Kelsey Grammer
Desert Island Discs
BBC
4.3 • 14.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 December 2017
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kelsey Grammer is best known for his two-decade-long portrayal of psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane which began on the NBC sitcom Cheers. He continued the role in the hugely successful spin-off series Frasier which ran for 11 years. When the series ended in 2004, it had won a total of 35 Emmys.
Born in the Virgin Islands, he was brought up by his mother and maternal grandparents in Florida, after his parents divorced. He studied drama at the Julliard School in New York but left before the end of the second year. He got his big break when he joined the cast of Cheers in 1984.
In his personal life Grammer has experienced a great deal of loss - his much-loved grandfather died when he was 12 and his 18 year old sister was murdered when he was 20. His struggles with drink and drugs, now behind him, are well documented. Married four times, he is the father of seven.
The winner of multiple awards, he is also a TV producer, director, writer, and known for his voice work: among others he was Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons and Stinky Pete in Toy Story 2. He is currently on stage in London.
Presenter Kirsty Young Producer Cathy Drysdale.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:03.0 | Hello, I'm Kristi Young. |
| 0:05.0 | Welcome to Desert Island Discs, where every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, the book and the luxury item |
| 0:12.0 | that they'd want to take with them if they were cast away on a desert island. |
| 0:16.0 | For rights reasons, the music on these podcast versions is shorter than in the original broadcast. |
| 0:22.0 | You can find over 2,000 more editions to listen to and download on the Desert Island Discs website. |
| 0:31.0 | Music |
| 0:48.0 | My castaway this week is the actor Kelsey Grammer. |
| 0:52.0 | His definitive role was as the rictus, jord-pedant, frasier, most famously in the long-running sitcom of the same name. |
| 0:59.0 | And it made his reputation as one of the finest comedy actors of his generation. |
| 1:04.0 | A producer, director, and writer too, he's won so many awards, it is frankly almost embarrassing. |
| 1:10.0 | He has spent decades then filling our lives with laughter. |
| 1:14.0 | But all this comedy exists alongside profound personal tragedy. |
| 1:17.0 | He has said sorrow and loss very nearly destroys him for a while, drinking drugs and chaos were his close companions. |
| 1:23.0 | These days, he seems a good deal more settled, living in upstate New York with his fourth wife and three young children, |
| 1:30.0 | and regularly taking to the stage on Broadway and now in London's West End to exercise his performing muscles. |
| 1:36.0 | He says, I like telling stories that are about good people who make mistakes or decent behavior in a world filled with indecency. |
| 1:44.0 | I don't proclaim to be an arbiter of good taste or conduct, I'm not a saint, but I like to tell stories that are clean and good that your kids can see. |
| 1:53.0 | And so welcome, Kelsey Grammer. |
| 1:55.0 | Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe winner. |
| 1:58.0 | When I introduce you as somebody who is not just the actor who is such a household face, but also as a producer and a writer and a director, |
| 2:07.0 | do you see all those things equally or is there one that sort of stands out as what you consider to be your main job? |
... |
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