Kirstie Alley, the two-time Emmy-winning star of the classic sitcom “Cheers” and the comedy “Veronica’s Closet,” has died. She was 71.
Her passing was announced Monday evening on her official Twitter account by her children.
“We’re sad to tell you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered.
She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead. As iconic as she was on screen, she was a fair more amazing mother and grandmother,” wrote her children.
The family also acknowledged the “incredible team” at Moffitt Cancer Center of their statement.
“Our mother’s zest and keenness for all times, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to say her everlasting joy of making, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did,” the announcement continued.
“We thanks on your love and prayers and ask that you simply respect our privacy at this difficult time.”
John Travolta also paid tribute to his longtime friend and former movie co-star on Instagram.
“Kirstie was one of the crucial special relationships I’ve ever had,” he posted to Instagram after her death was announced. “I like you Kirstie. I do know we are going to see one another again.”
Other stars honoring her on social media include comedian Adam Carolla, who wrote that he “felt lucky” to know her, and “Hot in Cleveland” alum Valerie Bertinelli, who tweeted simply, “Oh Kirstie … Rest in Peace.”
“Whether you agreed together with her or not, Kirstie Alley was an undeniable talent who brought joy to many – through the screen and together with her warm, hilarious spirit,” added comic Jackée Harry. “RIP, luv. You were one in every of a form.”
Alley was best known for her turn as Rebecca Howe, the sexy bar manager within the NBC comedy “Cheers,” by which she starred opposite Ted Danson from 1987 to 1993. She won the 1991 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal, for which she was nominated five times. She moreover earned a Golden Globe for the part.
Regarding the role that launched her stardom, she once jokingly called the James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles-created series a “boys club.”
“’Cheers’ is a dictatorship,” Alley told the Los Angeles Times with fun in 1993. “It’s a boys’ club and so they dictate what the ladies do and that’s the way in which you do it. There aren’t any conferences about what your character is or needs to be. It makes people go unconscious. They simply inform you what your character is doing within the script, period.”
Her greater than 40-year profession included quite a few film roles, including as a Vulcan Starfleet officer within the 1982 hit “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and as a career-driven single mom in 1989’s “Look Who’s Talking,” which also starred Travolta, Bruce Willis, Olympia Dukakis and George Segal. The favored flick also spawned a 1990 sequel, “Look Who’s Talking Too,” and a 1993 entry, “Look Who’s Talking Now.”
She landed a 1994 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special for the CBS drama “David’s Mother.”
Much of Alley’s work centered on comedy, with appearances in TV sitcoms including “The Goldbergs,” “The Middle,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “The King of Queens,” Dharma & Greg,” amongst others.
Alley often took on what could possibly be considered characters with flaws, a move that she apparently took as “self-deprecating,” based on a 2015 interview with Parade.
“It’s not necessarily intentional. … I like playing a loser. I like playing someone who can’t redeem themselves easily,” she said. “For me, I suppose, it’s self-deprecating and that works best for me. The more of a loser I play, I believe actually, probably the higher I’m. It’s hard to play a comedy winner.”
She also had a stint within the 2005 Showtime comedy “Fat Actress,” in addition to in a 2010 reality show, “Kirstie Alley’s Big Life,” which documented her well-known struggles with weight. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Alley said she confronted her ongoing issues after a parking valet one time assumed she was pregnant and asked when she was due.
“I just said, ’11 weeks!’ … It hasn’t been really painful, but I believe the toughest part is that I spent most of my life thin, you realize? [Now] it’s an effort to dress, whereas before I’d just go, ‘Ooh, I look good in these jeans.’”
The at all times outspoken actress — a onetime spokesperson for Jenny Craig — also suggested that her weight had an effect on potential hookups.
“Well, I don’t need to have fat sex, you realize,” Kirstie told Winfrey. “I’ve been celibate for four-and-a-half years, because I believe I’ve change into like a born-again virgin. It’s by alternative. Even when [I was thinner], I wondered what I looked like once I’m walking in [the room]. I used to be form of inhibited. Now, I do know what I appear to be, and I just can’t see some guy’s eyes going, ‘Oh, my God!’”
Alley’s weight wasn’t the one personal aside that brought her attention.
She was a longtime Scientologist alongside A-listers including Travolta, Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Moss. Alley moreover faced blowback for supporting former President Donald Trump in each 2016 and 2020 and denounced his long suspension from Twitter.
In 2020, Alley also slammed Oscar diversity standards as a “disgrace.”
Alley was single on the time of her death but was married twice before: She and “The Hardy Boys” actor Parker Stevenson were hitched from 1983 to 1997, and he or she was married to Bob Alley, her highschool sweetheart, from 1970 to 1977.
She also admitted to being emotionally linked with Patrick Swayze, with whom she starred within the 1985 miniseries “North and South” while she was still with Stevenson.
“We didn’t have an affair,” she told the Hollywood Reporter in 2012. “But again, I believe what I did was worse. Because I believe once you fall in love with someone once you’re married, you jeopardize your personal marriage and their marriage. It’s doubly bad.”
In 2018, she also suggested that Travolta had a considerable pull for her.
“I almost ran off and married John. I did love him, I still love him,” she said on “Celebrity Big Brother UK.” “If I hadn’t been married, I’d have gone and married him. And I’d have been in an airplane, because he has his own! Let me inform you, girls. It doesn’t appear to be it’s necessary if someone has a non-public jet, however it is. As you become old, you’re not going to need to hand around in airports.”
Alley was born in Wichita, Kansas, and suggested that she “escaped” to Hollywood with help from cocaine.
“The reality of how I escaped Kansas is being high. I used to be drugged out of my mind on cocaine, and I got within the automobile, and I left to go to California,” she told Parade within the 2015 interview. “If I hadn’t been drugged out, I’d never have been able to comprehend my dream. It sounds so silly but to extricate myself from Wichita, Kansas, really took some doing.”
Alley — who also logged appearances in point of fact competitions including “Dancing with the Stars,” “Celebrity Big Brother” and “The Masked Singer” — suggested that reality shows may make breaking out a bit easier for star wannabes today.
“With reality shows, and things like that on TV now, people probably feel a bit more hopeful that they might make something of themselves,” she told Parade. “But at the moment, 30 years ago, it was identical to, ‘How could I possibly dare to think that I could go be a star? How could I possibly think that?’ That’s more of a Midwest thing, you’re form of humbled and if you happen to’re not humbled people will humble you, like, ‘Well, who the hell do you think that you might be to maneuver to California and be a star? I mean, come on, Kirstie.’”
A longtime California resident, Alley sold her California home for $7.8 million in 2021; she had purchased the Los Feliz property in 2000.
She is survived by her children, William True Stevenson and Lillie Price Stevenson, in addition to a grandson.
