'Frasier' Reboot: From murder to cancer, inside the shocking tragedies the original cast of NBC show endured
‘Frasier’ is considered one of the most extraordinary and influential shows in TV’s history. The show, which began on NBC in 1993, ran for 11 seasons and ended its fantastic run in May 2004. The series went on to win 37 Primetime Emmy Awards during its 11-year-run and held the record for winning most Emmys until 2016. So, it didn’t come as a shock when Kelsey Grammer, who plays the titular character, announced that he is planning a ‘Frasier’ reboot with Paramount.
Recently, a few weeks ago it was announced that the reboot has officially been greenlit by Paramount and will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+. The original series changed the lives of several people as it gave them the opportunity to showcase their talent and take their careers to a whole new level. However, some of the cast members of the show also suffered a lot of tragedies in their lives and even while shooting the series. It was not easy for them to overcome those tragedies, but they did in order to put a smile on people’s faces.
RELATED ARTICLES
‘Frasier’ Revival: 16 years after final episode drew 33M viewers, fans divided over bringing NBC show back
So, let’s take a look at how cast members of ‘Frasier’ overcame tragedies to make it big in the entertainment industry and how other cast members remained in touch with each other even after the show came to an end.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier Crane)
Grammer is one of the finest actors working in the entertainment industry and he has the credentials to prove that. But his life has been filled with tragedies that took a lot of things away from him. He was only 12 years of age when his grandfather died at the age of 63 due to cancer. However, his life turned upside down when his father was murdered right in front of his house in 1968. His father was living in Saint Thomas with his second wife and one day, a man just set fire to Frank Allen Grammer’s car while it was parked in the driveway.
When Frank outside to check what has happened, a man named Arthur B. Niles shot Frank twice and killed him. The incident happened on the day of Martin Luther King’s funeral. However, Niles was found not guilty by reason of insanity and did not go to jail, instead spent a few years in psychiatric care.
The tragedies continued to hit Grammer as he grew older and when he turned 18, he got the most devastating news of his life. In 1975, Grammer found out that his sister, Karen Grammer, was kidnapped from outside the restaurant where she worked. A police officer found her body in a trailer park in Colorado. It was found that Karen was abducted, brutally raped, and stabbed to death. It was a tough moment for Grammer because he had to identify his sister’s body.
Meanwhile, in 1980, Grammer lost his half-brother, Stephen and Billy Grammer, in a tragic accident while scuba diving. The incident happened on June 1, 1980, when Billy failed to surface after scuba diving for a while. Stephen got a bit worried and got back into the water to find his brother. However, no one knew that this would be the last time anyone will see them. Stephen suffered an embolism while ascending improperly. His body was discovered, but Billy’s body was never recovered. A lot of people believe that Billy was eaten by sharks.
Grammer also struggled with addiction for years and was arrested on three different occasions. In 1996, his car overturned a short distance at Mulholland Highway. After the accident, his friends helped him and checked him into rehab.
John Mahoney (Martin Crane)
Mahoney played the character of Martin Crane in the show and received two nominations for his acting. However, he endured a lot of pain while working on the show. In the mid-1980s, he got to know that he has colon cancer and after enduring the pain for a lot of years, the actor was able to defeat the disease by “working harder”. Mahoney made it clear that he won’t let this affect his acting career and even when he was taking treatment for it, he continued to do his work.
But cancer did not leave him alone for long and returned in 2014, this time in his throat, and he was told that it was stage three. The actor went on to receive chemotherapy and had to deal with a lot of pain, but he believes that his love for acting kept him going. He was successfully treated for cancer again in 2014 and started a new phase in his life. However, it seems the chemotherapy and radiation made him really weak because he died just three years after the successful treatment.
He died without marrying or having any children.
Peri Gilpin (Roz Doyle)
Gilpin took the world by storm as a no-nonsense producer of Frasier’s radio show and garnered a lot of praise for her acting. She married painter Christian Vincent on July 31, 1999, and was planning to start a family. However, it was a really tough time for the couple because they tried IVF several times, but they didn’t bear any results. After years of failed IVF, they finally welcomed twins via surrogacy in 2004.
Looks like Kelsey Grammer had a big role to play letting Gilpin and Vincent know about surrogacy because he and his ex-wife Camille had two children via a surrogate mother.
David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane)
The supremely talented actor played the role of Frasier’s younger brother Niles Crane in the series and was even more arrogant than his older brother. Despite his aforementioned qualities, he is brave and caring for his loved ones. The actor went on to win four Primetime Emmys for his role in the series and was nominated 7 more times. While filming the show, there was a lot of speculation about his sexuality and a lot of reports suggested that he was gay. In 2007, he broke his silence on the matter and revealed that he is ‘GAY’. Later, he also confirmed that he and renowned TV writer Brian Hargrove were a couple.
In an interview in 2017, Pierce noted that he never had a “conversation” with his parents regarding his sexual orientation because he thought it would be painful for them. However, he took Brian home to meet his parents and they instantly fell in love with him as well. He added, “I brought home the guy I was in love with.
And they met him and loved him and embraced him, and he was a member of the family instantly.”