:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/kelsey-grammer-kirstie-alley-051325-7d8cfa323bb84151b69baaa25e60393b.jpg "Kelsey Grammer Shares the 1 Piece of Advice Late 'Cheers' Costar Kirstie Alley Gave Him Before a Big Gig (1)")
NEED TO KNOW
- Kelsey Grammer opened up about late Cheers costar Kirstie Alley on this week's Jamie Kern Lima Show
- While discussing his new book, he recalled a piece of advice Alley gave him back in the day
- Grammer has frequently shared fond memories of his friend, who died in 2022
In the 1980s, everyone knew their names, but it turns out Cheers stars Kirstie Alley and Kelsey Grammer still battled their own nerves sometimes.
Speaking on the Tuesday, May 13, episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show while promoting his book Karen: A Brother Remembers, Grammer, 70, reminisced about his late costar, revealing the piece of advice she gave him ahead of his first Tonight Show appearance.
"Kirstie Alley said, 'Oh just go on and play a character. Just make up something and just have fun.' And I thought, 'Okay, I get it.' "
"She was kinda like that," he continued. "She was always ... entertaining. Kirstie [kept] a lot of hats in the air. And she was such, such a wonderful person."
However, Grammer didn't necessarily take her advice.
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"When she said that, I thought to myself, 'I don't think I have the energy to be able to do that,' " he admitted. "I think I just have to be able to be honest. So that's what I've always done, I've been as honest as I can be. Once in a while I'll watch an appearance and think, 'Oh, well, did I do that right?' It doesn't really matter 'cause ... I didn't disassemble at least. I didn't have to cover myself in any way. So it's easier if there's a specific question I'm not comfortable with, I won't answer it."
Grammer and Alley costarred together on Cheers from her debut in 1987 until the series ended in 1993.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(794x189:796x191):format(webp)/kelsey-grammer-and-kirstie-alley_01-022123-065d8a563c1949718099cb7afb802742.jpg "Kelsey Grammer Shares the 1 Piece of Advice Late 'Cheers' Costar Kirstie Alley Gave Him Before a Big Gig (4)")
Following Alley's death at age 71 on Dec. 5, 2022, Grammer remembered his colleague and friend on an episode of The Rachael Ray Show.
"I loved Kirstie," said Grammer. "She was always beautiful. She just had that thing about her. She was a radiant human being and that came through her."
Added Grammer: "She knew how to love. She was so honest in her emotions all the time."
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/kelsey-grammer-jamie-kern-lima-show-051325-79a65985ae7e40e38ad63f81e862e55a.jpg "Kelsey Grammer Shares the 1 Piece of Advice Late 'Cheers' Costar Kirstie Alley Gave Him Before a Big Gig (5)")
He recalled a time when he "got in trouble with the law" and Alley was there to support him.
"She showed up," he said. "She was one of the only ones who really showed up ... to be supportive and that was magnificent."
Grammer went on to remember Alley as "a wonderful person. She always made me laugh. Everything she did made me giggle. The first time I went to her house there were lemurs living on the property and I thought, only in Kirstie world."
