‘Cheers’ Star Grammer Begins Jail Sentence for Violating Probation

“Cheers” star Kelsey Grammer surrendered Thursday to begin serving a 30-day jail sentence for violating probation by failing to attend an alcohol-abuse program, and his attorney announced Grammer has a head start on another punishment--cleaning up roadsides for Caltrans.

Grammer, 35, of Van Nuys, who plays Dr. Frasier Crane on the popular NBC television series, was taken into custody in Van Nuys Municipal Court after a brief hearing before Commissioner Patricia Gorner Schwartz.

After having been given a week to get his affairs in order before serving jail time, Grammer appeared in court casually dressed in two shirts layered over each other and blue jeans with a toothbrush sticking out of his front shirt pocket.

The actor sat in the second row of the courtroom, quietly working a crossword puzzle as he waited for his case to be called. He then surrendered to a bailiff, who led him to a holding cell.

It was Grammer’s fifth appearance in less than a month in Van Nuys Municipal Court. Frequently, he has shown up late--sometimes neatly groomed in a sports jacket. On other occasions, he has appeared disheveled, causing some court personnel to remark that he was showing little respect for the court.

Schwartz last week sentenced Grammer to jail because he did not attend the alcohol program ordered as a condition of probation for a 1987 drunk driving arrest in Van Nuys. Schwartz had given Grammer a week to get his affairs in order before turning himself in.

Grammer, like other inmates, is eligible to have his sentence reduced for good behavior and work in jail, and could possibly be released even earlier because of an emergency release program due to jail overcrowding, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Dinsmoor said.

Dinsmoor said Grammer “is not going to be treated differently than any other inmate” but “probably will not be housed with the general population for his own safety because of his celebrity status.”

Schwartz also sentenced Grammer to 10 days picking up trash and cleaning highway margins for the California Department of Transportation and ordered him to attend the alcohol-education program.

Milinda L. McNeely, a lawyer for Paramount Television, represented Grammer in court Thursday, telling Schwartz that Grammer has already enrolled in the alcohol program and has performed one day of highway work.

“He pulled some weeds on an off-ramp somewhere off the 134 Freeway,” McNeely said later in an interview. She said the actor described the work as “OK.”

Schwartz ordered Grammer to perform the balance of the highway work by July 25 and complete the alcohol-education course by Aug. 23.

An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 6 for Grammer after he failed to complete 10 days of community service--the highway work--and a court-ordered alcohol program stemming from the drunk driving charge, to which Grammer pleaded no contest.

Grammer, meanwhile, is due back in court on May 30 to appear before another judge because of his failure to attend a court-ordered drug-abuse program stemming from a cocaine arrest. He was arrested for possession of a quarter-gram of cocaine after being pulled over by police in North Hollywood in April, 1988, for having expired license plate tags.