Cheers star Kirstie Alley dies at 71
Actress Kirstie Alley, the star of Cheers, Veronica's Closet, Look Who's Talking, and Drop Dead Gorgeous, died on Monday following a short battle with cancer, her children announced. She was 71.
Alley was an "incredible, fierce, and loving mother," her children True and Lillie Parker told People in a statement. She was recently diagnosed with cancer, they said, and "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."
in 1987, Alley joined the cast of Cheers, playing the role of Rebecca Howe. She went on to win a Golden Globe for best actress and Emmy for outstanding lead actress, with her second acting Emmy coming in 1994 for her performance in David's Mother. More recently, Alley had her own reality show on A&E, Kirstie Alley's Big Life, and she competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2011 and The Masked Singer earlier this year.
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Her Look Who's Talking co-star John Travolta shared a tribute to Alley on social media, writing, "Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I've ever had. I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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