Culture
Kelsey Grammer’s Daughter Greer Talks About a Long Estrangement of 12 Years
Greer Grammer Shares That She Didn’t Know Her Dad Kelsey Grammer Before Her 16
One of Kelsey Grammer’s daughters is setting the record straight. Greer Grammer—whose mother is Barrie Buckner, Grammer’s ex—said that people generally assume that she is a nepo baby, but that is far from being the truth of her life.
“The biggest misconception about me and I never know how to talk about it other than to just trauma dump, is that I didn’t know my dad until I was 16,” Greer told a recent episode of the Pretty Basic podcast.
“My dad left when I was 4, and then I didn’t meet him again until I was 16.”
The 33-year-old pointed out that she saw him only one time at a Blockbuster when she was 11 but “ran away” because she was not prepared to talk. They actually reconnected when she was 16 at a Christmas tree lot in Malibu where she was doing community service hours.
Greer Grammer Shares the Time She Got Back in Touch with Dad Kelsey Grammer at Age 16
“He actually came up to me and said, ‘Are you Greer?'” And I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ Then he goes, ‘I’m—.’ And I was like, ‘I know who you are. Duh,'” she remembered. “So he gave me his phone number and we went to lunch the following week and that’s how it kind of started our relationship.”
The former Awkward star recalled the moment when Kelsey, together with his then-wife Camille Grammer and their daughter Mason, 23, walked into the Christmas tree lot and everyone suddenly turned their faces to her. Besides that, the couple also share a son Jude, 20.
Greer Grammar Shares Her Experience of Meeting Kelsey Grammer Again Without Feeling “Shame”
After one of her bosses asked if she wanted to leave, Greer decided not to go—”God bless being a teenager,” she said with a smile—and stay. “I just remember having that moment when I thought, ‘No, I’m OK to stay here. If anyone is gonna feel uncomfortable in this situation or feel like they need to leave, it won’t be me. I didn’t do anything,'” she recalled. “I was a kid. If anyone is gonna feel shame in this situation or guilt or be weird, it won’t be me,” she added.
Greer also remembered that her dad looked like he was worried when he came up to her, and she added, “I think I hugged him and he asked questions.”
Greer Grammer Reminisces the Time Before She Reconnected With Kelsey Grammer
Her relationship with her father didn’t really start to blossom until she was 16, but The Last Summer actress still said that she has a few faint memories of her dad from her early years.
“I remember going to Frasier at one point and being a baby—not a baby, but like, 3 probably,” she said, laughing that she didn’t understand why the actors had to keep doing their scenes again and again. “Then I think my mom took me out of the audience because I was loud.”
Greer also remembered going to a party at her dad’s house and him coming to see her preschool production of The Wizard of Oz, and she added, “He also remembers ’cause we’ve talked about it.”
Greer Grammer Shares About Father Kelsey Grammer Who Was Estranged From Her
Greer Grammer, the daughter of the famous TV series “Frasier” actor Kelsey Grammer, opened up that she only met her father when she was 16 years old. She remembered their first meeting after a long time at a Christmas tree lot, where her father Kelsey came up to her, thus leading to the relationship they both revived. Now 33 years old, Greer confessed that she is “blocking out” the memory of her dad leaving when she was only four years of age.
Though they are very close now, Kelsey, 70, admitted to People magazine that he “neglected a couple of the kids in my life, especially the first two.” He is now attempting to make it right, and he says, “I’m still their dad, so you can always have [a] chance to show up.” Greer, as a symbol of their restored relationship, has a guest role on the Frasier reboot.
A closer look at Kelsey Grammer’s eight children
Spencer Grammer
After Kelsey Grammer tied the knot with dance instructor Doreen Alderman in 1982, the couple became parents to a daughter named Spencer who was born on Oct. 9, 1983. Although Kelsey and Doreen didn’t separate until 1990, they went their separate ways shortly after the arrival of Spencer, a circumstance that the actor has since admitted had a significant impact on his parenting.
“I’ve been guilty of neglecting some of my kids, especially the first two,” Kelsey confessed to People magazine in May 2025. “I’m working on it a little bit by trying to compensate for it. I’m still their father, so you always have a chance to show up.”
Things To Know About Spencer Grammer’s Personal Life and Career
From 2011 to 2017, Spencer Grammer was married to firefighter James Hesketh. She and James have a son named Emmett who was born in October 2011. An actress and singer mainly recognized for her roles in Greek and Rick and Morty, where she voices Summer, Spencer accomplished a dream she had always wanted to play with her real father in the 2022 holiday film The 12 Days of Christmas Eve. “Working with my dad made it a special moment for me,” she told E! News. “I’ve always wanted to collaborate with him.”
Spencer lost her former stepfather Dr. Bill Skinner, who had been in her life since she was 5 years old, in July 2024. She posted on Instagram that he “has been there for me my whole life…no matter what I needed,” always listening, helping and making her feel like his child.
Greer Grammer
Kandace Greer Grammer was born on February 15, 1992, to Kelsey Grammer and makeup artist Barrie Buckner. Their relationship didn’t last long, as the Cheers star married Leigh-Anne Csuhany that September—a marriage that was later annulled in 1993.
“I generally had a pretty normal childhood,” Greer told Glamour in 2015. “There were times when I would think if people wanted to be my friend because they really liked me or because they knew my dad.”
After Kelsey has a change of heart and admits neglecting her, Greer also went down the same path as her father. The Awkward star, who was in an episode of the Paramount+ Frasier reboot in 2024, shared with Nylon in 2014, “I remember going to the tapings of Frasier when I was around 4. I knew I was at my dad’s work, but I didn’t realize that he was acting for TV. It wasn’t until the second grade that it really dawned on me.”
The Best Advice Greer Grammer Got From Dad Kelsey
When asked about the most valuable career advice that her father, a person of fame, has given to her, Greer told Stage Buddy in 2021, “He gives me a lot of advice but the best was one time he told me to make sure that I act because I love it. He said, ‘Act for the right reasons.'”
She also mentioned that they had an in-depth and emotional industry chat one time. “He was very honest with me, and he opened up to me about the way Hollywood which can be very unfair and cruel to women. He said, ‘Don’t let it get to you.’ I still can’t help but getting emotional when I think of it,” said Greer.
Impact of Kelsey and Camille’s Separation on Mason Grammer
Kelsey tied the knot with Camille Donatacci in 1997, and they became parents to Mason Grammer through a surrogate on Oct. 24, 2001. Their divorce in 2010 was, among other things, a storyline on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where Camille was one of the original cast members.
Mason, a model and Emerson College graduate, opened up about the fact that her connection with Kelsey was affected by the divorce but they have since made up their relationship. “It was the hardest time of my life,” she told Genlux, according to Page Six. “My dad wasn’t around…my mom was having such a tough time. I turned into my little brother’s mom. Everyone was very tense. My parents still don’t talk.”
Anyway, Camille, who is now married to David Meyer, has been flattering her ex by saying that Mason is “a really good student” and “she must have gotten that from [her] dad.”
Jude Grammer
On Aug. 28, 2004, Kelsey and Camille had a son Jude Grammer, also by a surrogate.
The youngest of Kelsey’s children who are not minors, is a more private person than his older sisters, however, in 2018, Camille told Page Six
that Jude “wants to be like his dad, an actor.”
But aside from that, she commented, “Right now, he really doesn’t want to be in the pictures. He hides. If I happen to get a photo of him, then I am very fortunate!”
Faith Grammer
On February 25, 2011, just a fortnight after the divorce with Camille was settled, Kelsey tied the knot with the flight attendant, Kayte Walsh. Their daughter, Faith Evangeline Elisa Grammer, came into the world on July 13, 2012. At first, the couple went public with the news that they were going to have twins but later on, they revealed that “unfortunately, we lost the little boy shortly after.”
Subsequently, Kelsey launched the Faith American Brewery in the scenic upstate New York. The brewery is named partially after his daughter. “My daughter’s name is Faith, but there is also ‘action in faith’. Faith is something you have to work for,” he told Fox Business. “We fought for this beautiful child in our lives, and she’s our first child. And the concept of America is still something I am willing to fight for.”
Gabriel Grammer
Kelsey and Kayte became parents to Kelsey Gabriel Elias Grammer on July 22, 2014, and the dad of the year didn’t hesitate to point out they were definitely going to have more children. “I can’t fathom not having more kids because the whole thing has been fantastic,” Mason—who has a 25-year age gap with his third wife—told People when Gabriel was only five weeks old. “The moment [he] was born, Kayte and I were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do another one.’”
The actor, born Allen Kelsey Grammer, also joked that they would keep up the tradition of calling their children by their middle names. “It’s just such an intense pleasure to be so close to life like this,” he raved. “It just makes you so hopeful and joyful. I have never felt more alive or more peacefully happy than when I am in the midst of life with these young people. I really like it.”
James Grammer
The couple that is Kayte and Kelsey didn’t stop at just two children. They welcomed another son to their family on Nov. 14, 2016. Auden James Grammer was born.
Before the arrival of the new baby, Kelsey’s older children were fully on board with the expanding family. “My dad’s always wanted a huge family,” Greer told Entertainment Tonight two months before James came. “He and Kayte are such great parents together, and they have all these little ones, and they love them so much. They’re the cutest kids, Faith and Gabe. I’m excited for them to have another one, another shocking baby.”
Mason has also talked about their dad’s change in the way he disciplines over the years and she told Closer in 2018 that Kelsey “becomes a better dad after every child,” and she went on to say, “When I grew up, he was very strict. Now he’s more relaxed with my younger siblings. It’s a blast!”
Christopher Grammer
Kelsey Grammer disclosed on the Pod Meets World podcast in October 2025 that he and wife Kayte Walsh had a fourth child with whom they had kept the news a secret, thereby increasing his total number of children to eight.
“The news of the birth of our fourth child just went by without us making any big noise, so it has just become a family of eight children now,” the septuagenarian informed, indicating that the infant had come into the world only a few days ago.
“It was like three days ago, the moment Christopher came into the family.”
