Kirstie Alley
She’s appeared in some of the biggest TV and film sensations, and now award-winning actress Kirstie Alley is poised to celebrate a very special milestone.
And that’s because she was born on July 12, 1951, in Wichita, Kansas, which means that this acting dynamo is turning 70 years old today! Alley was in her early twenties when she decided to forgo higher education and instead pursue a career in interior design.
She relocated to Los Angeles, landed a few clients, and succumbed to the allure of illicit drugs. After seeking treatment through Narconon, a Scientology-sponsored drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, Alley switched her vocation to acting and quickly set about finding a tutor who would help her hone her skills.
During her formal training, Alley volunteered to appear in a student film, which wound up being seen by an agent who signed her to a contract. Subsequently, Alley was seen competing on popular game shows, such as Match Game (on which she won a grand total of $6,000) and Password Plus, guest-starring in an episode of Quark (1978), and starring in One More Chance (1981), the feature version of that career-making student film.
In 1982, Alley was tapped to play Lieutenant Saavik, a Vulcan Starfleet officer, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Though the character would appear in two further films, Alley did not reprise the part, reportedly because she was offered a far from comparable salary. Alley’s portrayal of Saavik is notable for introducing the concept of an emotional Vulcan, something not previously explored in the franchise.
Off her first successful film role, Alley began to rack up the credits which, by 1987, included a starring role in adventure thriller series Masquerade (1983-1984), the pivotal part of radical abolitionist Virgilia Hazard in North & South: Book 1 (1985) and North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986), and the character Ms. Robin Elizabeth Bishop in the Mark Harmon feature comedy Summer School (1987).
Between late 1987 and May 1993, Alley played neurotic, man-crazy publican Rebecca Howe on the NBC sitcom Cheers, which resulted in wide acclaim for the actress and her comedic chops. In 1991, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical, ditto the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series during the same year.
Further success followed: she and close personal friend John Travolta starred in the Look Who’s Talking film franchise, her work in the TV movie David’s Mother (1994) resulted in another Emmy award, and from 1997 to 2000, she headlined her comedy series, Veronica’s Closet.
Alley’s other endeavors include the pictures Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and Back by Midnight (2004), the comedies Fat Actress (2005), and Kirstie (2013-2014), and the horror serial Scream Queens (2016). She competed twice on Dancing With the Stars, finishing in second, and seventh place respectively. Alley served as the spokesperson for Pier One from 2000 to 2004 and Jenny Craig from 2005-2008, and again in 2015.
Alley was married to Bob Alley from 1970 to 1977, and to actor Parker Stevenson from 1983 to 1997. Stevenson and Alley are the parents of two adopted children, William True and Lillie Price.
Entertainment Hub would like to wish Kirstie Alley a very happy birthday, and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.
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