when does school start, next week? >> mm-hmm. >> you're going to have fun. thank you for coming and talking to us about this. all the time we have for little riley. good on her for showing up and having a full conversation about business. everybody knows his name. >> sometimes it's hey, frasier, but more often than not, hey, kelsey. >> he's the star ot not one but two successful comedies of all time. >> kelsey grammer is a guy that's been trying to save the world because he couldn't save some things in his own life. >> his highs. >> cocaine was too much for me. brought me to my knees eventually. >> his lows and what he really thinks of his ex-wife. >> the real housewives was my parting gift to her. >> kelsey grammer, an extraordinary revealing hour. what a life you've had. do you feel lucky to have ended up. >> i felt lucky all through life.

blessed in some way, even in the darkest days. kelsey grammer is one of the most talked about, one of the most beloved faces in american television history. i'm pleased to say he joins me now. you are really, you're part of the american television consciousness for so long. you must walk around the street and everyone goes, hey, kelsey. everyone must think they know you. >> those things do happen. those events do happen. >> do you like the mass attention you still get or do you say i've done it and i just want to go and -- >> it's always pleasant. it's flattering. it's always meant in an optimistic kind of affectionate way. so i take it that way and return the compliment actually. >> do you enjoy the status of television icon? >> sure. i've be a fool to say i didn't. >> i would. let's be honest with you.

i would. better than the alternative. but to spend your time at the top for decades, very, very unusual to have that kind of length on any sort of television. what do you think was your secret. why you? >> i'm not comparing myself to dick van dyke, but i think there's a characteristic that can help you survive in television which is a kind of an af ability, and a vulnerability. you allow yourself to be human. >> the odd thing about you -- and i mean this in the best sense, i don't think i've ever had an american television star sit here who openly admits to being a republican. >> oh, well, you know. >> you're that guy. >> i'm that guy. >> i think musicians -- i don't think i've ever had a tv person. normally the world of television is just infused with liberals. and most movie stars, i'd say. >> i think you're right about that. i'm a bit of a rebel.

i don't tend to warm too well to people that tell me how i'm supposed to think. so my life in hollywood, i'm afraid i was destined to be a republican. >> how does it go down with all your famous friends? is it lonely out there? >> pretty lonely, but they seem to tolerate me somehow, because i can at least state myself eloquently and without -- without actually kind of assuming the veneer of what they assume is what a republican is is some kind of nasty, strange villain that, you know, should be vilified and hated. >> it's obvious that has become the way republicanism is now perceived in this country. you know, you are either extremely with them, with all that appears to entail, or you're completely against them. but they're very divisive. to say you're a republican now divides people immediately. didn't used to be like that. you go back 30 years, it wasn't like that. >> the tone of political assessment has changed. honestly, the battle for the hearts and the minds of the

american people has taken on a bit more of a violent and narrow approach. i mean, you have to actually make sure that nobody swallows anything of what you are in order to ensure that you get their vote. so it's very easy to understand why you'd want to make somebody hateful. >> are you sympathetic to the tea party element of the republicans? or is that a step too far? >> i'm sympathetic to some of the principles, but i'm not sure that the tea party has behavioral problems other than the ones that have been identified by people who are inimical to them. i'm not sure they say anything i would object to. i've just been told they're lunatics. >> nothing they say be objectionable to you? >> lower taxes are a good idea.

always have. so that's what i know they talk about. >> are you as violently opposed to, say, gay marriage as so many of the tea party candidates? >> i don't think the tea party is -- >> most of them are, yeah. >> against gay marriage. >> against it, yeah. actively against same-sex marriage. >> then i wouldn't sign on to that. >> so there are issues there that you wouldn't agree with. >> absolutely, yeah. >> because you played a famous gay character. >> i'm afraid so. >> you'd be effectively banning yourself. >> no, i've always believed -- i guess i'm more libertarian in that way. i think marriage is up to two people that love each other. if you find a church that you want to get married in, go right ahead. or if you don't believe in god, but see, in my mind, the state of marriage is something that's been kind of endorsed by the idea that it's a sacrament within the context of a faith, of a religious faith. the word "marriage" comes out of our religious side of our experience and our society and our history. so i tend to think the government shouldn't be involved in anyway. >> we'll come to your expertise

in the world of marriage a little later. if only you'd married a good british girl earlier, all this could have been saved. this trouble you've had. >> exactly. >> talk politics. what do you think of barack obama? despite your allegiances, were you excited to see first black president? and did you buy into all the hope, the audacity that came with it? >> i think barack obama's election is a milestone for this country and a wonderful thing. the hope thing, i don't think hope can be given by a politician or by a vote. i think that comes from god. and it's not a policy. there's no political cachet in hope except it may get some votes, but there's no direction in it. >> is that right? >> i think it was a bit of a scam. >> don't presidents inspire their people? >> inspire, certainly. >> isn't that the same as hope in a way? >> well, you're offering them something that's a contradiction

to what you might think of the other guy. but hope itself is not a policy. it never has been. there's no policy in hope. we can all hope. we can hope for free. >> what do you think's gone wrong with america in terms of its business model? why is america tanking economically in the way that it is, do you think? what is the simple answer? >> i would say greed. greed that is at a profound level. we vote based upon what money will get for it. democrats and republicans. >> what kind of politician do you gravitate to? who do you like? >> right now i'm not gravitating toward a lot of people right now. i wouldn't actually say i've thrown my hat in the ring with anybody else at this point. >> the republican ring is, you know, we're getting to the stage where zigtss have to be taken. >> right. >> and the election year begins in a couple of months.

someone has to take on barack obama. there's a clear split developing on the republican side between the tea party element, whether rick perry or michele bachmann or sarah palin or somebody and the moderates like mitt romney, you know, there's a choice to be made by the party, isn't there? which way they're going to go, which type of politician they think can best beat obama. >> right. >> if you were advising them, who do you think is more electable? >> if i were advising them, i'd tell them that they must inspire people to assume that they have a right to make their own decisions about what dreams they wish to dream. and the dream as big that's possibly can. >> what was your dream when you started out? >> what was my dream? just to be a working actor. >> really? >> yeah. >> nothing more glamorous? >> no, just wanted to be a working actor. >> have you fulfilled that? >> yeah, i got a few more extras than i counted on. >> you got all the superstardom. >> i got the fame. >> in terms of your acting aspirations, have you ticked all the boxes you wanted to tick? >> not quite. >> what's left on the acting

block that you'd like to do? >> i started out wanting to be a dramatic actor, ended up being a comedic actor, now i've gone back to being a dramatic actor now. i have shakespeare stuff i want to play. >> if you have one role left to play, what would it be? >> one role left to play. >> i can award you any role and you can have any cast you like, the greatest performance of your life, what would it be? >> isn't that funny? >> what's the role? >> what's the role? >> they say your character in "boss" is king lear-esque. you look like king lear. >> the character doesn't have a beard, at least not this season. i just grew the beard because kate likes it. what one role, gosh, i don't know. but probably a villain. maybe a tiago. tiago is an interesting character because it's the character that has the most words of any character in all of

shakespeare. almost every sentence is not i have a pentameter, i am the pentameter and a half. it's very dense, very full language. what is most appealing about playing the role is for as evil as he is, he is so well liked by the audience. >> do all actors in the end quite fancy playing evil? is it just more fun being evil? >> sure. >> it is, isn't it? >> yeah, no, it's a ball. but you always want it to be in context because honestly virtue should win. >> eventually. >> eventually, yes. >> let's take a break and i want to take you back to when the acting all started, then get into the phenomenon of "frasier" there's no other way to describe it. you're a phenomenon, kelsey. what is that? it's you! it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready?

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if i didn't know better, i'd say that you've been in this even before me. the only thing you're missing is heft. here i am. >> what do you want from me? >> you'll know when it comes up. >> kelsey grammer's new series "boss." people see you as a comic actor. you were born in the virgin islands. you grew up in florida. at 18 you leave the family in florida and go to new york, the juilliard school. very prestigious acting school. you did do the hard yards of theatrical training, didn't you, to be a serious actor, didn't you? >> for a couple of years, then they kicked me out. >> who was your inspiration then? >> oh, gosh, laurence olivier and gregory peck, jimmy stewart, john wayne. >> the greats. >> the greats. >> did you ever imagine at that stage when you were at the juilliard, you were looking around all these talented people, presumably. did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams or maybe nightmares the level of fame that you would one day get through acting? >> no. it's funny. there was something -- i did believe that i was going to be successful as an actor. and i did realize that if you're successful as an actor, it might

come along with fringe benefits, i guess, or peripheral anxieties. but that it was possible that i would have a very rewarding, successful and fulfilling life creatively. and if i just stuck to it and worked really hard and didn't doubt myself, which, of course, i did doubt myself. >> don't all actors doubt themselves? >> and didn't always work really hard. i think you have to. >> every actor i've met. they tend to suffer -- everyone says they have big egos. my experience is most actors have chronic insecurity paranoia bouts throughout their career. >> that's sort of the flip side of narcissism. >> it is. ego is actually driven by fear. >> despair. >> almost fear because it's such a precarious business. >> what's interesting is -- i read this off of the bulletin board going when i was to juilliard. and someone said it requires a

resilient ego to survive as an actor. i thought that's a really great way of putting it because at the end the best work has no ego. so it's very, very hard to walk that kind of a tightrope and live that kind of a life because in order to get yourself in front of somebody every day and be rejected or approved of, it requires extraordinary resilience. and you must show up for that kind of thing and be willing to risk being told you're no good. >> stage acting is kind of great because you go out every night and you get instant reaction from an audience. it's normally pretty good. a good play or whatever it may be, a good musical, they're cheering you, and you go off and feel fantastic. the worst thing about television i would think is the terrible wait.

you make all this stuff. i've made shows and they take months to make. then there's this terrible buildup. in the back of your mind all you're thinking is this could tank, and then what? >> well, i've had that experience, too. >> talk about shows that went well. let's have a clip from a certain show that did do rather well. >> right down from there is the bed and bass hotel. >> yes one of the finer fish-themed hotels. >> a hole in the ice with this and then start fishing? >> it's called an auger. >> well, imagine my embarrassment. >> that was "frasier" from paramount television. "frasier" like "cheers" they were phenomenal shows, popular, global shows. when you first started making them, did you get an inkling early on, this is going to be huge? this is going to change my life? or did it just happen? >> well, i'll tell you a story that david hyde pierce has repeated.

after we shot the pilot, we got a standing ovation and everything went away. and we all felt pretty good about it. he said to me, so what do you think? what does this mean? and i said, for you? it means you're going to buy a really nice house. and then he said, well, what does it mean for you? it means i'm probably going to buy a couple. you do have a sense -- you know when you know. you can tell. and there's a beauty about releasing it to the public to just saying, okay, here it is. love it or hate it. we did our best. and you know, honestly, that's all i've done my whole life in my career, is just done my best. sometimes it fell short. and sometimes i've been really happy with it. >> are you good at analyzing yourself? you played this famous psychologist. probably the most famous in the world. are you any good at doing that yourself? >> i'm probably okay at it. >> what have you worked out about kelsey grammer? >> kelsey grammer is a guy who

cares about people that has been trying to save the world because he couldn't save some things in his own life. and i've now actually gotten to a point -- and this is a very good time in my life, where i've forgiven myself for my shortcomings and for thins i used to look on as failures. and i am really luxuriating in a kind of sense of approbation about my whole life and my love and where my days are. >> let's take another break. i don't want to take you out of this utopian thing. >> that's all right. >> i want to go back to some of the slightly darker times and see where you've come from. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national.

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back with my special guest kelsey grammer. when i researched your life for this interview, i could almost at times barely believe what i was reading about the stuff that's happened to you, the really bad stuff. most people go through life and they have a bit of trauma along the way. i apologize in advance for going through this in almost like a list form, but when i read that your parents divorced when you were 2. your father, who you had barely seen since then, was shot and killed. in 1975 your younger sister karen was abducted, raped and

murdered. she was 18. in 1980 your younger twin half-brothers died in a scuba diving accident. in 2001, your close friend, producer of "frasier" david angelo, died in the 9/11 attacks. i got to the end of this, and i didn't know, to be honest with you, how you had even come through that. i don't know how any human being comes through that kind of thing. i mean, put it in some kind of overall context for me, to be hit by so much tragedy. >> yeah, well, we touched on it a little bit before, though i was being general. and one that's really important is my granddad died, too, when i was 12. he raised me. that was the -- that was the big impact until my sister was killed, of course. that one just seemed like an absurd topping on the situation that i thought was just impossible. and it was that incident that sort of propelled me into a -- at least a phase. i mean, i lost faith. i lost myself. when i was a boy -- it's sort of

like that old walt whitman poem about everything a boy saw he became. i had a love affair with the universe. with a blade of grass, with a rising sun, went surfing, i used to surf all the time when i was a kid. and my life was a joy. it was a joyful experience. it was full of sort of affirmation and encouragement, and i loved being alive. and i was consciously in love with being alive. and then these deaths took place. you know, these deaths occurred. and when i lost gordon, i went very quiet for a long time. that's my granddad. and i didn't really speak to anybody for a couple of months. >> he'd been the father figure. >> he was my father, yeah, basically. and when i finally sat one night -- this is in ft. lauderdale where we had moved. and i got this overwhelming

sense that i was just going to be alone for the rest of my life. which made me kind of sad. and when i was 18, i packed it all up and went to juilliard to find my fortune, whatever. but it was that year, two years later, actually, when karen was killed, that, you know, sent me into kind of a tailspin. and it was a horrible nightmare for her. i mean, it was. the three young men that abducted her, raped her repeatedly, said that she would, you know, maybe they'd let her go. you know, this, this and more documentation about what happened. and i being the big brother i'd always been thought that i had some responsibility for that. and that haunted me for, well, at least 20 years, that notion. >> it makes so much more sense to me, the kind of slightly chaotic relationships that you

had and the kind of -- the descent into drugs and alcohol and so on, it all makes much more sense when you understand what you've been through. >> yeah. >> it doesn't surprise me. >> yeah. i think after the success came, you know, robin williams had that great saying about saying, you know, cocaine's god's way of telling you you're making too much money. >> you trained with him at the juilliard, didn't you? >> yeah, we were together in school. but once success came -- i think what really compounded my difficulties in some of that was simply that i didn't feel like i was worth it. that i didn't deserve that kind of success, that kind of reward, that kind of -- well, what you say about me, you know, this popular face on television. i'm okay with it now. i really am. >> it's probably because you came to deal with so many of the

demons? >> there were so much loathing about it. and there was also the intoxicating enervating charge of getting high and having fun. there was even the kind of mythology of being a hollywood actor. you know, errol flynn and some of the big drinkers of the past. >> is it mythological or if you think about it is there actually a reality to this. you were earning squillions, you had the fast cars and the beautiful women. for a while, it must be fun, despite everything else. >> absolutely. i would be a fool to tell you i wasn't having a good time. >> i talk to people going through this and it was terrible. no, it wasn't. if it was that bad, you wouldn't be doing it. >> cocaine was too much for me. brought me to my knees eventually. honestly that's what happened. >> what was the wake-up moment for you? >> there were several along the way. where i'd sit there and say, you got to stop. this has got to stop.

but it's hard to do that with cocaine. it's really -- it's insidious and it's wonderful, that's the problem. >> how did you manage to stop in the end? >> actually, i did go to betty ford and that helped. and the best thing that they said, actually, was how's it been working for you? that's what i thought. and then they said, well, you spend a month here and maybe you'll figure a way to do things a little differently. honestly that was the turning point in terms of me being able to take charge of my life again. because i do -- i do all kinds of things. i still have a wonderful, fun kind of approach to life. i do not -- i don't do cocaine any more. >> do you drink alcohol? >> i have a drink sometimes, yeah. >> you can drink in moderation? >> yes. but be ever mindful that you had a relationship with it in the past that can cause some trouble. so you have to, you know, be careful. >> we'll take another break and come back and talk about how you got on your feet and just dabble slightly in marriage and divorce.

>> okay. >> because you are something of an expert in this area, kelsey. what do you got? restrained driver in a motor vehicle. sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson.

back with kelsey grammer. let's talk love, marriage and divorce. >> all right. >> i don't know what order you

do it in. but you've already explained in a very, i think, profound way why you think you drifted into, i guess what turned out to be inappropriate relationships. but at the time maybe didn't seem so inappropriate. did you struggle for a long time to have any meaningful relationship because of all the drugs, the partying and everything else? was it all inconsequential at the time? how did it feel to you? >> it's interesting. when karen died, there was a girl i was very, very fond of. and i knew that there was one night when we sat watching a movie together. her name was jill. and i just -- this daughter and this mother hugged in the movie and i just broke down in tears. it was about six months after karen had died. jill just looked at me and said, you have to stop this. you have to stop. you can't keep doing this. i said i can't. i knew then that that was not going to happen. i honestly thought that that was probably the best relationship i

had up until very recently. but from that time on, i spent, oh, maybe about eight years not really settling down with anybody, kind of having, you know, peripheral relationships with people. i was mostly focused on acting, trying to get a job, doing some work. and then when i came to new york, i met a girl. i was 28 years old. and i thought, i'm tired of this. i actually want to settle down and i want to have a child. i'd like to start a family. so i met my first wife. >> doreen. >> doreen. it went pretty poorly. >> this lasted -- well. >> it lasted a year. but it took a long time to get divorced, which is interesting. about a five-year divorce, i think. >> you had a great daughter, spencer. >> a fantastic child spencer. >> now it was your second marriage that really starts -- this starts to really deteriorate. you married the stripper lee ann. >> shawani. >> in 1992. that lasted a year. >> that was a year. >> lots of allegations of abuse,

she fired a gun at you. there was talk of divorce. she attempted suicide. this was "the national enquirer" for real. >> oh, it was horrible, yeah. it was horrible. >> did she fire a gun at you? >> that was another night. that was before i married her. >> you married her after she shot at you? >> yeah, this is -- >> was that not a warning sign? >> it was certainly a shot across the bow. >> i'm thinking twice about the marriage. >> so that fell apart pretty quickly. then i met my third wife. and what's funny is i didn't see the -- i didn't see the similarities at first, but all the same impulses came up about, oh, i could really help her. you know -- >> this is camille? >> yeah, i can save her. give her some sort of refuge. i think in the long run -- i mean, it's difficult to have anybody hear this, but i think it wasn't really a relationship based upon love.

it was a relationship based upon appearances. and it was good for me to basically, you know, at least try to settle down and have a normal relationship. and so i sort of dedicated myself to that without realizing that i needed to have a profound love to really pull that off. and so -- >> and what was bizarre about the whole thing was it was all being played out on television. >> everything's played out on television. >> she was in "the real housewives of beverly hills." you would pop in and out. the whole unraveling of that marriage. >> right. >> i imagine for you to always run away from that kind of attention. >> right. >> on your private life.

this must have been like hell, wasn't it? >> i have to tell you, "the real housewives" was my parting gift to her. whether or not it worked out out well for her doesn't matter. it was my way of saying, look, you always wanted to be famous. here you go. everybody knows that reality shows are not a particularly great way to be famous, but you still get the attention and get all the things that come along for the ride, which i think she was most interested in. that was the gift. i knew when it came up, we'd be saying good-bye. i remember having one conversation where i said, well, don't worry about it. after the first season you can do the divorced wives of beverly hills next season. >> you weren't really joking. >> no, i wasn't. >> the strange thing is that at one stage quite early on in the marriage, you said this. you said that camille was the most profound, the most rewarding, the most honest relationship of your life and that it was love at first sight for you. i suppose the obvious question throughout that whole period were you a spontaneous incurable romantic, were you charging around looking for love and quickly thinking you had found it? >> no, i think what i was trying to do was sell it to myself. you know, knowing that i didn't

really have many more chances at something like that in my mind. and i thought that this was the kind of relationship i should try to have. and it just -- there was the still small voice in the back of my head saying, this isn't going to work. but i stuck to it. >> how are things between you now? because you've got two children. it's been, to put it mildly, messy, and you pretty well kept your dignified counsel. but how are things? >> not good. >> do you have any dialogue with her? >> we have no contact. there have been some very unfortunate incidents, public incidents in front of the children, stuff like that we'd like to -- i'd like to avoid. there have been some attacks on kate, which aren't particularly interesting, but i guess, you know, people say all kinds of things. but none of those are true. and we've had some difficult moments. the only thing that i've ever

really wanted was to try to work out something that would be nice for the kids, but -- >> how is your relationship with them? >> oh, it's great. >> do you get plenty of access? >> well, they're doing their best to actually make that difficult for me right now. here's the thing, listen. camille asked for a divorce really almost the first day we were married. it stayed that way for a long time. i give a piece of advice to women who say i want a divorce as some sort of tactic. because if you say i want a divorce enough times, you're going to get one. >> do you think she married you because you were kelsey grammer tv icon? >> i think she married me because i was frasier. >> really? simple as that. >> i think it was frasier. he had this great wonderful life. he was stylish and -- >> great personality. >> and all that stuff. just a little gay. and he was famous. you know. kelsey grammer was a different story. you got home and kelsey grammer was somebody different.

and you know, she said quite a few ugly things. and it's not so bad that she says them publicly, but i know what happens is she's actually saying them in front of the kids at home. >> what's been the worst thing, the most hurtful thing she said about you? >> well, you know, i haven't been keeping track of everything. >> if there's one you thing about, what's the thing that really stung you? what do you hate being called the most? what's the most unfair labeling? >> she once said that i didn't want my daughter. that pissed me off. >> yeah, well, it would, wouldn't it? >> yeah. >> because the one thing that i sense with you is you're a very committed father. >> yeah. >> you've been a fairly hopeless husband. >> yes. >> from time to time with the various wives and some have been pretty useless wives, but you throughout it have been a conscientious, loving father. >> yeah. >> so that thing must really hurt. >> the thing that hurt me the

most that hurt both kate and me, actually, was the thing about our lost -- the child we lost. >> because kate's pregnant. >> something about it being karma. >> see, that's just a vicious thing to say. >> that's just disgusting. so i guess that's all i have to say. >> let's have a break. let's make things happier here. let's bring things up to current day and to your new wife kate. you finally went british. as i said at the start of this interview, if you'd just gone british earlier, kelsey, you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation. [ mom ] scooter? your father loves your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. you all think i'm just an old slipper? am i a good boy? would a good boy do this? i am running with scissors. >> the brilliant "cheers," of course, from paramount, again. "cheers" is appropriate really because we've come to that moment in the interview where thins take a happy turn. you're on a flight to new york from england. where are you flying? when you meet kate. >> when i met kate. i was on a flight to england. >> to england from new york. >> from los angeles. >> from los angeles. >> yeah.

>> and a virgin atlantic flight. >> virgin atlantic flight. >> she's a stewardess on one of richard branson's beautiful stewardesses. >> yes. >> i've been on many flights. and there have been many beautiful stewardesses, particularly on virgin atlantic, none has given me a second look. what was it about you on this flight? what magic did you weave? >> well, you know what -- >> because kate is a beautiful young lady, as anyone can see here. >> i'll have to set the stage a little bit. i'd had a heart attack three years ago. it was after the heart attack, about a month after the heart attack, my mother died. and i had just a horrible day with the ex, threatening divorce again and screaming about how it was all over. and i thought, my mother just died. what's wrong with you? and i suddenly realized -- and i've said this before to a press person and they actually said -- i'll say it first. i said to myself in my head, i looked at my life and i thought, is this the last story you want your life to tell? and i said no. now, granted, it took me another

two years. but about a year and a half after that moment, camille started seeing somebody. and i even encouraged it. i thought, you know what? go find your happiness because you are not happy with me. that's where it was. and i was doing that show. i got this phone call. are you interested in playing george in "la cage aux folles"? come to england and see what you think of the production. and i knew the minute i got that phone call, that my life was going to change completely and that i was -- that something else was happening. and when i walked through l.a.x, i spotted a girl. >> like a movie script. >> it was amazing. i spotted a girl who just looked to me to be magnificent. and it wasn't just that she was attractive or that she had, you know, obvious assets. there was a warmth, a glow about

her that i was drawn to. and i thought, boy, i hope she's on my flight. when we got on the plane, she sort of walked down the other aisle and i went, she's there. a hope she's working on my side of the plane. there was a moment when we sort of smiled at each other and i thought, i've got talk to her. and so we started talking. >> did she know who you were? >> i think she knew who i was but she didn't know who i am. i -- i found her so charming and warm and interesting and lovely, and i guess there was a sort of freshness about my persona at the time that was attractive enough for her to think it might be worth meeting for a cup of coffee. as i walked down through the lobby of hotel i was in, i turned and looked at the bar and i thought, that's just a pickup join. that's not the right place for

us to have this moment. and so i -- i walked to the middle of street, it was christmas, it was magnificent. there were lights everywhere. there was a nip in the air. and this vision comes up from the tube stop in front of harvey nickels and puts on a little lipstick and i thought, my god she's the cutest thing i've ever seen. i said, listen, i want to take a walk, it doesn't feel right to be in there. we talk a walk over to hyde park and they has a christmas fair thing going on and there was a ferris wheel. >> i know that fair. >> we got on the ferris wheel. i looked at her and i thought, i have -- i have to go back for one second -- for last several years i had been saying to one particular friend of mine, i said i don't care if i ever have sex again, i just want to be kissed. i want somebody to kiss me, just once again in my life, and mean it. and i looked at her in that

moment and i thought, i'm going to try. >> don't leave it there. >> i told you i wouldn't cry. she's going like -- i so i leaned in and kissed her and and we've been together ever since. >> one of most romantic things i've ever heard. you're making me go. >> listen, the snow started to fall as we walked across the street. it was insane, like all of the planets danced together in a segregated charm on our behalf. it's messy, it's difficult since then. kate was uncertain. i was trying to do something, some noble gesture to make the destruction of the previous marriage go easier somehow, and that was a mistake. that was just a mistake. i should have walked home and said we're done, finally have everything you wanted, and i found a new life. >> it takes a strong woman to put up with all of the mess that

was around your life. >> absolutely. >> and to stick with it and end up marrying you, fourth wife, this is -- you're not like an easy sell to a family. >> no. >> what is it about her, do you think that enabled her to deal with all of this? >> she believes in love. >> i hope you still fly virgin atlantic, if richard branson hears this he'll make a movie out of this. >> we went to england to visit her family and our new nice who was born to kate's brother and sister-in-law. i love the new family i'm part of. i lament the fact i'm not allowed to see my children as much as i'd like to, but we're going to iron that out. it's onward and upward. >> you know what they say, true love will conquer all, i think you've found true love. >> i have. >> let's have a little break. let's come back for a last segment. left talk about "boss" for a moment. i can't tell you much more about the romance, it's going to finish me off. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse.

britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson.

back with kelsey grammer. think i we both recovered now, kelsie, into the break. let's talk about "boss" for a moment. it's a great role for you, isn't

it? a proper, serious, meaty acting role. are you really enjoying it? >> it's been -- it was a presumptive joy to go to work every day. the stuff that the fellow that wrote it has given me to say has been extraordinary. i think people will be quite -- quite startled by it. i hope they don't go through some kind of emotional upset because it's not frasier. it's clearly not. it's just a completely different adventure, and he's a violent, vile, fascinating -- >> charismatic. >> loving, charismatic creature. >> do you like him or not? >> i love him. i love his fight. he's a fighter. he's a courageous son of a bitch, he won't quit. >> isn't that you in the end? >> absolutely. >> you're a fighter. you've been through stuff that you've finished off lots of people. here you are, as happy as i've certainly seen you and you've done it in the end you fought to where you got to. >> you don't quit.

you quit some things. you realize that path is done. i just think that's prudent. but you give it your best shot always. if things don't turn out in your favor, something else will. >> quite a life you've had. >> yeah. >> do you feel lucky to have ended up where you are? >> i felt lucky all through life. blessed in some way, even in the darkest days. a friend of mine had a great phrase for it, he said, he was -- he was a chronic, horrible, awful relationship with booze and women and all kinds of things and he said in one moment i cried out to the god of my childhood that always inspired me because when you cry out, there is an answer. that's been my experience. >> do you feel, for the first time, you've gone back to the joy of life you had as a young boy? >> yes. it ima