Most 70-year-olds are easing into a quieter chapter. Kelsey Grammer is learning newborn sleep schedules again.
With four kids still under his roof — including a 2-month-old son — Grammer’s life today looks far more like a bustling family sitcom than anything you’d expect from a man who’s played an Emmy-winning snob for decades. When we connect over Zoom, the Frasier star talks about this chapter with the kind of clarity that only comes from living several lives before this one.
“When you have kids earlier in life, you’re still trying to survive,” he says, recalling his early days of waiting tables to make ends meet (and scarfing the occasional half-eaten steak left behind by a customer). “The kids pay a little bit of a price for that.” He pauses before adding, “You’re just more available now. And I don’t have to figure out who I am in terms of my career.”
Grammer is the father of eight kids: Spencer, 42, Greer, 33, Mason, 24, Jude, 21, Faith, 13, Gabriel, 11, James, 9, and baby Christopher. He’s the first to admit that the pressure of trying to build a career ate into his home life when he was a young father. These days, he has the flexibility to be more present. That shows up in the smallest rituals: his sons climbing into the little jacuzzi off his bedroom every night so they can talk for 20 minutes before bed, for example. There are bigger milestones too — like taking teenager Faith on her first real trip with just the two of them.
