Kelsey Grammer has revealed how he struggled to keep his faith after being confronted with multiple tragedies from a young age.
The 61-year-old actor, who is best known for playing Dr Frasier Crane in the smash-hit comedy series Cheers and Frasier (not forgetting his work on The Simpsons where he voices Sideshow Bob), has endured unfathomable grief in his life, with the first incident occurring when he was just a teenager.
His estranged father was shot and killed when he was 13 and shortly after his sister Karen was abducted and murdered in 1975.
Just five years later, his two half-brothers were killed in a freak scuba-diving accident. Grammer was hit with more grief in 2012 when his wife lost their son before birth.
"I had a very spiritual youth. Then I had the challenges of a couple of really big tragedies," Grammer told The Radio Times.
Asked if his faith ever wavered, Grammer said: "I probably lost it. There was a time when I abandoned the effort to find a reason to be alive.
"But things happened that said to me, 'Get up, Bambi.' I guess that's my raison d'etre: 'Go on, get up Bambi."'
Grammer took home more than $1 million per episode of Fraiser
Coping with all this tragedy left Grammer battling substance abuse problems, but has been sober since a stint in rehab several years ago.
"If I hadn't had adversity, I wouldn't be where I am," he added.
The actor, who was most recently seen in Neighbours 2 playing Chloe Grace Moretz's dad, has had three short-lived marriages – to a stripper, a Playboy model and a dance instructor.
In 2011 he walked down the aisle for a fourth time to a British air hostess who is 26 years his junior. The couple live with their two children, Faith, and Gabriel.
Kelsey Grammer with his fourth wife Kayte Walsh
Grammer has received a string of nominations and wins for major awards during his successful career and has presumably has very little space left on his mantlepiece.
He has received a staggering fourteen individual Emmy Award nominations for four different television shows (plus an additional two as part of the Frasier ensemble) and has won five times, that's in addition to winning three Golden Globe Awards.
He's also carried that success onto the stage and won two Tony Award nominations, the first was in 2010, for La Cage Aux Folles whene he won Best Leading Actor in a Musical and again this year when he got the nod for the revival of The Colour Purple.
