Kelsey Grammer has worn many hats and played many roles in his long career. The Cheers and Frasier star has also had his struggles. In 1989, Grammer was arrested for DUI in Van Nuys, California, where he served 14 days of a 30-day sentence. In 1996 Grammer cheated death after crashing his car while under the influence, and subsequently ended up in the Betty Ford Clinic for his substance abuse.
Grammer also married a stripper, got arrested for cocaine possession, and was accused of sexual misconduct. Grammer truly had a rough decade. However, after the accident that almost killed him, Grammer cleaned up his act and leaned into his lost faith.
In an interview, Grammer said: “You have to own up to your own personal choices and mine were severely flawed. Yet for all the self-examination and chastising I embarked on, when it came to drawing a line in the sand, that car accident was very definitely a signal for me. I got to a place where I was out of control, where something had to happen because every day I was asking God to help me stop drinking and, well, I guess he did, in a very rough way.”
Now years later, Grammer is a man of faith, having starred in the sleeper hit “Jesus Revolution,” but in an example of art imitating life, he is also the owner of a brewery. Much like Sam “Mayday” Malone owned a bar as a recovering alcoholic in Cheers, Grammer is an owner of a microbrew in upstate New York.
The 68-year-old Grammer has seen more than a lifetime’s worth of tragedy, as his sister and father were both murdered, and both of his half brothers died in a scuba diving accident. While Grammer openly admits all of these events contributed to his addiction, he has emerged from the other side, and he is ready to start his next chapter as a brewery owner.
His new microbrew, “Faith American,” is being brewed in upstate New York in the brewery he founded in 2015. Grammer named the beer after his daughter Faith and his love of America but also credits his renewed faith in God.
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In an interview talking about his new beer, Grammer spoke of his faith journey: “There’s no question that’s out. Well, as my wife has said, you just have to declare God as your partner.”
As is always the case when you try to declare faith or lean into God, Grammer faced pushback from distributors. However, he refused to capitulate. He said: “I was trying to sell beer to a distributor in California. He goes, ‘Well, the first thing you do is change the name.'” He refused and recently has been promoting his new ales at the hottest spots in the Hamptons.
Despite his success as an actor and now a business owner, Grammer is quick to point out where his best work now lies. He said: “I don’t walk around going like, you know, ‘Praise the Lord,’ pointing up every time I walk in the door. But I sense it in my heart that I have a partnership with something bigger than, you know, the guy on the street. For some, you know … walk right up and go, ‘Bless you … God bless you in Jesus’ name.’ And to put their head on my head, you know? We’ll share a little prayer together. And it’s wonderful because I’m certainly open to that. And the invitation stands for anybody of faith to step right up.”
It’s been an amazing and inspirational transformation from a tortured artist flirting with death to a man of God ready and willing to spread the good word. Now Kelsey Grammer is going to spread good beer as well, and the world is a better place for it.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video