CNN
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Actress Kirstie Alley, a star of the big and small screens known for her Emmy-winning role on Cheers and movies like “Look Who’s Talking,” has died after a short battle with cancer, her children True and Lillie Parker announced. social media.
She was 71 years old.
“We are saddened to inform you that our amazing, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with recently diagnosed cancer,” the statement read.
“She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with the certainty of her endless joy in life and whatever adventures lie ahead,” the family said in a statement. “As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother.”
“Our mother’s zest for life and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creativity, were unmatched and left us inspired to live life to the fullest as she did,” the statement read.
Kirstie Alley’s Sexy Turn on ‘DWTS’
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– Source: HLN
Donovan Daughtry, Alley’s representative, also confirmed to CNN in an email that the actress had died.
A two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, Alley was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1951.
After a prominent role in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, she had roles in films such as 1984’s “Blind Date” and 1987’s “Summer School” opposite Mark Harmon.
That same year, Alley followed Shelley Long to star opposite Ted Danson in the sequel to the classic television series “Cheers,” which premiered in 1982. Alley made her debut in 1987, playing the strong and independent bar manager Rebecca Howe, who remained at the acclaimed show until it ended in 1993.
After winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991 for “Cheers” and another for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special for “David’s Mother” in 1994, she returned to television success in the late 1990s with the series “Veronica’s Closet.” . “, which got her Emmy nod again.
In addition, Alley starred in many memorable films, such as the “Look Who’s Talking” films, 1990’s “Madhouse” and 1999’s “Drop Dead Gorgeous” with Ellen Barkin.
In 2005, Alley co-wrote and starred in the Showtime comedy “Fat Actress” before branching out into reality television.
She appeared on ‘Kirstie Alley’s Big Life’ in 2010, was a contestant on the 12th season of ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ the following year and was runner-up on the 22nd season of the UK version of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ in 2018. 2022 , she competed in the 7th season of the Fox movie “The Masked Singer”.
Although she had an impressive body of work, the latter part of her career was marked by Alley’s penchant for stirring up controversy, particularly through social media.
In a 2007 interview, Alley said she was proud of her uninhibited ways.
“I’ve always felt like if someone asks me something, they want the real answer,” Alley told Good Housekeeping. “I think there’s something about being from Kansas, too. Usually people think I’m from New York. The only similarity between New Yorkers and Midwesterners is that what you see is what you get.
John Travolta, who starred with Alley in the 1989 hit “Look Who’s Talking,” along with two sequels, wrote on Instagram Monday: “Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had. I love you Kirstie. I know we will meet again.”
Jamie Lee Curtis – who worked with Alley in 2016 episodes of TV’s ‘Scream Queens’ – shared a statement on Facebook to honor the late actress, writing: ‘She was a great comedian on @tvscreamqueens and a beautiful mama bear in her very real life. She helped me buy for my family that year for Christmas. We agreed to disagree on some things but had a mutual respect and connection. Sad news.”
Josh Gad tweeted: “My heart goes out to Kirstie and her family. Whether it was her brilliance in ‘Cheers; or her magnetic performance on ‘Look Who’s Talking’, her smile was always contagious, her laugh was always infectious and her charisma was always iconic. REST IN PEACE.”
Alley’s “Cheers” co-star Ted Danson told Deadline that he had recently watched Alley on the show while on a plane before learning of her death.
“I was on a plane today and I did something I rarely do. I watched an old episode of ‘Cheers,'” Danson told the radio station. “It was the episode where Tom Berenger proposes to Kirstie, who keeps saying no, even though she desperately wants to say yes. Kirstie was truly brilliant in this. Her ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown was both impressive and hysterically funny.”
“She made me laugh 30 years ago when she did that scene, and she makes me laugh today just as much. When I got off the plane I heard that Kirstie had died. I’m so sad and so grateful for all the times she made me laugh,” Danson added. “I send my love to her children. As they know, their mother had a heart of gold. I will miss her.”
Another “Cheers” star, Rhea Perlman, told CNN in a statement that she and Alley became instant friends on the set of “Cheers.”
“Kirstie was a unique and wonderful person and friend. Her joy to exist was boundless,” Perlman said. “We became friends almost immediately when she joined the cast of Cheers. She loved children and my children loved her too. We stayed at her house, with treasure hunts she made. She threw massive Halloween and Easter parties and invited the entire show’s crew and their families. She wanted everyone to feel included. She loved her children deeply. I have never met anyone remotely like her. I am so grateful to have met her. I’m going to miss her very, very much.”
“Baywatch” actor Parker Stevenson, who was married to Alley from 1983 to 1997 and is the father of her two children, also paid tribute to her on social media. In an Instagram post, confirmed by the actor’s rep as Stevenson, he wrote: ‘Kirstie, I am so grateful for our years together and for the two amazingly beautiful children and now grandchildren we have. You will be missed.”
