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Vale: Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley, best known for her role on Cheers, has died after a battle with cancer, aged 71.

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Kirstie Alley, best known for her role on Cheers, has died after a battle with cancer, aged 71.

Alley’s death was confirmed through her official social media presence, which shared a statement from her children.

“To all our friends, far and wide around the world… We are sad to inform you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered,” reads the statement. “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 an even more amazing mother and grandmother.”

“We are grateful to the incredible team of doctors and nurses at the Moffitt Cancer Center for their care,” the statement continues. “Our mother’s zest and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creating, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did. We thank you for your love and prayers and ask that you respect our privacy at this difficult time.”

Alley played Rebecca Howe on Cheers after effectively taking over in 1987 for Shelley Long, seen as a difficult casting challenge but one she made her own.

She later starred in Veronica’s Closet as Veronica “Ronnie” Chase, the head of a lingerie company in New York City for three seasons, from 1997 to 2000. She also publicly battled body image issues which she embraced in her own sitcom Fat Actress in 2005. Other credits include Kirstie Alley’s Big Life, Scream Queens, Celebrity Big Brother (UK), Dancing with the Stars and this year’s Masked Singer in the USA.

She also played the accountant Mollie Jensen, a single mother who has a baby (voiced by Bruce Willis), opposite John Travolta in the hit comedy Look Who’s Talking (1989), directed by Amy Heckerling, then returned for sequels in 1990 and 1993.

This post updates.

Soure: Hollywood Reporter, Variety

14 Responses

  1. I haven’t seen her in much over the years (Cheers was mostly before my time and I was too young for Veronica’s Closet), but I was thrilled to bits when she was added to the main cast of the second season of the otherwise underwhelming Scream Queens. She was a late addition (seemingly added five episodes in, but retroactively shoehorned into the first two episodes). She was sadly underused, but they had at least given her a fun and silly send-off.

    I had no idea she was already in her 70s. She looked great and I thought she still had many years in her yet. May she rest in peace.

  2. I loved her in Fat Actress, i think maybe it was one of the first shows where a celebrity played themselves & pretty much warts & all expose comedy around the reality of their world. RIP lovely lady.

  5. I’ll always remember her most fondly for the absolute scene stealer she was in the 1997 comedy For Richer Or Poorer. She was so hilarious in that film.

  6. Cheers is one of my all time favorite shows. I remember when Kirstie joined the Cheers cast, she didn’t really do or say much the first couple of episodes, so it was hard to see her adding to the show. Then all of sudden her character just popped and she became just as integral as Sam, Norm, Carla and everyone else. I think i’ll have to watch a few episodes this weekend. Love you Kirstie, rest in peace.

    1. No, but I remember her pre-Cheers from the mini series North and South with Patrick Swayze. I’m surprised they never listed this credit, n any of the news reports.

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