Kelsey Grammer remembers Cheers co-star Kirstie Alley as “one of thefunniest people I’d ever known,” someone who “always made me laugh.”
They worked on the NBC hit together for six seasons in the late ’80s and early’90s, after Alley stepped in as lead actress in 1987, following the departureof Shelley Long. Alley’s character, Rebecca Howe, was the bar manager and alove interest of bar owner Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson.
“I always felt close to her. She was very supportive of me back in _Cheers_days when I was having a bit of an issue with drugs and the law, so to speak,”Grammer tells Yahoo Entertainment before chuckling. “But other than that, Ijust got a kick out of her.”
Grammer, who became a cast member at the beginning of the third season, sayshe immediately sensed that Alley’s addition was a win.
“When she joined Cheers , I thought to myself, ‘Well, this is a show. It’sgonna become more popular than it was before,'” Grammer says. “She came in,and she had such energy and such beauty as well, natural qualities that madeher a lovely person as well as a nice girl to look at, you know, which wasstill something that we cared about then. Without embarrassment, yeah, Ithought she was a really beautiful woman and she was delightful along with it.And that’s a rare combination. And she just always, always kept things aliveand bubbly and creative.”
The Cheers cast, including clockwise from left, John Ratzenberger, KelseyGrammer, Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, George Wendt, Kirstie Alley and RheaPerlman, in 1987. (Photo: Everett Collection)
Grammer laughs as he cites just one memorable moment with Alley.
“She once said to me… oh gosh, it’s inappropriate,” he says, “but she saidthat she dedicated herself to spending as much money on flowers each week onceshe stopped doing something else that wasn’t so good for her .”
In fact, the show had performed strongly after its first season. It was partof NBC’s original Must-See TV lineup, pulling in millions of viewers eachweek.
Grammer, whose latest gig is hosting Stage Access, a streaming servicededicated to the performing arts, thinks people connected with Cheers formany reasons.
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“It was a celebration of the chosen family you have and it happened to be setin a bar, which was a familiar scene for a lot of Americans at the time,” hesays. “It was good natured, though, and it was headed by Ted Danson—such anaffable guy.”
Cheers_ cast members John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, Ted Danson, GeorgeWendt, Rhea Perlman and Kirstie Alley gather as Danson is inducted into theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. (Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage)”src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/dYFSWkqdDH3QqQBVz3VLnA-/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA-/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2022-12/0c5ec150-766e-11ed-bbd6-807e65496b13″ class=”caas-img”/>
Cheers cast members John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, Ted Danson, GeorgeWendt, Rhea Perlman and Kirstie Alley gather as Danson is inducted into theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. (Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage)
When that sitcom ended, Grammer continued to play Dr. Frasier Crane on_Cheers_ spin-off, Frasier. The critically lauded show ran just as long as_Cheers_ : 11 seasons, from 1993 to 2004.
He’s set to play him once again in an upcoming revival which is currentlycasting. The first rehearsal is scheduled for Feb. 1. Becoming Frasier againwasn’t difficult for the actor who famously became the first to earn Emmynominations for playing the same character on three different shows: Frasier, Cheers and another TV comedies, wings. It took home four trophies forlead actor on Frasier.
“He’s like putting on a favorite old jacket, you know, it’s really easy for meto slide back into it,” the Tony winner says. “It was a fully fleshed outcharacterization on my part, and I walked a lot of the same streets with him,you know, for a long time. So he’s always in there somewhere, ready to popout.”
Before that, Grammer can be seen in Lifetime Christmas movie The 12 Days ofChristmas Eve alongside his daughter Spencer, and _Christmas in Paradise_which is available on Prime Video, as well as hosting the holiday content onStage Access.