News of the passing of Cheers and Look Who’s Talking star Kirstie Alley after a short battle with cancer was met Tuesday with equal measures of sadness and praise for her work.
As Breitbart News reported, the two-time Emmy winner died at the age of 71 this week following a battle with cancer.
Her family released a statement from her official Twitter account late on Monday, describing her as a “fierce and loving mother” who lost a battle with recently discovered cancer.
They spoke of their pride in her achievements and honored her zest for life, all points which others were quick to echo as they saluted her as well.
Her Look Who’s Talking co-star John Travolta was one of the first to publicly mourn Alley’s death.
File/Pictured: (l-r) Actors John Travolta and Kirstie Alley during an interview with host Johnny Carson on December 13, 1990. (Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had. I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again,” Travolta wrote on Instagram.
Both Travolta’s wife, Kelly Preston, and his good friend and Grease co-star, Olivia Newton-John, also have died of cancer in recent years.
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Alley’s former Cheers co-star Ted Danson revealed he learned of the actress’ death after watching an old episode of the sitcom on a plane Monday.
“It was the episode where Tom Berenger proposes to Kirstie, who keeps saying no, even though she desperately wants to say yes,” Danson told People.com. Danson continued:
Kirstie was truly brilliant in it. Her ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown was both moving and hysterically funny,” he said. “She made me laugh 30 years ago when she shot that scene, and she made me laugh today just as hard. As I got off the plane, I heard that Kirstie had died. I am so sad and so grateful for all the times she made me laugh. I send my love to her children. As they well know, their mother had a heart of gold. I will miss her.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who worked with her on Scream Queens, wrote on Instagram:
“I’ve just heard the sad news that Kirstie Alley has died. She was a great comic foil in @tvscreamqueens and a beautiful mama bear in her very real life. She helped me buy onesies for my family that year for Christmas. We agreed to disagree about some things but had a mutual respect and connection. Sad news.”
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“A sweet soul pass on in Kristie Alley. Sad, sad news. Prayers for all her family,” Tim Allen, he co-star in For Richer Or Poorer, tweeted:
William Shatner also used Twitter to share his sadness at her passing while offering his condolences:
Alley’s Cheers co-star Kelsey Grammer said in a statement “I always believed grief for a public figure is a private matter, but I will say I loved her.”
Another Cheers co-star, Rhea Pearlman, recounted how she and Alley became friends almost instantly after she joined the show.
She said Alley organized large Easter and Halloween parties and invited everyone. “She wanted everyone to feel included. She loved her children deeply. I’ve never met anyone remotely like her. I feel so thankful to have known her.”
File/Pictured: (l-r) John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin, Rhea Perlman as Carla LeBec, Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, Ted Danson as Sam Malone, Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane, Shelley Long as Diane Chambers, Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, George Wendt as Norm Peterson (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Alley attended Kansas State University before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles.
Her first public appearances were as a game show contestant, on The Match Game in 1979 and Password in 1980 before finding fame in a string of television and movie roles.
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