US actress Kirstie Alley has died
Emmy Award winner Kirstie Alley has died
Kirstie Alley made her screen debut in 1982’s Star Trek. However, she celebrated her greatest success with the hit comedy “Look who’s talking”. Now the actress has succumbed to cancer.
Kirstie Alley is dead. She died on Monday after a short battle with cancer, her children True and Lillie Parker said on Twitter. She is best known for the miniseries Torches in the Storm, the comedy Look Who’s Talking, and the sitcom Cheers.
IHer starring roles in the comedy film Look Who’s Talking and the sitcom Cheers made Kirstie Alley one of the most famous comedy stars in the USA in the late 80s and early 90s – now the actress has passed away. She succumbed to a recently discovered cancer on Monday (local time), her children True and Lillie Parker said on Twitter. Alley’s manager, Donovan Daughtry, confirmed her death via email when asked by the AP news agency. She was 71 years old.
Alley celebrated her first major TV success with her role as Rebecca Howe in “Cheers”, a series first broadcast by the US network NBC in 1982 about the staff of a bar in Boston of the same name and their regular customers. Alley joined the “Cheers” crew of pub owner Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson, in 1987 after the departure of leading lady Shelley Long, when the show was at its peak in America.
Following her screen debut in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Alley starred in the television miniseries Torch in the Storm in 1985 and 1986, playing the role of abolitionist Virgilia Hazard for the first two seasons.
In 1991, Alley won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on Cheers. “I just thank God I didn’t have to wait as long as Ted did,” she said in her acceptance speech at the time. It was a well-intentioned dig at Danson, who in 1990 – the year before – had only received his Emmy for “Cheers” after eight nominations.
Career boost through “Look who’s talking!”
In 1993, Alley picked up a second Emmy for Best Actress in a TV Movie for her role in the TV movie David’s Mother. From 1997 to 2000, she also had her own sitcom on NBC, Veronica’s Closet.
Alley received a powerful boost to her career in Hollywood with her role in the 1989 film Look Who’s Talking, in which she played the mother of a baby whose inner voice can be heard over and over again. Her co-star in the comedy was John Travolta, with whom she also filmed the sequels in 1990 and 1993. Travolta paid tribute to Alley in an Instagram post, which he included a photo of his colleague. “I had one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had with Kirstie,” he wrote. “I love you Kirstie. I know we will meet again.”
Kirstie Alley near London in summer 2018 shortly before moving into the house of the British version of “Celebrity Big Brother”
What: REUTERS
Alley played herself in the 2005 mini-series Fat Actress. The show was about her attempts to diet to control her obesity. The 2010 reality show Kirstie Alley’s Big Life was also about this topic, the start of a weight loss program she initiated and her existence as a single mother.
At the time, she also got involved with the show to counter disinformation about herself that had been circulating in the gossip press, she told the AP news agency. “Everything bad that can be said about me, they say. I’ve never collapsed, passed out, passed out. I’ve never done practically anything they say. The only true thing is that I got fat.”
Scientology und Science-Fiction
Kirstie Alley was born in 1951 in Wichita, Kansas. She also attended university there, but dropped out to move to Los Angeles. There she joined the controversial Scientology organization, to which she, like Travolta, remained connected throughout her life. She first came into contact with television as a participant in the game shows The Match Game in 1979 and Password the following year.
She made her film debut with a supporting role in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a sci-fi production based on Starship Enterprise. She was married to her high school sweetheart Bob from 1970 to 1977 and to actor Parker Stevenson from 1983 to 1997.
Also on NBC, she had her own sitcom in the late ’90s called Veronica’s Closet. Alley starred opposite John Travolta in Look Who’s Talking.