Kelsey Grammer says he nearly lost faith after beloved sister’s horrific murder

“Frasier” actor Kelsey Grammer opened up about how he “cursed God” following the murder of his sister, but love — and a “reawakening” that happened while promoting the film “Jesus Revolution” — restored his faith. 

In the wake of his younger sister’s brutal murder nearly 50 years ago, the 70-year-old Emmy-winning actor said his grief was so intense it shattered what little remained of his faith.

“When the deaths occurred, starting with my grandfather, after which my dad — and I didn’t really know my dad — after which when Karen was killed, hanging on to what I’d all the time seen as a type of gift of religion, became … hole faith,” Grammer told Fox News Digital. “It wasn’t working. I assumed, ‘Why did I lose this? What happened?’ I felt betrayed by it. And, so, I type of cursed God at one point and said, ‘You know, hey, I’d reasonably you didn’t hassle to assist at this point because, truthfully, this was colossal. I’m not interested.’”

Grammer, best known for his role as Dr Frasier Crane in “Frasier” and “Cheers”, was only 20 years old and studying theatre at Juilliard in 1975 when his sister, Karen, 18, was kidnapped outside the Red Lobster where she worked in Colorado Springs. The men who abducted her intended to rob the restaurant but as a substitute took Karen, raped her repeatedly, and stabbed her to death.

Her killer, Freddie Glenn, was convicted in 1976 of Karen’s murder and the murders of two other people. Although the Colorado Supreme Court later ruled that Glenn could seek parole after 30 years, Grammer has twice opposed his release.

“He just thinks it has 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 said. “And although this book has helped release an incredible deal of that feeling, there’s a type of … well, ‘We’re on this together, Freddie, you and me.’ And … if I do not get free, you’re not either.”

Grammer shared these reflections in his memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, which honours his sister’s life and recounts the devastating impact of her loss.

“She was my best friend and the most effective person I knew,” Grammer wrote in a letter to the parole board in 2009. “She had a lot to live for. I loved my sister, Karen. I miss her. I miss her in my bones. I used to be her big brother. I used to be alleged to protect her — I couldn’t. I even have never gotten over it … It very nearly destroyed me.”

Karen’s murder was not the primary tragedy Grammer experienced. At age 13, his father was shot and killed during a house invasion. Following Karen’s death, his two half-brothers, Stephen and Billy, died in a scuba diving accident within the Virgin Islands.

In his darkest moments, Grammer said he turned away from God, but he now urges others facing tragedy to not follow the identical path.

“I might advise people to step away from that. If I could, I might say, reasonably than turn away from God, turn toward Him in these situations,” he said. “Because it doesn’t [mean] God’s out to get you. But it seems like that sometimes. And that was very hard.”

Over time, Grammer said, love and family helped rebuild the religion he had nearly lost. His wife, Kayte Walsh, and their three children — including a daughter named Faith — brought healing to his life.

“By virtue of writing this book, [my faith] has gained a bit of ground. By virtue of meeting Kayte, by virtue of living through what we’ve lived through as well, has fortified my faith,” he said.

Grammar played Pastor Chuck Smith within the faith-based film “Jesus Revolution.” The actor told the Los Angeles Times that the most important “reawakening” of his faith got here while promoting the 2023 film, which dramatizes the “Jesus Movement” of the Nineteen Seventies.

“I don’t exit proselytizing, but I’m not going to disclaim my faith; I’m not going to disclaim Jesus Christ,” Grammer said.

“Jesus Revolution” went on to be a big box office success; produced on a $15 million budget, the film grossed over $51.7 million domestically, greater than tripling its production costs.

The award-winning actor has openly discussed his beliefs lately and the way the road back to God wasn’t exactly easy. 

“I’ve had hiccups,” he told USA Today of his faith journey. “I’ve had some tragic times. I even have wrestled with those and worked my way through them: sometimes rejecting faith, sometimes rejecting God even, in a period of being pretty offended about it, like, ‘Where were you?’ That type of thing. But I even have come to terms with it and have found great peace in my faith and in Jesus. It’s not cavalier — Jesus made a difference in my life. That’s nothing I’ll apologize for.”

In 2024 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” he shared how, as a boy, he “would walk […] hand-in-hand with the thought of God’s Word, and God, and Jesus, and stuff like that,” but “difficult things” in his life prompted him to walk away from the religion. 

“I cursed God and said, ‘No thanks. I do not need your help. I’d reasonably just handle this alone if that is the way in which it’ll be.’”

“And eventually, I just type of got back heading in the right direction and met — re-met Jesus — I suppose you may say, and I carry Him with me, and it has been an incredible thing.”