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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Frances Kindon

Tragedies of Frasier stars - family murdered and half-brother eaten by sharks

After years of speculation, the return of TV sitcom Frasier has finally been confirmed.

The US show last aired 18 years ago, but is now set to be revived on streaming service Paramount+.

Lead star Kelsey Grammer, 67, is set to reprise his role as psychiatrist and radio host Dr Frasier Crane, with Deadline reporting that he was a driving force behind the reboot.

The actor - who played the same character in Cheers before Frasier launched in 1993 - will also serve as executive producer on the series.

Pictured left to right: John Mahoney as Martin Crane, David Hyde Pierce as Dr. Niles Crane, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, Moose as Eddie, Peri Gilpin as Roz Doyle and Jane Leeves as Daphne Moon (NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

The original series was set in Seattle, but this one will involve new characters and a different city, with old stars expected to make guest appearances.

There's no word yet on which - if any - of his co-stars will rejoin him. But what happened to the cast once the cameras stopped rolling?

From overcoming grief caused by tragedy after tragedy to the pair who are so close they live next door to each other, here's what came next for the stars...

Frasier Crane - Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer will be reprising his role as Frasier Crane (NBC via Getty Images)

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Before Frasier launched, Kelsey had already endured a life filled with unimaginable tragedy.

His grandfather died from cancer aged 63 when Kelsey was 12, and two years later his dad was shot dead by a psychopath who lured him outside of his house at night by setting fire to his car.

But the man, Arthur Niles, was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric facility.

In 1975, Kelsey's 18-year-old sister Karen was brutally raped, stabbed to death and dumped in a trailer park in Colorado.

It was Kelsey, then 20, who identified her body and said her death 'very nearly destroyed him'.

Kelsey's sister was brutally murdered when she was just 18 (Splash News)
Kelsey played Frasier in Cheers before getting a spin-off show (NBC via Getty Images)

Tragedy struck again just five years later when his half-brothers Stephen and Billy Grammer died scuba diving off the coast of St Thomas in June 1980.

Stephen suffered an embolism after surfacing too quickly, but no one knows what happened to Billy. Rescuers believe he was eaten by sharks.

And in 2001, Kelsey’s close friend and the former producer of Frasier, David Angel, died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Angel was traveling with his wife, Lynn, on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.

Asked how he learned to cope with such enormous grief, Kelsey told iNews in 2017: "I just put [that pain] where it is: in the past. But it's a pain that you can always stumble into again – it's with you 24/7, especially in the case of tragic death, and there have been a few of those.

"It's just part of life. Maybe I learned a little earlier than most, but it's just the way it goes."

The star has been married four times and has seven children with three women.

Kelsey is married to former air hostess Kayte Walsh (FilmMagic)

He is currently married to British air steward Kayte Grammer and was previously married to ex wife Camille Grammer of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame.

It was during his marriage to Camille that the actor suffered a sudden heart attack while paddleboarding on vacation in Hawaii in 2008.

While his representatives announced it was a mild heart attack, Kelsey later revealed that his heart had completely stopped and he was just moments away from death.

He later told Oprah Winfrey that his near death experience "was a good event in my life" because it forced him change his lifestyle and confront the tragedies that had marked his life.

Professionally, he voiced Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons until 2017 and starred in blockbusters including X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Transformers: The Age of Extinction.

Niles Crane - David Hyde Pierce

David Hyde Pierce played Niles, Frasier's little brother (CBS via Getty Images)

David Hyde Pierce played Frasier's younger brother who was hopelessly in love with their dad's housekeeper Daphne.

Now aged 62, he continues to be a big star on screen and stage with roles in Spamalot and Curtains - for which he won a Tony Award - and as Frank Praddy in CBS's The Good Wife.

He came out as gay in 2007, three years after the show ended, and married his long-term love - writer, director and producer Brian Hargrove in 2008.

Daphne Moon - Jane Leeves

Niles was in love with Daphne for most of the show (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Jane Leeves played dad Martin Crane's Mancunian physiotherapist and live-in house keeper who finally married Niles at the end of the series.

In real life, the 60 year old has daughter Isabella and a son Finn with her TV executive husband, Marshall Coben.

And she remains best friends with Peri Gilpin - who played Roz Doyle. Not only do they live next door to each other in Los Angeles, but Peri was also in the delivery room at Isabella's birth and is her godmother.

Jane chose David Hyde Pierce and the late John Mahoney (Martin Crane) to be Finn's godfathers.

Jane remains close to David and even chose him to be godfather to her child (Getty Images)

Since Frasier ended, Jane's career has continued to thrive with roles in comedy Hot in Cleveland between 2010 and 2015 and medical drama The Resident, where she plays orthapaedic surgeon Kit Voss.

Jane previously insisted she wouldn't quit the show in favour of a Frasier reboot.

"I have no idea, but I won't be leaving The Resident to do that if it happens," Leeves told Entertainment Weekly.

"There's a lot of pieces that have to come together to make [the revival] happen."

Roz Doyle - Peri Gilpin

Peri Gilpin pictured as Roz (CBS via Getty Images)

Peri portrayed Roz - the no-nonsense producer of Frasier's radio show, and has since gone on to win a Gracie Award for her role in ABC Family drama Make It or Break it and star in the TV series Medium, Desperate Housewives and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

After years of failed IVF, she and husband Christian Vincent welcomed twins via a surrogate in May 2004 after Kelsey and his ex-wife Camille did the same.

She was previously quoted as saying: "Everyone that goes through that fertility dance has to sorta say, 'Where's the line?'

Peri went on to appear in a slew of other shows (FilmMagic)
It is not know if Peri will return for the reboot (Reuters)

"There were times when I didn't want to hear 'No' again. It's hard on you, it's hard on your relationship... It's so painful. You think, 'Should I go through this again?'

"We were fortunate because our friends Kelsey and Camille knew a surrogate mum and had gone through the process and had a great experience and there was another couple in our lives... that had as well and they were both very supportive, and helped us think in those terms.

"I was raised to have an open mind and I could never envision my future without children, and they're here and I'm so grateful."

She and best friend Jane ran a production company together and had plans to launch the US version of the Vicar of Dibley with Kirstie Alley in the lead role.

Martin Crane - John Mahoney

Martin Crane was played by Blackpool-born John Mahoney (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Blackpool-born John died in 2018 aged 77 from complications caused by throat cancer.

The actor had just been given the all-clear four years after first being diagnosed, but friends said a 'routine procedure' led to the fragile star's death.

Martin's on-screen dog Eddie, played by Jack Russell terrier Moose, also died in 2006.

John never married or had children amid fear of having a unhappy marriage like his parents.

In 2002, he said "I was never very mature in my relationships with women. First sign of conflict, I was gone. Wouldn't discuss it, because I was afraid it would lead to an argument."

What other shows would you like to see make a comeback? Share your thoughts in the comments section below...

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