Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress.

Alley attended Wichita Southeast High School, graduating in 1969.

She attended college at Kansas State University, dropping out after her sophomore year.

After moving to Los Angeles to pursue Scientology and work as an interior designer, Alley appeared as a contestant on the game show Match Game in 1979.

Winning both her games, she went on to win $500 in her first Super Match and $5,500 in her second.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Alley appeared in various films, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Summer School (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), Madhouse (1990), Sibling Rivalry (1990), Village of the Damned (1995), It Takes Two (1995), Deconstructing Harry (1997), For Richer or Poorer (1997), and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).

She also appeared on the game show Password Plus in 1980.

On both shows, she described her profession as interior designer.

In 1981, an automobile crash involving a drunk driver killed her mother and left her father seriously injured.

Alley made her film debut in 1982 in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in the role of the Vulcan Starfleet officer Lieutenant Saavik.

The Saavik character became very popular with Star Trek fans, but Alley chose not to reprise the role in the next two film sequels so the role was recast.

She was also a regular on the ABC television series Masquerade from 1983 to 1984.

In the years following, she starred in a number of smaller films, including One More Chance, Blind Date and Runaway.

In 1985, she starred in the ABC miniseries North and South, and also portrayed feminist icon Gloria Steinem in the television movie A Bunny's Tale.

Her breakthrough role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991.

In 1987, Alley starred alongside Mark Harmon in the comedy film Summer School.

The film was a box office success, grossing over $35 million in the United States.

Later in 1987, Alley joined the cast of NBC sitcom Cheers, replacing Shelley Long.

It became her breakout hit role and she remained with the show for six years until its eleventh and final season.

After two Emmy Award nominations for her work on Cheers, in 1988 and 1990, she won the Emmy on her third nomination, in 1991.

In her acceptance speech, she memorably thanked "my husband Parker, the man who has given me the big one for the last eight years."

On film, she played Mollie Jensen in Look Who's Talking (1989) and its two sequels, Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993).

In 1989, Alley starred with John Travolta in Look Who's Talking.

The film grossed over $295 million worldwide.

They then went on to make two other films centered on the same theme, Look Who's Talking Too and Look Who's Talking Now.

Alley won her second Emmy Award in 1994 for the television film David's Mother.

Alley earned her second Emmy for the 1994 television film David's Mother.

For her contributions to the film industry, Alley received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in 1995.

From 1997 to 2000, she starred as the lead in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

In 1997, Alley received another Emmy nomination for her work in the crime drama series The Last Don.

From 1997 to 2000, Alley played the title character in the NBC sitcom Veronica's Closet, as well as serving as executive producer on the show.

She served as the spokesperson for Pier 1 Imports from 2000 to 2004, and for Jenny Craig from 2004 to 2007.

She appeared as a contestant on seasons 12 and 15 of Dancing with the Stars, partnering with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

In 2005, she played a fictionalized version of herself on Showtime's Fat Actress, something she would also do on episodes of King of Queens and Hot in Cleveland, as well as in Syrup (2013).

She also appeared in reality television including Kirstie Alley's Big Life (2010) and served as a contestant on the 12th season of Dancing with the Stars (2011–2012), where she finished in second place, behind Hines Ward, and the 22nd series of the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother (2018), in which she finished as runner-up.

In early 2022, she appeared on The Masked Singer.

Alley was born in Wichita, Kansas, to Robert Deal Alley, who owned a lumber company, and Lillian Alley.

She had two siblings, Colette and Craig.

In 2013, Alley returned to acting with the title role on the sitcom Kirstie.

In 2016, she appeared on the Fox comedy horror series Scream Queens.