Kirstie Alley Had Another Career Before Finding Fame: 'I Didn't Have Any Money and I Was Starving'

Mar. 15, 2025

Kirstie Alley.Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty

Before the lateKirstie Alleymade it big as an actress, she had a lesser-known passion — interior design.

TheCheersstar,who died on Monday at the age of 71, opened up about her first career as an interior designer during an appearance on theRosie O’Donnell Showin 1996. During the interview, O’Donnell plays a clip from one of Kirstie’s first television appearances, alongsideJamie Lee CurtisandBetty Whiteon the showMatch Gamein 1979.

“I was really poor, I didn’t have any money and I was starving — that was one reason I went on,” she says. “But the other was, I thought Robert Redwood was going to be sitting there at home, eating breakfast or something and go — ‘Woah! We need to put her inSting 2.She is brilliant!'”

While interior design was her first real career, Alley’s firstjobwas as a housekeeper in Wichita when she was 16 years old. In a video forOWN, the actress returns to her hometown to share her cleaning tips in the exact same house she used to work in.

“I’m back here in Wichita, Kansas at the actual house where I had my first job as a housekeeper,” she says. “Today, I’m going to keep some house for you and I’m going to show you the right way to do it.”

A compilation of Alley scrubbing the toilet, vacuuming the carpets and wiping the windows then plays on screen.

During her series of cleaning tasks, the Emmy-award winning actress recalls how the owner of the home “taught me how to really clean the house well.” She adds how “validated” she felt with her job at the time because it gave her the work ethic she would need later in life.

Kirstie Alley.Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

In astatementon Monday, Alley’s children, True and Lillie Parker, revealed their mother had died due to cancer that was"only recently discovered.“A rep for Alleyconfirmed to PEOPLEthat the actress had been battling colon cancer prior to her death on Monday.

They continued: “Our mother’s zest and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creating, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did.”

source: people.com