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Dr. Frasier Winslow Crane is a fictional character played by Kelsey Grammer in the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier.

Grammer played Frasier for twenty years, tying for the longest running character on prime-time American television with James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon on the show Gunsmoke. Grammer won Emmy Award nominations for portraying Crane on three different NBC shows, including a 1992 guest appearance on Wings.

Personality

One episode said that Frasier was born in 1952, while in another his birthday was said to be the same as one of Queen Elizabeth's children.

It is revealed on Cheers that Frasier married at a young age to Nannett Gooseman then they divorced after nine months. Nannett later became a well known children's singer.

Dr. Crane is very passionate about psychiatry. A staunch Freudian, he strongly believes that there "are no accidents" and that every action carries with it a meaningful and unconscious subtext. He is a big fan of analyzing dreams, as well.

Crane is well-to-do, with expensive tastes and a snobbish, uptight demeanor. His large ego and Harvard and Oxford education makes him extremely confident in the advice he gives on his radio show.

In his private life, he meddles in others' relationships, much to the chagrin of his family and friends. Though he can often be overbearing and annoying, Dr. Crane's pompous bearing hides an inner desire to please everyone around him.

As a child he was frequently an outcast, so his adult life has been marked by a strong desire to be included and loved by everyone. In spite of this, Crane's personal life has been quite unstable, leading some to argue he does not always practice what he preaches.

Frasier is known for speaking several different languages, including French, German, and Spanish.

Family and friends

Frasier's character was introduced on Cheers in 1984 as a psychiatrist friend upon whom waitress Diane Chambers has called to help Sam Malone combat his recent relapse into active alcoholism. It is soon revealed that Frasier is also Diane's new boyfriend. They would get engaged, though the relationship ended when Diane left Frasier at the altar; in spite of this, Frasier became a regular at the bar. He would go on to marry Lilith Sternin and have a son, Fredrick Gaylord Crane, in 1989. Frasier and Lilith divorced in 1993 with Lilith gaining primary custody of Fredrick.

Frasier's father and brother were introduced in Frasier, having never been mentioned or seen during the run of Cheers. His father is Martin Crane. (In an episode of Cheers, Frasier told his friends at the bar that his father was a dead scientist: this has been attributed to a bad relationship with his father at the time.) Frasier's younger brother is fellow psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane, with whom he shared a lot of personality traits as well as a sibling rivalry.

After Martin–a Seattle police officer–was shot in the line of duty, his injury required him to move in with Frasier, who had moved back to Seattle to start a new life as the host of a radio talk program; these events began the series Frasier in 1993. The arrangement was tense at first, but father and son soon reached an accommodation after Frasier hired Daphne Moon as a live-in physical therapist for his father.

At work, Frasier's producer was Roz Doyle, who keeps him in line both professionally and personally; though her frequent short-term relationships make Frasier seem positively committed in comparison.

Frasier and Niles' mother, Dr. Hester Crane, died years earlier. It is claimed that Hester named her sons after her two favorite lab rats.

After 11 years in Seattle, Frasier took a job offer in San Francisco. However, he eventually went to Chicago, because a woman he fell in love with had moved back there, and he wanted to continue the relationship if possible.

• Cheers characters
• Frasier characters
• Sitcom characters
• Fictional psychiatrists