Kelsey Grammer reveals shocking cocaine and booze spiral following sister’s grisly murder

Kelsey Grammer is pulling back the curtain on a lifelong battle with grief, addiction, and guilt in his new memoir Karen: A Brother Remembers, which confronts the brutal 1975 murder of his younger sister Karen.

The Frasier actor, now 70, reveals that Karen’s horrific death — she was raped and fatally stabbed just weeks before her 19th birthday — shattered his world and fueled a years-long descent into drug and alcohol abuse.

Adding to the trauma was Grammer’s family history of violence: his father, Allen, had been shot and killed seven years earlier. 

Grammer – who previously said that he ‘forgives’ his sister’s murderer – admits he tried to escape the pain, but it only dragged him further into addiction.

Between the late ’80s and mid-’90s, Grammer faced multiple arrests for DUIs and cocaine possession before finally checking into the Betty Ford Center.

‘There was always this voice in my head saying, “Enough. You know why you’re doing this,”‘ he told People on Friday. ‘But another part of me wanted to let go completely — to let the pain take over.’

Kelsey Grammer is pulling back the curtain on a lifelong battle with grief, addiction, and guilt in his new memoir Karen: A Brother Remembers, which confronts the brutal 1975 murder of his younger sister Karen; (seen in April)

The Frasier actor, now 70, reveals that Karen’s horrific death — she was raped and fatally stabbed just weeks before her 19th birthday — shattered his world and fueled a years-long descent into drug and alcohol abuse

Through it all, Grammer never let his personal struggles derail his career. 

While battling his demons behind the scenes, he kept delivering laughs as Dr. Frasier Crane — first on Cheers (1984–1993) and then leading his own smash hit, Frasier (1993–2004).

‘It seemed to make it more damning in a way, but you know what? I had to do it, so I’m okay,’ he said to the outlet. ‘I learned that I really am a ‘I don’t quit’ kind of guy. I can look at the past and see, “Oh, well, you still did what you had to do.”‘

For years, however, Grammer said, happiness was out of reach. 

‘For a long time, the grief was so dominant that I couldn’t access happiness,’ he said. ‘The book helped me get to a new place with that.’

In Karen: A Brother Remembers, Grammer recounts the harrowing details of his sister’s murder in hopes of helping others navigate their own grief. 

Grammer begins the book by reflecting on his and Karen’s difficult childhood, according to excerpts from People. 

The siblings were just kids when their parents divorced in 1957. 

‘For a long time, the grief was so dominant that I couldn’t access happiness,’ he said. ‘The book helped me get to a new place with that’

At a parole hearing in 2009, Grammer wrote a letter to the court which read, ‘She was my best friend and the best person I knew. She had so much to live for. I loved my sister, Karen. I miss her. I miss her in my bones’; seen in 2022 in NYC 

Kelsey, a toddler at the time, and Karen, only a few months old, moved with their mother Sally from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands to New Jersey. 

Their father, Allen, remained in St. Thomas. The siblings wouldn’t see him again until 1967.

The family endured more loss when their grandfather Gordon passed away in 1967.

Then, in 1968, their father was shot and killed by a taxi driver during a wave of racial violence in St. Thomas. 

The motive behind the killing was never fully understood, and the shooter was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Karen moved to Colorado Springs in 1975 to be with her boyfriend after a semester in Georgia. 

Their last conversation was on June 30th, when she told Kelsey she planned to come home after the Fourth of July. 

When he didn’t hear from her again, Kelsey contacted the police. It was soon discovered that Karen had gone to her job at Red Lobster that night to wait for a friend.

While battling his demons behind the scenes, he kept delivering laughs as Dr. Frasier Crane — first on Cheers (1984–1993) 

Kelsey then led his own smash hit, Frasier (1993–2004)

There, she was kidnapped by Freddie Glenn and two accomplices who had planned to rob the restaurant. 

When they saw Karen alone, they forced her into their car. After abandoning the robbery, the men drove her to an apartment, where they assaulted her. Glenn then drove Karen to an alley, where he fatally stabbed her 42 times. 

Glenn was later convicted of her murder and several other killings.

The tragedies continued for Grammer. 

In 1980, his half-brothers Billy and Stephen were killed in what’s believed to have been a shark attack while scuba diving in the Virgin Islands. 

Billy’s body was never recovered, while Stephen’s was found washed ashore.

In his memoir, Grammer talks about the legacy of loss in his family. 

‘There’s a legacy of early death in my family, which is really interesting,’ he wrote, per People. ‘I pray to break that cycle and give my family longevity.’

Grammer shared the completed book with his wife, Kayte Walsh, who was supportive throughout the process; (seen in 2018)

Grammer shared the completed book with his wife, Kayte Walsh, who was supportive throughout the process.

‘She said, “I’ve missed you,”‘ he recalled to People. ‘I had to step away for a while — there were hours on end when I would just be staring off. 

‘But she was patient and loving through it. Writing this brought back some of the joy I had lost.’

Karen: A Brother Remembers will be released on May 6.