She first came into our lives on the silver screen on one of the most iconic movie franchises in history. She would go on to make us “Cheer” each Thursday night on the small screen from the late 1980s to the early 1990s as well as staring alongside a superstar actor in two movies that asked the question, “Look Who’s Talking.” More than anything, this actress that show us how to poke fun at yourself about something that many women battled publicly. We said goodbye to this wonderful actress at the start of this month who brought great joy to us on both the sliver and small screen.
Back on Dec. 5, 2022, Actress Kirstie
Alley, a two-time Emmy-winner for her role on NBC’s sitcom “Cheers” and starred
opposite famed actor John Travolta in the “Look Who’s Talking” passed
away after a short battle with colon cancer. She was 41. She is survived by her
two children, her son William True, 30 and her daughter Lillie, who was adopted
in 1995.
The news of Alley’s passing was posted on
Twitter by her William and Lillie and her manager Donovan Daughtry confirmed
their mother’s death in an e-mail to “The Associated Press.”
“We are sad to inform you that our
incredible, fierce, and loving mother has passed away after a battle with
cancer, only recently discovered,” Alley’s kids said in a statement. “She was
surrounded by her closet family and fought with great strength.”
“As iconic as she was on screen, she was
even more amazing mother and grandmother,” Alley’s children added about their
mom on Twitter said.
“We are grateful to the incredible team of
doctors and nurses at the Offit Cancer Center for their care. 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.”
According to her family members, Alley’s
battle with colon cancer came on quickly.
Her last time speaking was a video that
she posted back in September, where looked healthy while offering to do celebrity
greetings on the website “Cameo.”
Seven months prior, Alley made an
appearance on the FOX hit show “The Masked Singer,” and was even in great
spirits then as well.
In speaking with “Inside Edition’s” Jim
Moret, Alley’s longtime friend for four decades and fellow actor Wally Crowder
via video chat, he said that she kept her cancer battle hidden from
“everybody.”
Crowder said that he learned of the news
from a phone call on Dec. 1, 2022, from her secretary, who said Alley that the
cancer was Stage 4, where she had done nine treatments already equivalent to
three months to deal with backpain.
Crowder also shared footage of Alley riding on a motorized piece of luggage, which was part of a project they were trying to develop when she fell ill.
Just last year according to Moret, Alley
left Los Angeles, CA last year selling her 7,000 square foot mansion for $8
million and moved to Clearwater, FL where she owned several properties.
Clearwater, FL is also the headquarters for Scientology, where Alley is a longtime
member, fiercely defended publicly and credited their program with helping her
defeat her addiction to cocaine.
The church of Scientology in a statement
saying that Alley was a “beloved member” and that “she will be missed.”
It is still unknown when Alley was
diagnosed with colon cancer. Doctors say getting screened is essential for the
prevention of colon cancer.
Dr. Paul Oberstein, oncologist at New York
University (NYU) Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, it is “hard” to detect
cancer if someone has not been screened because the colon is inside one’s body.
“Something can grow into the colon to
quite a large size before someone will have a few symptoms such as back pain,”
Dr. Oberstein said to Moret.
Dr. Oberstein also said other warning
signs of someone might have colon cancer is that they have problems going to
the bathroom and the cardinal sign is blood in the stools.
Alley’s first television appearance as a
contestant on the 1980s version of the game show “Password Plus” alongside the
famed late actress Lucille Ball.
Alley, who was born in Wichita, KS on Jan.
12, 1951, moved to Los Angeles to pursue Scientology and work as an interior
designer after dropping out of Kansas State University after her sophomore
year.
She made her film debut in 1982 as Vulcan
Starfleet officer Lieutenant Saavik on “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” While
her character was very popular, Alley chose not to continue with the role the
next two film sequels, stating later that she was offered less money than. From
1983-84, Alley was a regular on the ABC television series “Masquerade.”
In 1987, Alley starred alongside former CBS’s lead star of “NCIS” Mark Harmon in the comedy film “Summer School,” which grossed over $35 million in the U.S. at the box office.
That same year, Alley got her breakout
role staring opposite Ted Danson on the NBC sitcom about a bar in Boston, MA
“Cheers” as Rebecca Howe as the no-nonsense manager of said Boston Bar from
1987-1993. Alley joined “Cheers” at the height of its popularity after Shelly
Long, who played the bar manager love interest of Danson’s character “Sam
Malone” from 1982-87.
Alley would win the Primetime Emmy for
Outstanding Lead Actress In a Comedy Series for “Cheers” in 1991 as well as
People’s Choice Award For Favorite Female Television Performer and Best Actress
In A Television Series-Comedy or Musical.
Danson said he remembers Alley as someone,
who had a “heart of gold.”
He added, “I am so sad and so grateful of
all the time she made me laugh. I send my love to her children. I will miss
her.”
Alley once joked that being on the show
“Cheers” was a “boys’ club.”
She told The Los Angeles Times back
in 1993 with a laugh that “ ‘Cheers’ is a dictatorship.”
“It is a boy’s club and they dictate what
the girls do and that is way you do it. There are no conferences about what
your character is or should be. It makes people go unconscious. They just tell
you what your character is doing in the script, period.”
Alley would claim a second Primetime Emmy
win in 1994 for playing the title role in the CBS television film “David’s
Mother.”
Along with her role on “Cheers,” Alley
starred opposite the previously mentioned Travolta in the 1989 film “Look
Who’s Talking,” where she played Mollie, the mother of a baby whose inner
thoughts were voiced by famed actor Bruce Willis. The film would gross $295
million nationwide.
She would reprise the same role in the
movie’s sequels in the 1990 sequel “Look Who’s Talking Too” and 1993
sequel “Look Who’s Talking Now.”
Travolta, who lost his wife of nearly
three decades Kelly Preston to breast cancer in 2020 said via Twitter, “Kirstie
was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had. I love you, Kirstie. I
know we will see each other again.”
From 1997-2000, Alley played the role of
Veronica ‘Ronnie” Chase on the NBC comedy “Veronica’s Closet,” which she also
was the executive producer on.
TV Land show alum “Hot In Cleveland’s”
Valerie Bertinelli Tweeted about Alley, “Oh Kristie…Rest In Peace.”
Comedian Adam Carolla said he “felt lucky” to have known Alley.
Longtime actress Jackee Harry, who starred
on the comedy “227” in the 1980s and ABC comedy “Sister, Sister” in the 1990s
said of Alley, “Whether you agreed with her or not, Kirstie Alley was an
undeniable talent who brought joy to many-through the screen and with her warm,
hilarious spirit. RIP luv. You were one of a king.”
By the early 2000s though, Alley became
more known for her weight fluctuation. She found humor from how she was treated
by the public and the press over her constant weight gain and loss by reviving
her Hollywood career on her on her short-lived comedy series on Showtime, “Fat
Actress.”
One particular scene that really hit home
with a lot of people in particular from that show was when she was trying to
squeeze herself into some green pants that simply gotten too big for her and
she shouted, “I need my fat pants.”
Five years later, Alley documented her
candid struggles with weight on her 2010 A&E reality show, “Kirstie Alley’s
Big Life.”
Six years earlier in an interview with
talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, Alley said she confronted her issues with her
weight after a parking valet made the assumption that she was pregnant and
asked when her due date was.
“I just said, ’11 weeks! …,” Alley said in
that moment. “It hasn’t been really painful, but I think the hardest part is
that I spent most of my life thin, you know? [Now] it’s an effort to get dressed, whereas before
I would just go ‘Ooh, I look good in these jeans.”
It is one thing to come to Hollywood and
have one good role that people remember. Kirstie Alley came to Hollywood and
had played quite a few memorable roles on both the silver and small screen.
More than anything, she proved that you could have a sense of humor in
something that can bring many down like when it comes to dealing with weight,
especially if you are a woman.
Above all, Kirstie Alley proved that you could
live a very public life and still raise a family in all of the noise of
Hollywood.
Her sudden passing came out of nowhere.
But while she was here, she left a lasting impression on many and was a
performer that for anyone who watched her in the movie theater or on their
television set left a memorable and fun mark.
“Just how loving she was and how
wonderful, and how much she cared about people,” Crowder said to Moret when
asked what he wanted people to know about Kirstie Alley.
Information and quotations are courtesy of 12/5/2022 People.com story, “Kirstie Alley’s 2 Kids: Everything To Know,” By Karli Bendlin; 12/6/2022 New York Newsday article “Emmy Winner For ‘Cheers’ Role Kirstie Alley 1951-2022,” By “The Associated Press;” 12/6/2022 New York Times story “ ‘Cheers’ And Tears: Kristie Dead At 71,” BY Eric Hegedus; 12/6/2022 4:30 a.m. WNBC 4 “Today In New York” with Darlene Rodriguez, Michael Gargiulo, Maria Larosa with Weather and Adelle Caballero with Traffic, with report from Tracie Strahan; 12/6/2022 7 p.m. “Inside Edition” on WCBS 2 New York With Deborah Norville, hosted by WCBS 2’s morning anchor Mary Calvi; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirstie_Alley.
No comments:
Post a Comment