For some, forgiveness is difficult to give, but Kelsey Grammer has found it in his heart to show mercy to his sister’s murderer. “I have learned to forgive,” affirms the former Frasier star, 62. “I have even told the guy I forgive him, although I don’t advocate for his freedom. I don’t think that’s reasonable.”

In 1975, Kelsey’s sister Karen, 18, was kidnapped and murdered by serial killer Freddie Glenn, who remains in jail. “I miss her,” Kelsey said to BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “I miss her in my bones. She was my best friend and the
best person I knew. She had so much to live for.”

kelsey grammer

Kelsey’s sister, Karen, and her murderer.

“I believe the gift of life and freedom he took from my sister precludes him from ever being allowed to enjoy that gift for himself. He took her future from her with no regard for her whatsoever. He assumed he had a right to do so. He assumed she was his property, and that the precious gift God gave her was his to take,” he told Vanity Fair.

Sadly, Kelsey has experienced a lot of death in his lifetime. His father was killed during a home invasion when Kelsey was just 13 years old. His sister, Karen, was raped and murdered only a few years later. Then, his two half-brothers, Stephen and Billy, both died in a scuba-diving accident in the Virgin Islands. “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,” Kelsey said in an interview with UK’s i News. “It’s just part of life. Maybe I learned a little earlier than most, but it’s just the way it goes.”

kelsey grammer new baby boy

Kelsey with his wife, Kayte Walsh, and two of his children.

The actor has developed an outlook on life that has helped him get through all the tragedy he has experienced. “Every one of us is going to experience some terrible loss. I just got a big dose. For every story you hear that’s tragic, there’s another that’s equally tragic or more so. I think you come to look at it as part of life.”