"I have come to terms with it and have found great peace in my faith and Jesus," said Grammer.
When Kelsey Grammer's 18-year-old sister was killed in 1975, he battled with an indescribable sense of guilt and self-destruction in the aftermath. The actor was just 20 when Karen Elisa was murdered by serial killer Freddie Lee Glenn Jr. “I’ll speak to the straight of it. That was the time when I could not forgive myself for my sister’s death,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017. It was a dark time for the actor and his alcohol and drug addiction spiraled at the height of his career success.
The Fraser star said he felt miserable for not having been there for his sister to protect her. “It’s hard to explain. It’s not rational. But it happens anyway,” he said. “I know a lot of people who’ve lost their siblings and blame themselves.” The “biggest lesson” that he took away from the family heartbreak was that “every one of us is going to experience some terrible loss. I just got a big dose,” he said. “For every story you hear that’s tragic, there’s another that’s equally tragic or more so. I think you come to look at it as part of life,” he added.
The Emmy and Golden Globe winner relied on his faith to help him cope and his belief in God never wavered for long. "I've had hiccups. I've had some tragic times. I have wrestled with those and worked my way through them…Sometimes rejecting faith, sometimes rejecting God even, in a period of being pretty angry about it, like, 'Where were you?' That kind of thing. But I have come to terms with it and have found great peace in my faith and Jesus. It's not cavalier – Jesus made a difference in my life. That's not anything I'll apologize for,” he revealed, according to USA TODAY.
The actor also found healing with the help of his family. He married British flight attendant, Kayte Walsh, in 2011. “This lovely young woman lit up my world and changed my heart, which was a bit calloused and hardened against a lot of things. And we are good, and I feel young and alive,” he said of his wife at the time.
The 68-year-old confessed that the pain of losing his sibling in such a horrifying way still haunts him to this day. He told PEOPLE in 2022, "I've been writing a book actually about some of the past, and one sentence comes to mind," Grammer said, adding, "'It was ancient grief that is forever fresh.' It's always with you'." Grammer has lost several people in his life including his father who was shot and killed by a deranged man trespassing on his property. Grammer was just 13 years old back then. He also lost his two half brothers — Billy and Stephen Grammer in a suspected shark attack.
Despite the unbelievable tragedies the actor loves spending time with his wife and enjoying life as a dad to three young kids. "I take a moment out every morning for a moment of gratitude," he said. "There's a great Doobie Brothers line that Michael McDonald wrote that goes, 'You'll always have a chance to give up. So why do it now?'" he added.
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References:
https://people.com/tv/the-murder-of-kelsey-grammers-18-year-old-sister-in-1975-still-haunts-him/
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/04/kelsey-grammer-sister-death-finding-neverland
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Pascal Le Segretain
