Kirstie Alley dies at 71 after short battle with cancer

Kirstie Alley, the Emmy award-winning actress best known for her breakout role as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers, died on December 5 after a battle with cancer.

Alley’s children posted a statement confirming the actress's death at the Moffitt Cancer Centre in Florida, US:

The actress starred in Cheers for six years from 1987 to 1993, until the series came to a close. As Rebecca Howe, Alley served as foil to the main character Sam Malone - a womanising, working-class bartender. Rebecca Howe was intended to fill in the gap left by Diane Chambers’s Shelly Long, adding to the sexual tension between characters.

Alley received a Primetime Emmy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Rebecca Howe in 1991. She won her second Emmy in 1994 for the television film David's Mother.

Later, Alley starred as the titular character in the sitcom Veronica's Closet from 1997 to 2000, earning her further Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Alley appeared in various films, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Summer School (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), Look Who's Talking (1989), as well as It Takes Two (1995).

Alley was also a known Scientologist and Trump supporter.

Tributes from Hollywood have started pouring in on social media in remembrance of Alley. 

Her ex-husband Parker Stevens, with whom she shares two children, took to Instagram to share a few words for the actress.

Her celebrity co-stars from across the years also reacted to her death: