Kirstie Alley, the beloved actress, died in 2022 at the age of 71. Her family revealed the devastating news that she had lost her fight with cancer on her Instagram page.
Her family provided more details about Kirstie’s last hours in a long statement, which was really depressing to read.
Throughout her career, Kirstie Alley earned two Emmy Awards and rose to fame from her part on the television series Cheers. She was a favourite on Dancing With the Stars and acted in numerous successful films.
There were highs and lows throughout her life. She was born in Wichita, Kansas, on January 12, 1951, and overcome obstacles in her life. After completing her studies at Kansas State and Kansas Universities in acting, she attended Wichita Southeast High School. Despite her early struggles with drugs, Kirstie was able to go from Kansas to California to pursue her ambition of acting.
She said, “The truth of how I escaped Kansas is being high,” as she thought back on her adventure. I was completely stoned. My dream would never have come true if I hadn’t been drugged out.
Her goal was to become an actress, so she relocated to California in spite of obstacles and doubt. She overcame people’s concerns about her aspirations by becoming successful in Hollywood after beginning her career as an interior decorator.
Following a difficult period during which she experimented with drugs and hung out with the wrong crowd, a tragic event occurred in 1981. Her parents’ vehicle was hit by an intoxicated motorist, causing severe injuries. Her dad was gravely injured, and her mother passed away. For Kirstie, this was a terribly trying time.
The accident’s cause wanted to apologise to Kirstie years after it happened. The inebriated driver understood Kirstie’s refusal to converse, but they still wanted to apologise and say how sorry they really were.
Kirstie’s life changed after she lost her mother. She entered The Church of Scientology, went to rehab, and gave up drugs. She landed her first significant acting roles in 1982. Her role as Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan brought her fame.
She played Gloria Steinem in the television film A Bunny’s Tale a few years later. She starred with the well-known Patrick Swayze in the 1985 miniseries North and South, in which she had a modest role.
Following a few smaller parts, Kirstie’s big break came in 1987 when she was cast as Rebecca Howe on the television series Cheers. She received recognition for the part, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Following her departure from Cheers in 1993, she went on to excel in major ventures. She starred in television programmes such as Veronica’s Closet and The Last Don, and she received another Emmy for the film David’s Mother.
Her roles in Look Who’s Talking and Drop Dead Gorgeous were equally well-liked. She appeared on the television programme Dancing with the Stars in 2012, showcasing a new side of herself. She even returned for an All-Star competition.
In her private life, Kirstie was content with Parker Stevenson, her second husband. After being married in 1983, they adopted a daughter, Lillie, and a son, William. Sadly, in 1997 they got divorced.
Kirstie was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2017. She spoke it candidly, admitting that the bacterial infection that caused her hospitalisation resulted in significant weight gain.
“I wouldn’t eat two cookies if I made cookies,” she clarified. I’d devour twelve cookies! And I truly lost my mind… I began consuming twelve grape drinks every day. I was ingesting enormous quantities of sugar!
But even before that, Kirstie had battled with her weight. She mentioned gained forty to fifty pounds in the course of one summer in 2004. “To be honest, I had no idea how fat I was until I saw it in the tabloids,” she said. “Damn, girl, you’re fat,” I exclaimed.
Perhaps that experience served as the impetus for her comedy series Fat Actress, which debuted a year after she disclosed her weight increase. The show was loosely based on the life of Kirstie, who played the lead part. It centred on a Hollywood starlet whose weight loss was widely discussed in tabloids.
Co-creator Brenda Hampton stated in 2004 that she thought Kirstie’s issues would resonate with a lot of women in the nation. Finding love and losing weight can be difficult tasks for anyone, but being in the spotlight makes them much more difficult.
Kirstie made the decision to seek assistance from Jenny Craig, a weight-loss programme. She shed weight gradually and worked on establishing equilibrium for three years. She lost a notable 75 pounds as a result of the programme, and from 2007 onward, she served as a spokesman for Jenny Craig.
Kirstie put on weight once more when she joined Dancing With The Stars in 2011, reaching 230 pounds at the beginning of the season. But she had shed more than a hundred pounds by the time the competition ended. She put a lot of effort into her dance floor success.
But other viewers of the programme chastised her. Some even conjectured that she starved herself or underwent surgery to lose weight. On Twitter, Kirstie retorted, stating, “NO barfing, NO starvation, NO surgery, NO flippin lasers. Jeez, my goods, organic cuisine, dancing.
She starred in the television film You Can’t Take My Daughter in 2020, which was her final performance.
On Monday, December 5, 2022, Kirstie Alley’s family shared the tragic news that she passed away at the age of 71 due to cancer. They claimed that she fought a brief battle with colon cancer and that her malignancy was only recently detected.
In a statement, the family acknowledged their loss and thanked everyone for their support. They emphasised Kirstie’s love of life, family, and animals while praising her as a fantastic grandma and mother. They sought privacy during this trying time and praised the Moffitt Cancer Centre medical staff for their care.
Parker Stevenson, Kirstie’s ex-husband, sent a touching homage to her on Instagram, thanking her for their time together and their lovely family. He concluded by stating that Kirstie would be missed.
Alley was a Scientologist who lived in Clearwater, Florida, and didn’t leave her house in her latter years.
TRIBUTE TO JOHN TRAVOLTA: TOUCHING
“She’s over Los Angeles,” an insider informed OK Magazine. “She has contentedly vanished into a peaceful existence in Clearwater, where she can also express her beliefs more freely.”
“Kirstie hasn’t worked in over a year, and she’s fine with that,” an additional insider stated. “She doesn’t intend to go back to Hollywood.”
Many people shared respects to Alley on social media after learning of her passing. John Travolta, who costarred with Alley in the 1989 movie Look Who’s Talking and its two sequels, was one among those who did.
The Grease actor lost Kelly Preston, his wife, to cancer in 2020. In July 2020, Kelly Preston, Travolta’s wife, passed away at the age of 57 from cancer.
“I love you, Kirstie,” Travolta posted on Instagram. “I’m confident we’ll cross paths again.”
Over the years, the two had an amazing relationship. Alley said during her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother that she had once fallen in love with John Travolta.
“He was a good candidate for marriage. “I nearly left and wed John,” she remarked. “I did love him, and I still do,” she thought to herself. ‘And if I hadn’t been married I would have gone and married him. Additionally, I would have been flying.
2018 saw Kirstie discuss her connection with John more. She claimed that it was a mutual feeling and that they had fallen in love. She did, however, note that declining the romantic offer was one of the most difficult things she had ever had to do. She made it clear that she didn’t want to cheat on her husband, thus their relationship wasn’t romantic or sexual.
Jamie Lee Curtis, her friend and former coworker from the 2016 horror series Scream Queens, also expressed opinions on social media. As a kind individual in real life and a fantastic comedic companion on the show, Curtis recalled Kirstie. She talked about how Kirstie assisted her in selecting onesies for her family’s Christmas presents. Curtis admitted that although they didn’t always agree, they still respected one another and were connected. She was saddened by the news.