Kelsey Grammer reveals new details of sister's tragic murder and his grief: 'Spend time on the life you lost'
Kelsey Grammer is sharing new details about the tragic murder of his beloved sister nearly 50 years ago, the grief he endured and his hope to help others heal.
The "Cheers" and "Frasier" star spent years filling homes with laughter while, in real life, he says he was drowning in unbearable memories. Grammer recently spoke with ABC News' Diane Sawyer about his new book, "Karen: A Brother Remembers," available for purchase May 6, which tells the story of his younger sister Karen Grammer's kidnapping and murder at the age of 18.
After his sister's death, Kelsey Grammer told Sawyer that, in his grief, he battled cocaine and alcohol at the height of his television career.
"It's remarkable that I survived some of that," he said. "I might be asleep on one of the benches on the 'Cheers' set, and then when it was my turn I'd just stand up and go do it."
The actor told Sawyer that growing up in a home with a loving mother and an absent father, Karen Grammer had been a constant reassuring presence for him.
"I don't know why I spent so much time feeling like I was coming up short," Kelsey Grammer said. "I always felt like I was missing it, just a little bit behind them -- behind the game, not quite up to it. And she always reassured me I was doing a good job, that I was a good brother."
"I was older, she was bolder," he added.
In the book, Kelsey Grammar remembers his sister as "an Oreo cookie dipped in an ice cold Coca-Cola."
"She was a poem, a light, fun, innocent, and wise," he writes.
Kelsey Grammer was 20 years old and making his way as an actor in 1975 when he said he received a knock on his door from a police officer who told him his sister had been murdered.
After years of trying to block out the details of his sister's death, Kelsey Grammer chose to face the details with a journey back to Colorado that he documents in his book.
"I had horrors in my mind that were craving the truth, what I knew happened, and to feel her steps, her final steps, to be in her, to be with her," he said, speaking with Sawyer.
"The mission is to heal. But the mission is also to help heal other people," he added. "And by introducing them to Karen, it is my hope that they're reintroducing themselves to the loved ones they've lost in the same way."
In July 1975, Karen Grammer, then 18, was living in Colorado when she was abducted by several men looking to rob the restaurant where she worked. According to police, the men later promised to release her but instead drove her to a mobile home park where one of them stabbed her multiple times, leaving her to die. Karen Grammer attempted to run to a nearby home for help, but collapsed before she could reach the doorbell, police said.
One of the men, Freddie Glenn, was later convicted of her murder in 1976. He is currently serving a life sentence.
Kelsey Grammer describes in his book returning to the scenes of the crime, including the Red Lobster restaurant where his sister worked, the place where police said she was stabbed and the spot she crawled to looking for help before she died.
"I stood where I could not be so many years ago," he writes, describing the visit to his sister's place of death. "And I cried out loud like a child whose hope had died."
The actor told Sawyer he plans to be at Glenn's future parole hearings to advocate for him to remain there, as he has done previously.
Kelsey Grammer said he was inspired to move on from the grief surrounding his sister's death and instead write about her life.
"I spent a long time on her death and very little on her life. And that's what I hope people will take -- spend time on the life you lost. Spend time on the life you shared rather than the day you lost it," he told Sawyer.
"Karen: A Brother Remembers" hits bookshelves nationwide on May 6.
