When Kelsey Grammer stepped onto the set of Cheers in 1984, audiences saw Dr. Frasier Crane — witty, refined, effortlessly charming. What they didn’t see was the man fighting to stay awake between takes, his body wired on cocaine, his hands trembling from whiskey, haunted by a memory he couldn’t bury: the body of his 18-year-old sister, Karen Grammer, found in a Colorado Springs apartment after being stabbed 42 times. The murder, on July 1, 1975, Colorado Springs, didn’t just change Grammer’s life — it rewired it. Now, decades later, in a raw, unflinching interview with Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America on May 2, 2025, Grammer has laid bare how unresolved grief became his daily companion — and his poison.
The Night Everything Changed
Karen Grammer was working the evening shift at a diner when four men approached her. According to court records and police reports later detailed in Investigation Discovery’s Homicide Hunter, the killers — Freddie Glenn, Michael Corbett, and two others — dragged her to a nearby apartment. She was raped, tortured, and stabbed repeatedly. Her body was discovered hours later. Kelsey, then 20 and studying theater in New York, was called to identify her. He remembers the smell of antiseptic in the morgue. The silence. The way his mother screamed when he told her. "I cried out loud like a child whose hope had died," he told Sawyer. The killers were caught. Glenn and Corbett were convicted. But for Grammer, justice didn’t bring closure. It brought silence. He buried his pain beneath layers of performance — first on Broadway, then on TV.Addiction on Set: The Hidden Cost of Laughter
By the time Cheers premiered in 1984, Grammer was already drinking heavily. Cocaine followed. He didn’t need to hide it — the industry normalized it. But the cost was staggering. "I might be asleep on one of the benches on the Cheers set," he admitted. "And then when it was my turn, I’d just stand up and go do it." He performed in front of millions while his body screamed for more. His marriage crumbled. His health deteriorated. He lost friends. He lost himself. The turning point didn’t come from a rehab center or a intervention. It came from a friend on the Frasier cast — the one who said, "The cause of your addiction is unresolved grief." For the first time, Grammer didn’t deflect. He listened. "I thought time healed everything," he told the Jordan Harbinger Show. "Turns out, grief becomes an imprint you learn to carry."
Forgiveness Without Release
In 2012, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Grammer said he’d forgive the men if they admitted guilt. In 2014, during Freddie Glenn’s parole hearing, he stood before the board and said he’d forgiven him. But he refused to support his release. "It would be a betrayal of my sister’s life," he said. Glenn remains incarcerated. Corbett died in prison in 2017. Grammer’s daughter, Spencer Karen Grammer, was named for her aunt — a quiet, enduring tribute. "I didn’t name her to mourn," he explained. "I named her to remember the grace she left behind."The Memoir: Carrying Her With Him
His new memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, set for release on May 6, 2025, isn’t about the violence. It’s about the love. The way Karen would hug him after bad auditions. The way she’d say, "You’re doing fine, Kelsey." The way she believed in him before he believed in himself. "I spent 40 years thinking I had to be great to earn love," he said. "She already gave it to me. I just didn’t know how to hold onto it." The book has drawn early praise from grief counselors and addiction specialists. Dr. Lena Ruiz, a trauma expert at Johns Hopkins, called it "one of the most honest accounts of inherited sorrow I’ve ever seen." It’s not a redemption story. It’s a reckoning.
What’s Next?
Grammer says he’s sober now — six years clean, with no plans to relapse. He’s speaking publicly for the first time not to promote a show, but to help others who carry invisible wounds. "If you’re drowning in silence," he told Sawyer, "don’t wait for time to fix it. Talk to someone. Even if it’s just to a mirror." The entertainment world remembers him as Frasier. But now, he wants to be known as Karen’s brother. And that, he says, is enough.Frequently Asked Questions
How did Karen Grammer’s murder influence Kelsey Grammer’s addiction?
Kelsey Grammer has stated that his cocaine and alcohol abuse during the 1980s and ’90s stemmed directly from unresolved grief over his sister’s 1975 murder. He described the trauma as a constant, unprocessed wound that he numbed with substances. A friend on the Frasier cast explicitly linked his addiction to grief, a realization that became pivotal in his recovery. Grammer later confirmed this connection in his memoir and interviews, noting that he never processed the loss properly after identifying her body.
Why did Kelsey Grammer forgive Freddie Glenn but oppose his release?
Grammer forgave Glenn emotionally after being convinced of his remorse during a 2014 parole hearing, but he refused to support his release because he believed it would dishonor Karen’s memory. He stated publicly that granting freedom to the man who killed his sister would be a betrayal of her life. His forgiveness was personal, not legal — a private healing, not a public pardon.
What role did the Frasier cast play in Grammer’s recovery?
The Frasier cast, particularly co-stars David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney, created a supportive environment that allowed Grammer to enter rehab without fear of professional ruin. Unlike on Cheers, where his addiction was tolerated, the Frasier team insisted he get help. They didn’t enable him — they held him accountable. Grammer credits their loyalty and quiet encouragement as the catalyst that finally made him face his trauma.
Is it true that time doesn’t heal grief, according to Kelsey Grammer?
Yes. In multiple interviews, including with Diane Sawyer and Jordan Harbinger, Grammer explicitly rejected the cliché that "time heals all wounds." Instead, he described grief as an "imprint" — something you learn to carry, not something that fades. He compares it to a scar: it doesn’t disappear, but you grow around it. His memoir is built on this idea: that honoring the person you lost is more meaningful than trying to forget the pain.
How did Karen Grammer’s death impact Kelsey’s early career?
Karen’s murder occurred just two years before Grammer’s Broadway debut in 1977. He entered the acting world already carrying deep trauma, which he later admitted fueled his feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. While he achieved early success, he struggled to internalize it. He told the Jordan Harbinger Show he only began to believe he was a "legend" about two or three years ago — decades after becoming a household name — because he finally allowed himself to believe he was worthy of love, not just applause.
Where can I learn more about Karen Grammer’s murder case?
The case was featured in the "Animal Nature" episode of Investigation Discovery’s Homicide Hunter, which details the investigation by former Colorado Springs detective Lt. Hunter. Court documents from the 1976 trials of Freddie Glenn and Michael Corbett are also publicly accessible through the Colorado State Archives. Grammer’s memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, releases May 6, 2025, and will offer the most personal account to date.