Latest news with #FreddieGlenn
News.com.au
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Frasier star Kelsey Grammer opens up about unspeakable tragedy
Kelsey Grammer has seen his share of tragedy in his life, but it was one moment of unspeakable loss that nearly broke his faith in God. The Emmy-winning Frasier star opened up about the spiritual toll he endured after the brutal murder of his sister Karen in 1975. Grammer penned a memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers to honour the life of his sister and told Fox News Digital how his latest project restored his faith in God. 'When the deaths occurred, starting with my grandfather, and then my dad — and I didn't really know my dad — and then when Karen was killed, hanging on to what I'd always seen as a kind of gift of faith, became … hollow faith,' Grammer explained. 'It wasn't working. I thought, 'Why did I lose this? What happened?' I felt betrayed by it. And, so, I sort of cursed God at one point and said, 'You know, hey, I'd rather you didn't bother to help at this point because, honestly, this was colossal. I'm not interested.'' In Grammer's memoir, he recounted the deeply personal and tragic story of his late sister, who was murdered at the age of 18. He was just 20 years old and studying theatre at Juilliard in New York when his younger sister, a recent high school graduate, moved to Colorado Springs. She was kidnapped by several men who had intended to rob a Red Lobster where she worked. They instead kidnapped Karen, sexually abused her repeatedly and ultimately stabbed her to death. In 1976, Freddie Glenn was convicted of killing Karen Grammer and two other victims from the previous year. The Supreme Court ruled Glenn could seek parole after 30 years, but the sitcom star has twice helped block Glenn's attempts at parole as justice for his sister and the other victims' families. 'He just thinks it's been long enough and, so, when do I get out of prison? So, when am I done with mine then? Because I'm still stuck,' Grammer told Fox News Digital. 'And although this book has helped release a great deal of that feeling, there is a kind of … well, 'We're in this together, Freddie, you and me.' And … if I don't get free, you're not either.' At a parole hearing in 2009, Grammer wrote a letter to the court that said, '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. 'I was her big brother. I was supposed to protect her — I could not. I have never gotten over it. … It very nearly destroyed me.' Before his sister's death, the 70-year-old star first experienced loss at the age of 13 when his father was shot and killed during a home invasion. After the death of Karen, Grammer's two half-brothers, Stephen and Billy, died in a scuba diving accident in the Virgin Islands. Grammer admitted he turned away from God in his darkest moments, but he encouraged others to do the opposite. 'I would advise people to step away from that. If I could, I would say, rather than turn away from God, turn toward Him in these situations,' he told Fox News Digital. 'Because it isn't like God's out to get you. But it feels like that sometimes. And that was very hard.' Although that sense of brokenness followed Grammer for years, his faith slowly began to mend through love and family. 'By virtue of writing this book, [my faith] has gained a little ground. By virtue of meeting Kayte, by virtue of living through what we've lived through as well, has fortified my faith,' Grammer said, referring to wife Kayte Walsh. The couple share three children and named their first daughter Faith. Grammer, one of TV's highest paid actors ever thanks to his hit sitcom Frasier, has continued to find peace through reflection, especially when he wrote his memoir. The Cheers star told Fox News Digital what inspired him to write this memoir 50 years after his sister's death. 'I was instructed through a medium that Karen wanted me to tell her story. … I had a session with her in which she brought me Karen's wishes,' Grammer said. 'I'm very, very happy with the book. I'm happy that I did it. I feel lighter that I actually was able to accomplish it because I carried around a lot of woe, a lot of grief.' In his memoir, Grammer recounted the memories of his sister and how her loss affected him and his family. As Grammer courageously confronted the pain of losing a loved one to senseless violence, he celebrated his late sister's life in the most profound way. When Fox News Digital asked Grammer one memory that stood out to him and brought him comfort when he thought about Karen, he shared an emotional moment when he bonded with his beloved sister at a young age. 'That's one thing I say … she was an Oreo cookie dipped in ice-cold Coca-Cola. I think of that moment. … There was a moment when we were sitting there. … We were both sitting on a green couch in our living room in Florida, and then she thought she would dip an Oreo cookie in Coca-Cola. … It was fantastic.' In the end, Grammer didn't speak of closure as a destination but as a quiet shift in the way grief and love coexist. 'I don't think closure is possible when you've suffered a tragic loss in your life. The look for me of closure would be that, somewhere between the grief that is constant and is sometimes as alive as the moment it first took place, will be balanced in time by a fondness for the person that you loved and a memory that will at least stand face-to-face on the same level as the grief does.'
Metro
02-05-2025
- Metro
Kelsey Grammer reveals sister's harrowing death after being stabbed 42 times
Kelsey Grammer has opened up about his sister's harrowing bid for help after she was stabbed 42 times. Karen Grammer's body was discovered in Colorado in 1975, at the age of 18, just weeks before her 19th birthday. In a new book in honor of his sibling, titled Karen: A Brother Remembers, the Frasier actor – who was 20 at the time of her death – unpacked their close bond, and what he remembered from her last days. According to People Magazine, she had been living in Colorado Springs, but was planning to return home to Florida after the Fourth of July. Kelsey, who last spoke to her on June 30, 1975, raised the alarm with local authorities shortly after he didn't hear from her again, and then learned of her horrific final moments. It emerged that, hours after their conversation, she went to the Red Lobster she worked at that evening to meet a friend – when Freddie Glenn and two others pulled up, planning to rob the restaurant. Spotting Karen, the men pulled out a gun and took her to Freddie's car, who tied her up before they drove her to an apartment and raped her. Moving her to an alleyway, he stabbed her 42 times and left her for dead. Despite the extensive injuries, she found the strength to crawl '400ft' to get help at a nearby trailer park, where she succumbed to her condition. 'In my imaginings, the man who found Karen at his doorstep was a 'good Samaritan' of sorts,' Kelsey wrote, via the outlet. 'I stand corrected and disappointed that that man did not attempt to help her but simply called the police after leaving her body as it lay…eyes vacant, staring at the sky, her legs still on the steps, her head on the ground and a clenched fist above her head with a single finger pointing – somewhere or nowhere – just pointing. 'She had been on her knees, crawling her way. Seeking help with her last ounce of life. The coroner noted that through a gaping wound in her neck, he could see all the way into Karen's lung. I had been right in saying he almost decapitated her. 'Freddie Glenn punched holes in my sister's body with unimaginable brutality.' The attacker is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of her murder – and of other killings in the area. More Trending His next parole appeal is coming up in two years, and he has has been denied parole four times so far. Speaking to People, the author shared that he struggled with including the brutality of her death, but is using the pages as 'ammunition to keep Freddie Glenn in jail'. 'You don't want to eat yourself to pieces because you can't forgive somebody,' he added. 'But it's hard to forgive a person who consciously decided they wanted to murder somebody you love. 'This wasn't just some temperance issue with him. It was deliberate. I can give you forgiveness, but you're not going to get out of paying for it.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Robbie Williams shares rare kiss with wife Ayda Williams after sexless marriage confession MORE: I Kissed A Girl singer Jill Sobule dies age 66 in house fire MORE: Tom Cruise breathed in his own carbon dioxide filming terrifying stunt
