Kelsey Grammer has spent decades bringing fictional characters to life. Now, the award-winning actor wants to make sure Americans don’t forget the real people who helped shape their country.
During an appearance Oct. 10 at Chattanooga’s Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, Grammer discussed his plans to direct a Civil War drama about a Union soldier whose descendants are seeking a posthumous Medal of Honor. He also revealed that he’s developing a mobile app designed to reconnect Americans with their history.
Both projects reflect a conviction Grammer has developed over a lifetime: Understanding the past is essential to understanding the country today.
Grammer, best known for his roles in the television comedies “Cheers” and “Frasier,” was the featured guest at “An Evening with Kelsey Grammer and Friends,” a sold-out gathering of actors, filmmakers, historians and performers at the Heritage Center.
A soldier’s forgotten heroism
The evening centered on “So Help Me God,” a planned historical drama inspired by the life of Albert Townsend, a Union soldier whose actions during the Civil War are the subject of a renewed effort to secure the nation’s highest military decoration.
Townsend served with a New York artillery unit during the Civil War. His descendants say his actions during the Battle of Peebles’ Farm in Virginia in 1864 earned him a nomination for the Medal of Honor, which he never received.
Brothers Douglas and Robert Scheidet have spent years researching their family’s history and working to secure the recognition they believe Townsend deserves.
Douglas Scheidet, founder and president of Inspired Artists Productions, told the audience that the effort grew out of a collection of family artifacts and documents preserved for generations.
“Growing up, my family never threw anything away,” Scheidet said. “We have photographs, journals and other family records dating back 200 years, and somehow, my brother has managed to preserve it all.”
Among the items was an antique Civil War rifle that had been passed down through the family, along with a commander’s journal that helped the brothers piece together Townsend’s military service.
Scheidet said a visit to Virginia, where he and his brother explored the area associated with Townsend’s wartime experiences, convinced him the story belonged on the big screen.
“It hit me like a lightning bolt,” he said. “I looked at my brother and said, ‘This could be a Hollywood movie.’”
The resulting project has attracted Grammer, who will direct, and producer Mark Huffam, whose film credits include “Saving Private Ryan,” “Gladiator” and “The Martian.”
Scheidet described the planned production as a $40 million historical epic and said actor Jamie Foxx is expected to portray abolitionist Frederick Douglass, while Lady Gaga is expected to contribute a song.
For the brothers, however, the film is only part of their effort. They also want Townsend’s actions formally recognized.
Civil War historian Brad Quinlin, who has worked on efforts to secure Medals of Honor for other Civil War soldiers, is assisting with the campaign.
Grammer said Townsend’s story resonated with him because of the personal sacrifices Americans made during the Civil War.
“I’m honored to have been asked to direct this movie,” he said. “It’s a great story, and what resonates with me is how people at that time considered personal sacrifice a responsibility.”
Grammer also expressed support for the family’s effort to secure the medal, emphasizing that the honor recognizes extraordinary acts of courage rather than competitive achievement.
“People don’t win the Medal of Honor,” he said. “They receive it in recognition of extraordinary acts of courage.”
A lifelong fascination with history
For Grammer, the project also reflects a long-standing fascination with history that began well before his acting career.
He recalled a 10th-grade history teacher who brought historical figures to life by speaking about them as though they were personal acquaintances.
When she discussed George Washington, John Adams and other figures from the nation’s founding, Grammer said, they became more than names in a textbook.
“That’s the birthplace of my love of history,” he said.
His grandfather Gordon, who served 28 months in the Pacific during World War II, provided another lasting influence. Grammer described him as a man of service, commitment, kindness and integrity whose word could be trusted.
“His handshake was a bond,” Grammer said.
Grammer said those experiences helped shape his appreciation for the people who came before him and the responsibilities they accepted.
As the nation approached its 250th anniversary, Grammer said he began considering what he could contribute to the country. Directing “So Help Me God” became one answer.
“I want to make this film for Douglas and Robert Scheidet and their family because Albert deserves recognition,” he said. “And because our country deserves to know the greatness it comes from.”
Bringing history to a new generation
But Grammer’s interest in history extends beyond the film.
He expressed concern that younger generations are growing up without sufficient knowledge of the people and events that shaped the United States.
“Somewhere along the way, we stopped teaching history,” he said.
Grammer recalled meeting homeschooled children who knew little about George Washington. When he asked their mother about their history lessons, she told him she had not considered the subject particularly important.
The encounter troubled him.
“It was important then, it’s important now,” Grammer said, arguing that history has received diminishing attention in education.
That concern has helped inspire another project: “American Revelation,” a mobile app Grammer said is currently in development.
He described the app as an effort to connect contemporary Americans with the ideals of freedom and self-government that motivated the nation’s founders.
Grammer said he’s been meeting with people about the project, including during a recent visit to New York, and identified financier Michael Milken as among those involved.
“We’re currently developing and designing the app,” he said.
Grammer did not announce a launch date or provide details about how the app will work, but he spoke at length about his desire to make the nation’s founding principles meaningful to modern audiences.
He pointed to Thomas Jefferson, who was 33 when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, as an example of how historical figures can become distant abstractions rather than recognizable human beings.
Grammer argued that understanding the circumstances in which those figures lived, including the contradictions between their ideals and their actions, is essential to appreciating the country’s development.
He also connected Jefferson’s declaration that all men are created equal to the generations of Americans who fought to make that principle a reality.
Townsend, whom speakers at the event described as an abolitionist, represented one of those Americans, Grammer said.
The actor’s remarks echoed the mission of the Heritage Center, which preserves the stories of Medal of Honor recipients while using their examples to teach courage, integrity, sacrifice and other values to students.
Heritage Center President and CEO Tom Mundell told the audience that the institution’s educational programs aim to prepare young people for challenges they will encounter throughout their lives, regardless of whether they ever serve in the military.
The evening also featured appearances by actors Al Sapienza and Deborah Rennard, Quinlin, retired Army Col. Paul Bethke and Broadway performer Jasha Renee, who sang the national anthem. Sapienza read an account of the anthem’s origins, while other speakers discussed the history and significance of military service.
For Grammer, both the film and his educational app are ways of making history accessible to people who might otherwise know little about it.
The goal, he suggested, is to recognize the connection between the struggles of the nation’s founders and the freedoms Americans enjoy today.
“We’re connected in the pulse of freedom,” he said, inviting the audience to join him in preserving and sharing that history.