Kirstie Alley, the beloved actress who starred in Cheers, died at 71 years old this year.
According to her family, Kirstie died after a short and private battle with cancer. She was "surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead," her official Twitter account said.
While the actress had numerous acting credits to her name, her most important role was being a mother. She opened up about what being a mom meant to her, and her road to get there.
Kirstie played dozens of characters over her decades-long career. She rose to fame playing Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers from 1987 to 1993. Kirstie received an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the iconic role.
Kirstie also starred in the Look Who's Talking movies alongside John Travolta, as well as the hit TV show Veronica's Closet. Overall, the actress had 76 acting credits to her name.
Kirstie is survived by her two children, son William True Stevenson, 30, and daughter Lillie Price Stevenson, 28. She welcomed both children by adoption after a painful struggle with infertility.
Kirstie adopted True in 1992 with then-husband Parker Stevenson. Two years later, they adopted daughter Lillie. She and Parker later divorced, but they shared custody of the kids.
Kirstie absolutely loved being a mother. She told People in 2006 what the experience meant to her, saying, "My best quality is that I'm a good mother." But the road to get there wasn't easy.
The actress suffered a miscarriage in 1990 when she was three months pregnant. She wrote in her memoir about the devastating experience.
"When the baby was gone, I just didn't really get over it," she wrote. "Neither did my body. I so thoroughly convinced my body that it was still pregnant after nine months that I had milk coming from my breasts. I was still fat, I was still grieving, and I had just been told it was very possible I would never be able to have children."
Kirstie also became a grandmother at a young age. Her son married his high school sweetheart and had a son, Waylon Tripp Parker, in 2016. Kirstie's daughter Lillie welcomed her first child, Ripp Woodrow Graham, in May 2021.
Kirstie called being a grandmother "amazing," saying that watching your kids have children is "heartwarming."
