HALLMARK MEDIA - Key Persons
Bethany Joy Lenz is an award-winning director and actress, a singer, composer, producer and fine artist. She is a sharp and instinctual actress who has been lauded by some of the toughest critics and a chameleon who's avoided being pinned into any one genre for over 20+ years. She's worked alongside Paul Sorvino, Mary Tyler Moore, Ben Foster, James Franco, Carole King, Barkhad Abdi, Joyce Carole Oats, Gail Mancuso, Jason Moore, Matt Shakman, Garry Marshall and more and starred in pilots for Simon Kinberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Shonda Rhimes.
Her nine-year run on The CW drama "One Tree Hill" made her a pop-culture icon and established a worldwide, loyal fanbase. Most recently, Lenz had a guest role in the series "Good Sam" and was a series regular as Chicago city attorney Keri Allen on USA "Suits" spinoff "Pearson," opposite Gina Torres and "One Night in Miami's" Eli Goree. In 2020, she completed production as the lead in Michael Koryta's So Cold the River on which she is also an Executive Producer and co-starred in racially charged police-drama Blindfire. Lenz has starred and supported on "Dexter," "Grey's Anatomy," "Colony" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," as well as being lead in five TV pilots including landing the title role in E! Network's first scripted drama, "Songbyrd," based on the life of Oscar nominee Diane Warren.
Lenz has starred in many Hallmark Channel films including "An Unexpected Christmas," "Five Star Christmas," "Bottled with Love," "Just My Type" and more. She has been heard in the cast of iHeartRadio's scripted drama "Aftershock" and in unscripted iHeart podcast, Drama Queens.
Emmy-Award winner Kelsey Grammer portrays Dr. Frasier Crane, a high-brow, Ivy League-educated psychiatrist. Grammer introduced the neurotic and pompous but lovable Dr. Frasier Crane to the world in 1984. Dr. Frasier Crane has captured the attention and the hearts of the American public as one of television's most endearing characters and has earned Grammer abounding recognition and distinguished awards. He has won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes for his portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane and has been nominated for 12 Emmys for his portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane in three different series ("Cheers," "Wings" and "Frasier"). Further, Grammer has reached an incredible milestone. He has portrayed the same character for 20 years, tied only with actor James Arness of "Gunsmoke."
Grammer was born on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was raised by his mother and grandfather, first in New Jersey, then in Florida. After the death of his grandfather, the 12-year-old Grammer was drawn to the works of William Shakespeare, which fostered his love of the English language. His first acting performance was in a high-school production of "The Little Foxes," and with the encouragement of his English and drama teachers, he decided to pursue acting as a career. After two years at the Juilliard School, he was accepted by the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, where he spent three years performing in classic works by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.
He later performed in regional theaters across the United States --including the Guthrie in Minneapolis -- before appearing in the off-Broadway productions of "Plenty," "Sunday in the Park with George," "A Month in the Country" and the Obie Award-winning "Quartermaine's Terms." His Broadway credits include "Macbeth" and "Othello," and he performed the title role of "Richard II" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
Grammer's film credits include "Benedict Arnold" (A&E), "Mr. St. Nick" (Hallmark Entertainment), "Fifteen Minutes" (New Line) and "Sportspages" (Showtime). Grammer's Paramount-based production company, Grammnet Productions, produced the animated series "Gary the Rat" for TNN. Grammer served as executive producer as well as providing the voice of the rat. Additionally, he served as executive producer on "Girlfriends" for UPN.
In "Frasier's" first season, Grammer won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male in a New Television Series. During the second season, Grammer picked up a second Emmy Award, an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performer in a TV series, won a Golden Globe Award, and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and People's Choice Award. In the sixth season Grammer won his third Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and was awarded the Viewer's For Quality Television Award for the sixth consecutive year. Grammer also won another Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for the ninth year in a row.
Grammer, joined "Cheers" in 1984, and prior to "Cheers" Grammer's television credits included roles on the daytime dramas "Another World" (NBC), "One Life to Live" and "Guiding Light." He also made a guest appearance in the premiere episode of "Kate and Allie" and had parts in the miniseries "Kennedy" and the NBC movies "London Suite," "Dance ‘til Dawn," "Beyond Suspicion" and "The Innocent." In 1996 he hosted an hour-long salute to Jack Benny for NBC for which he served as executive-producer.
Jane Leeves portrays the eccentric Daphne Moon in the top-rated comedy series "Frasier." Daphne is the warmhearted home-care worker who cares for Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) crusty father Martin (John Mahoney). With her love for his son, Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce), audiences are continuously entertained as Daphne and Niles' relationship continues to reach new levels. Leeves' portrayal as Daphne has earned her two Emmy nominations.
Born on April 18 in London, Leeves was raised in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, the daughter, (along with two sisters and a brother) of a contracts engineer and a nurse. Her first dream was to be a ballerina, but that career was cut short by an ankle injury when she was 18. She bounced back with modeling and less strenuous dancing in commercials and music videos.
Leeves moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast in the role of Blue in the syndicated series "Throb." She gained much attention for her role as Audrey Cohen, the girlfriend of Miles Silverberg on "Murphy Brown," and later appeared in one of the most memorable episodes of "Seinfeld," as the virgin who seduced John F. Kennedy, Jr., which she reprised in the "Seinfeld" season finale. Her other television work includes the NBC miniseries "Pandora's Clock" and guest starring roles on "Murder, She Wrote," "My Two Dads," "Blossom," and "Who's the Boss?"
Her feature film credits include the Academy Award-nominated feature "The Music of My Heart," the independent feature "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," the voice of the Ladybug in the animated film "James & the Giant Peach" based on the Roald Dahl book, "Miracle on 34th Street," "To Live and Die in L.A.," "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life," "The Hunger" and "Mr. Write." She also took to the Broadway stage as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and completed a starring role in the independent feature film "The Event."
She is currently starring in TV Land's new hit sitcom, "Hot in Cleveland."
Leeves resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
Lucy Hardgrove (Joy Lenz) is a screenwriter who lands the job of a lifetime when she's hired to pen the script for a remake of the beloved holiday movie, His Merry Wife! First filmed in 1947 at beautiful, historic Biltmore House, it has long been considered a Christmas classic. When the head of the studio isn't satisfied with the ending Lucy wrote because it deviates from the original's feel-good conclusion, he sends Lucy to Biltmore Estate for research and inspiration. While there, she unwittingly discovers the ability to travel to the 1947 set of His Merry Wife! through the help of an hourglass. After shaking off the initial shock of this turn of events, Lucy embraces this as her chance to uncover the truth about the movie's original ending. While on set, she and Jack Huston (Kristoffer Polaha), one of the film's stars, spend time together and become close. But her sudden appearance has set off a chain of events that put the production in jeopardy. Before she can return to the present, Lucy must make things right or threaten to alter the future forever. Starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha.
Tony Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee John Mahoney portrays Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) widowed father, Martin Crane. Forced into retirement after being shot on duty, Martin begrudgingly moved in with his son Frasier, whose well-cultured and sophisticated attitude clashes with his own ordinary, blue-collar ways.
Mahoney's role as Martin Crane has earned him a second Emmy nomination in 2003 for "Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series." His first Emmy nomination came in 1999, which was followed by a Golden Globe nomination in 2000.
Critics and audiences alike comment on John Mahoney's versatility as an actor. He has captivated film, television and stage audiences equally through his brilliant performances ever since he began his acting career.
stars as the titular character in this smash sitcom about a single mom of three, navigating life in a Houston suburb. Starring Reba McEntire, Christopher Rich, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Steve Howey, Scarlett Pomers, Mitch Holleman, and Melissa Peterman.
Peri Gilpin portrays Roz Doyle, Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) independent, fast-talking, savvy radio producer who offers wry outlooks on his callers and his life.
Gilpin appeared in Neil Simon's "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," starring opposite Nathan Lane, and was also heard as the voice of "Jane" in the digitally animated feature film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" for Columbia Pictures. She also starred in the run of As Bees in Honey Drown, a play written by Douglas Carter Beane and directed by Sheldon Epps, at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Gilpin starred alongside Liev Schreiber, Ned Beatty, Campbell Scott, and Lili Taylor in the independent film "Spring Forward." She can also be seen in "How to Kill your Neighbor's Dog," opposite Kenneth Branagh and Robin Wright Penn, which had its world premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival.
From the age of eight, Gilpin knew that she wanted to pursue acting and was enrolled in the Dallas Theater Center, which she likened to "summer camp - you never wanted it to end." During the ten years (ages 8-18) she spent at the DTC, Gilpin performed in various stage productions while simultaneously enjoying a successful career in television commercials.