is currently happily married to British flight attendant Kayte Walsh, and
the pair have three children together: Faith, Kelsey, and Auden.
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