Kirstie Alley Biography
Sultry and deep voiced, with a wealth of wavy dark hair, Alley has made a name for herself as both a wacky comic and an impressive dramatic actor primarily on the small screen. First known as the beautiful Vulcan Lt. Saavik in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982), Alley struggled through a series of unrewarding roles in the early 1980s. In features, she followed “Star Trek” (she lost the role of Saavik in the third feature after reportedly asking for a salary on par with original franchise stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy) with “Champions” (1983), “Blind Date” and “Runaway” (both 1984) and the teen comedy “Summer School” (1987). On TV, she played a trucker in the NBC pilot “Highway Honeys” (1983), a spy in the short-lived “Masquerade” (ABC, 1983) and turned up in such TV-movies as “Prince of Bel-Air” (ABC, 1985) and “Infidelity” (ABC, 1987).
None of these projects knew how to use Alley’s quirky gifts, though she gained a bit of prestige as Gloria Steinem in “A Bunny’s Tale” (ABC, 1985) and in the successful miniseries “North and South” (ABC, 1985) and its 1986 sequel. Her big break came when she became the female lead (after Shelley Long departed) in the long-running hit NBC sitcom “Cheers” in 1987. Alley was cast as neurotic overachiever Rebecca Howe, who despite an attraction to bar owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson), tended to become involved with wealthy powerful men who might improve her status in life. Her small screen success led to movie stardom as a flustered single mom in the surprise 1989 hit, “Look Who’s Talking” and its the less successful sequels “Look Who’s Talking Too” (1990) and “Look Who’s Talking Now” (1993).
Projecting intelligence, vulnerability, and a Lucille Ball-like comedic talent, Alley has carved a niche in TV and films. She finally gained respect as a dramatic actress with her brilliant Emmy-winning performance as “David’s Mother” (CBS, 1994), a slovenly woman raising a mentally-challenged son. Besides appearing on numerous awards and tribute specials, Alley was a voice-over on “Peter and the Wolf” (ABC, 1995), and played another put-upon mother in “Radiant City” (ABC, 1996). She made her bow as executive producer with the ABC drama “Suddenly” (1996), in which she also starred.
Alley’s film career has been rockier. While filming “Cheers”, she moonlighted in such poorly-received features as “Loverboy” (1989), “Madhouse” and “Sibling Rivalry” (both 1990). After the sitcom ended in 1993, Alley returned to features in John Carpenter’s unnecessary remake of “Village of the Damned” (1994) and co-starred with Steve Guttenberg and the Olsen twins in the romantic comedy “It Takes Two” (1995). She has continued to appear in a variety of projects ranging from the revisionist Western “Nevada”, about a town seemingly populated only by women, to Woody Allen’s “Deconstructing Harry” (both 1997), as the title character’s ex-wife. That same year, she co-starred with Tim Allen as a married couple on the run from the IRS who hide out among the Amish in “For Richer or Poorer”. She rounded out the year by returning to series TV as the star of the NBC sitcom “Veronica’s Closet”, a less than stellar effort that nevertheless managed to run for three years. Alley continued to appear in the occasional feature, such as playing a controlling mother of an aspiring beauty queen in the pageant comedy “Drop Dead Gorgeous” (1999) and frequently headlined high profile telepics and miniseries including “The Last Don” (1998), the Marilyn Monroe mini “Blonde” (2001), “Salem Witch Trials” (2002) and the particularly well-acted “Profoundly Normal” (2003), opposite Delroy Lindo, about the true-life romance between a mentally challenged couple.
The actress also remained in the public eye as the pitchwoman in a series of commercials for the home furnishing company Pier 1 from 2001-2003, although media attention began to focus on how the former sex symbol’s once jaw-dropping figure had begun to expand in middle age–she later revealed she weighed as much as 219 lbs. Always an outspoken actress with a button-pushing sense of humor, Alley played off the tabloid obsession with her weight by agreeing to star in the Showtime series “Fat Actress” (2005 - ), playing a comedic interpretation of herself as a once-successful actress struggling in Hollywood after packing on extra pounds. As a result, Alley–who revealed that her weight was strictly moniored during her sit-com days, and brashly confronted talk show host Jay Leno for his fat jokes at her expense–also became a spokeswoman for the weight loss system Jenny Craig and began dramatically shedding her excess weight.
- Born:
on 01/12/51 in Wichita, Kansas - Job Titles:
Actor, Interior decorator
Family
- Brother: Craig Alley. younger
- Daughter: Lillie Price Stevenson. born on June 15, 1994; adopted
- Father: Robert Alley. seriously injured in 1981 when drunk driver collided with their car
- Mother: Mickie Alley. killed in 1981 when a drunk driver collided with their car
- Sister: Collette Alley. older
- Son: William True Stevenson. born on September 28, 1992; adopted
Significant Others
- Husband: Parker Stevenson. born on June 4, 1952; met in 1981; married on December 22, 1983; announced plans to divorce in November 1996; Stevenson filed for divorce on March 26, 1997; granted divorce in California in December 1997
- Husband: . married while student at Kansas State University c. 1974-77
- Companion: James Wilder. announced engagement in October 1997; separated in spring 2000
Education
- Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
Milestones
- 1982 Film acting debut in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”
- 1983 Had continuing role on short-lived spy series “Masquerade”
- 1983 TV debut in series, “Highway Honeys”
- 1984 TV-movie debut in “Sins of the Past”
- 1987 Joined cast of NBC sitcom “Cheers” as Rebecca Howe; earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1988, 1990, 1992 and 1993); earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy/Musical series (1990, 1992 and 1993)
- 1987 Cast opposite Mark Harmon in the comedy “Summer School”
- 1989 Appeared opposite Patrick Dempsey in “Loverboy”
- 1989 Co-starred with John Travolta, as Mollie a single mom who’s on the lookout for a reliable and normal boyfriend in the comedy “Look Who’s Talking”; written and directed by Amy Heckerling
- 1990 Reunited with John Travolta and Amy Heckerling for “Look Who’s Talking Too”
- 1993 Returned for a third time to play Mollie in “Look Who’s Talking Now”
- 1994 Starred in the Lifetime movie “David’s Mother” about a single mother raising her autistic son; received a Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV
- 1995 Received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in November
- 1996 Made debut as executive producer with TV-movie “Suddenly”; also starred
- 1997 Starred in the NBC sitcom “Veronica’s Closet”; also served as producer; nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1998)
- 1997 Cast in Woody Allen’s “Deconstructing Harry”
- 1999 Portrayed the mother of beauty pagent contestant (Denise Richards) in the dark comedy “Drop Dead Gorgeous”
- 2001 With Corrine Bohrer, appeared in TV commercials for Pier One Imports
- 2005 Battled with public perceptions in “Fat Actress,” a semi-autobiographical comedy for Showtime; also serving as co-creator and executive producer
- Moved to Los Angeles and entered Narconon drug-rehab program
- Played the sun in a class play at age six
- Worked as freelance interior decorator before getting first film job
Next:Tim Allen Biography
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