Posted on: Monday, June 25, 2001

Report: 'Frasier' star to get record TV salary

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer will receive more than $1.6 million per episode in a deal that makes him the highest-salaried actor in television history, Daily Variety has reported.

The deal, which is still being finalized, would keep Grammer on the show as pompous Seattle psychologist Dr. Frasier Crane through 2004. It would pay him for 48 episodes in the NBC sitcom's 10th and 11th seasons, the trade paper said in its Friday edition, citing industry insiders it did not identify.

The paper said Grammer's salary also could increase through an advance on his share of revenues from syndication of the show, which begins its ninth season this fall.

The highest-paid performers on TV now are the cast members of NBC's "Friends." The six stars each take home a reported $20 million a year, including $750,000 per episode and shares of the show's syndication profits.

Jerry Seinfeld of "Seinfeld," Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" and Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt of ``Mad About You'' all earned more than $1 million per episode in the final seasons of those shows.

Paramount Network Television, which produces "Frasier," also is working on a long-term deal with co-star David Hyde Pierce, Daily Variety said.

Grammer, 46, won the Emmy for best lead actor in a comedy in 1994, 1995 and 1998 for playing Crane. "Frasier" won the Emmy for best comedy five consecutive years, from 1994-98.