In Memory of 'Cheers'/'Star Trek' Actress Kirstie Alley: 2 Years After Her Tragic Death From Cancer

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It's been two years since actress Kirstie Alley died from colon cancer in 2022 at just 71. She blazed her way to fame with her big break as Vulcan Starfleet Lt. Saavak in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982) and sealed her stardom with her Emmy-winning performance as Rebecca Howe in the last six seasons of Cheers (NBC, 1982-1993). This is her story.

A Closer Look

Kirstie Alley was born in 1951 in Wichita, Kansas to lumber company Robert Deal Alley and Lillian Alley, who had two other children (Colette and Craig).

After graduating from Wichita Southeast High School in 1969, Kirstie attended college at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where she dropped out after her second year.

Shortly after, she relocated to Los Angeles, where from 1979 to 1980, she became a winning game show contestant on Match Game and Password Plus. In each instance, she called herself an interior designer.

Tragedy Struck

In 1981, a horrific car accident caused by a drunk driver killed Kirstie Alley's mother and seriously injured her father.

One year later, she dazzled Trekkies with her portrayal of Leonard Nimoy's young Vulcan protege in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. She chose not to do the sequel, Star Trek II: The Search For Spock (1984), and was replaced by Robin Curtis.

By 1987, she hit pay dirt when she replaced Shelley Long in Cheers, winning an Emmy in the process for playing Rebecca Howe.

In 1994, Alley won a second Emmy for her performance in the TV-movie, David's Mother. The following year, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then Alley starred for three years in the NBC sitcom, Veronica's Closet (playing the owner of a Manhattan lingerie company).

Other Struggles and Triumphs

In her later years, Kirstie Alley starred in yet another sitcom, this one titled, Kirstie. Here, she played a Tony Award-winning actress who reinvents her life after a son she gave up at birth reemerges.

During this time, Alley struggled with her weight and was an on-again/off-again/on-again spokesperson for Jenny Craig, from 2004 to 2014.

Besides Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, however, Alley found additional success on the big screen with movies One More Chance, Blind Date, Runaway, and the popular Look Who's Talking franchise (also starring John Travolta and the voice of Bruce Willis).

Off-screen, Alley married twice, including her second husband, actor Parker Stevenson, with whom she was wed from 1983 to 1997. Their union produced two children.

Lasting Impression

Kirstie Alley was one of the most talented, vibrant, and versatile actors in the history of Hollywood.