Kirstie Alley (born on January 12, 1951, in Wichita, Kansas) is an American actress. Her parents are Robert Deal and Lillian Mickie, and her birth name is Kirstie Louise Deal. She has a brother, Craig, and a sister, Colette. She derived her stage name from her marriage to Bob Alley from 1974-1977.
Alley attended Southeast High School in Wichita, Kansas where she was a cheerleader. She attended college at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, but dropped out in her sophomore year to pursue acting. She was first seen as a contestant on the game shows Match Game in 1979 and Password Plus in 1980. She gave her occupation as interior designer.
Alley won a supporting role in the 1982 movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, playing Vulcan officer Lieutenant Saavik. Alley turned down the role of Saavik in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock because the producers would not meet her salary demands and because she didn’t want to be typecast as a science fiction actress. Alley also co-starred in a short-lived secret agent television series, Masquerade and the acclaimed miniseries North & South.
Alley rose to prominence in her 1987-1993 role as the neurotic corporate executive Rebecca Howe on the long-running hit TV sitcom Cheers, replacing Shelley Long. She later starred in the movie Look Who’s Talking (1989) with fellow Scientologist John Travolta, which earned more than $100 million at the box office. This film was followed by two sequels — 1990′s Look Who’s Talking Too and 1993′s Look Who’s Talking Now. In 1992, she played a TV news reporter in Prince’s video for “My Name Is Prince”.
Her NBC sitcom Veronica’s Closet ran for three seasons in the late 1990s. Alley reportedly received $2 million in up-front fees for her work on that series and $150,000 per episode.
Alley has been honored with two Emmy Awards during her career. After being nominated twice for her work on Cheers to no avail, on her third nomination in 1991, she took home the statuette for that series. In her speech, she thanked then-husband Parker Stevenson for giving her “the big one.” Talk show hosts, as well as the creators of Cheers, poked fun at the quip for weeks afterward. Alley won her second Emmy for her portrayal of the title role in the made-for-TV movie drama David’s Mother (1994).
In 1997, Alley’s career took a different turn when she appeared in Woody Allen’s movie Deconstructing Harry in that Alley was primarily known as a comedic actress, and in this movie she displayed a strong talent for being a serious dramatic actress in playing an obsessive and jealous neurotic woman who was involved in an affair with Harry and was rebuffed.
In 2005, after her weight increased, she headlined a sitcom for Showtime called Fat Actress. The show details the daily life of an overweight actress trying to make it in Hollywood.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Kirstie Alley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.
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