Kelsey Grammer To Be Honored At North Fork TV Festival

The North Fork TV Festival announced Kelsey Grammer as recipient of this year's Canopy Award. A formal ceremony will be held on Friday, October 4 at the Greenport Theatre in Greenport, NY.

"We are truly grateful for Kelsey Grammer's exceptional contributions to the entertainment community," said Founder Noah Doyle. "We are beyond delighted to honor him and deeply appreciate his enthusiasm for convening our community around the future of independent scripted television."

Previous Canopy recipient Chris Noth will present the award to Kelsey Grammer, the illustrious winner of Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony awards. The Canopy Award honors a member of the New York television community. The winner's persistence and integrity, bound by the twin spirits of independence and collaboration, stoke the creative ambitions of diverse people who have important stories to tell. The ceremony will feature a conversation between Mr. Grammer and Mr. Noth with an audience Q&A to follow. Aida Turturro was last year's recipient.

"Kelsey Grammer exemplifies the best in television," said North Fork TV Festival Co-Chair Haleigh Raff. "We are honored to recognize him for his dedication to the arts as well as his iconic performances that have moved us as viewers. We look forward to celebrating his achievements in October."

Festival passes and individual tickets are now available for purchase online at https://www.northfork.tv/tickets.

For more information, including the full list of events and screenings at this year's festival, visit https://northfork.tv/.

Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award and Tony Award winner Kelsey Grammer will be presented the Canopy Award by previous receiver Chris Noth. Ceremony will feature a conversation between Mr. Grammer and Mr. Noth with a Q&A with audience members to follow.

Kelsey Grammer has excelled at the highest level in theatre, television and film as an actor, producer and director.

An initial role as Dr. Frasier Crane on "Cheers" developed into the cornerstone of the Juilliard-trained actor's career. Grammer played the celebrated character in three different television series ("Cheers," "Wings" and "Frasier") over a span of 20 years, tying the record for longest-running television character.

Grammer has won six Emmys, three Golden Globes and a SAG Award and has received an unparalleled 18 Emmy nominations, eight Golden Globe nominations, 16 SAG nominations and one Tony nomination.

He will next be seen in THE MOVIES The Space Between, Grand Isle and The God Committee about the U.S. organ transplant system.

Announced in May 2018, through his production company Grammnet (in conjunction with AwesomenessTV and Wattpad,) Grammer sold a 10-episode straight-to-series, supernatural drama to Hulu called "Light as a Feather," based on the story by Zoe Aarsen. They recently completed filming the second season. He was most recently seen in the timely and powerful television series "Proven Innocent" for FOX about a legal team that takes on cases involving wrongful convictions.

Also through Grammnet, his next voiceover project is IMDB's first scripted series; the short form, animated series "You're Not a Monster" in which he plays a psychiatrist-turned-vampire who caters therapy to movie monsters seeking therapeutic help, coming this Fall. Recent voiceover projects include the character Blinky in all three seasons of Netflix' animated series "Trollhunters," created by Guillermo Del Toro, for which he won his sixth Emmy Award in 2017. All three seasons are available for streaming now.

Accomplished as a voice-over artist, Grammer has played the iconic character Sideshow Bob on "The Simpsons" since 1990, for which he won an Emmy in 2006. As part of his extensive voiceover work, recent films include Warner Bros.' animated film "Storks" and the adventurous and comedic animated film "Bunyan and Babe." He has also lent his voice to the feature films "Toy Story 2," "Anastasia" and "Teacher's Pet," to the television series "Father of the Pride" and "Gary the Rat," and to the Emmy-nominated "Animal Farm" for TNT.

2019 saw Grammer return to London's West End in "Man of La Mancha." Grammer starred in the beloved role of Don Quixote. On stage, he was also recently seen at the Hollywood Bowl in "Beauty and the Beast" voicing Lumière alongside an all-star cast in a two night limited run of a live performance of Alan Menken's music that accompanied a screening of the classic, animated Disney film. He also joined the 2018 season of the L.A. Opera in a limited run of Leonard Bernstein's operetta "Candide," which ran January-February 2018, playing the dual role of Pangloss and Voltaire. He made his London stage debut in a revised version of the Broadway musical "Big Fish" November-December 2017.

In 2010 Grammer earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, for his starring role in "La Cage aux Folles" on Broadway. In 2015 Grammer returned to the Broadway stage to star in "Finding Neverland." He reprised the role again in 2016.

Recent films include the Netflix original film "Like Father," Arclight Films' live action "Guardians of the Tomb," Universal Pictures' "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising," Sony Picture Entertainment's "Baby, Baby, Baby" and made a cameo appearance in Warner Home Video's "Entourage" movie. In 2014, Grammer appeared in five films: Paramount's fourth installment of the "Transformers" film series, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," Twentieth Century Fox' "X-Men: Days of Future Past" Lionsgate's "The Expendables 3," Screen Gems' "Think Like a Man Too" and Millennium Entertainment's "Reach Me." In spring 2014, he was also heard lending his voice to the iconic Tin Man in "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return," which was nominated for Best Feature at the 2013 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, prior to its 2014 release.

Recent television credits include the Amazon series "The Last Tycoon," currently available for streaming, The National Geographic Channel's historical drama miniseries "Killing Jesus," FX Network's comedic series "Partners" and Starz drama "Boss," in which he starred and was executive producer, for which he was honored with a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Mayor Tom Kane.

Grammer created Grammnet NH Productions, a TV production company which has produced such hit television shows as the Emmy-winning "Medium," for NBC, and "The Game" and "Girlfriends," for CW. Other Grammnet producing credits include the NBC productions "The Innocent," "Kelsey Grammer Salutes Jack Benny," "Fired Up," "In Laws" and "Gary the Rat." For PAX, he produced "World Cup Comedy." For FOX, he starred in and produced "Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show."

Grammer directed single episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris," "My Ex Life" and "Out of Practice." He has also directed several episodes of "Frasier", one of which earned him a DGA nomination. Grammer also starred and served as executive producer of the ABC comedy "Hank."

Grammer's other acting credits include "I Don't Know How She Does It, "MGM's remake of "Fame," Paramount Pictures' "Middle Men," Vivendi Universal's "An American Carol," Disney's "Swing Vote," FOX's blockbuster hit "X-Men: The Last Stand," FOX's "Back To You" in which he also served as executive producer, "A Christmas Carol" for NBC, "Benedict Arnold" for A&E, "Mr. St. Nick" for ABC's Hallmark Hall of Fame, "Fifteen Minutes" for New Line Cinema, "Down Periscope" for 20th Century FOX and "Even Money" for Yari Film Group.

Grammer began acting in plays at Pine Crest Preparatory School in Fort Lauderdale, where his teenage stage success inspired him to apply to Juilliard. He developed an interest in Shakespeare and began his professional acting career at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. He continued in regional theatre, and finally made his way to New York with roles in the off-Broadway productions "Sunday in the Park with George," "A Month in the Country" and the Obie Award-winning "Quartermaine's Terms." He starred on Broadway in "Macbeth" and "Othello." After gaining television notoriety, he returned to the stage and received critical acclaim as Professor Higgins in "My Fair Lady." He also performed the title role in "Richard II" and Lucio in "Measure for Measure" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Before long he appeared in two TV miniseries: first as Stephen Smith in "Kennedy" (NBC, 1983) and next as Lieutenant Stewart in "George Washington" (CBS, 1984.) Grammer then landed the role of Dr. Frasier Crane in "Cheers." Originally, the show's creators wanted John Lithgow for a brief recurring role, but the actor was unavailable. Grammer's former Juilliard classmate Mandy Patinkin suggested him to the New York casting director and he got the job, parlaying six episodes into a career that would span decades.

Grammer was born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and was raised in New Jersey and Florida. He lives in the Los Angeles area and New York.

ABOUT THE NORTH FORK TV FESTIVAL

The North Fork TV Festival celebrates the evolution of television, both mainstream and independent, bringing together the minds of actors, executives, writers, and directors. Held annually in Greenport, New York, at the historic Greenport Theatre, the festival supports independent program development and embraces exciting, innovative voices from around the world. Founded in 2015, The North Fork TV Festival is a year-round 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Every year an expert panel of acclaimed showrunner selects four independent pilots to be screened at the Festival and additionally mentored through development and eventual production of the pilots into on-air series. This year, award-winning director Elias Plagianos is working closely with the showrunners to determine this selections.

The North Fork TV Festival will announce the inaugural Alfred P. Sloan Science + Tech Pilot Script Competition, which aims to encourage screenwriters to create realistic and compelling stories about Science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. The winner of the competition will have their script turned into a produced pilot that will premiere at the North Fork TV Festival in front of top industry talent.

The two-day festival will also feature this year's Canopy Award winner, in-depth industry panels, screenings of independent television pilots, a wonderful children's program, and parties both nights.

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