Kirstie Alley Won $5,000 When She Competed on ‘Match Game’
Kirstie Alley is a fierce and funny actor best known for her roles on Cheers and Veronica’s Closet and in movies such as Drop Dead Gorgeous and the Look Who’s Talking franchise with John Travolta. Her wide-ranging career has spanned decades, and her characters are memorable for their determination against all odds.
What fans of the actor may not know is that her first acting role wasn’t actually her first appearance on television. Her first appearance was actually on Match Game in 1979—and she didn’t walk away empty-handed.
Alley made an early television appearance on ‘Match Game’
Like many up-and-coming actors with big dreams, Alley landed a television appearance on a game show early in her career. She was a contestant on Match Game in 1979, a show where the contestants must fill in the blanks from a prompt given by the host. The key to winning the game is for the contest to match their answer with as many celebrities on the panel as possible.
According to Buzzfeed, Alley did well on the show, guessing the correct answer on the final celebrity. That right answer won her $5,000.
Alley’s career spans decades on television and on the big screen
The first major production that Alley had a role in was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982. When it comes to appearing on the small-screen, Alley had her first major role in the television miniseries North and South (appearing in both Book I and Book II), a story based on the Civil War-era novels by John Jakes.
What Alley is best known for is playing the character Rebecca Howe on Cheers. She joined the show in 1987 and quickly made a splash, spending the rest of the series run with her character playing a will-they-won’t-they game of romance opposite Ted Danson’s Sam Malone. In the movies, Alley also made a big impact on early ’90s romantic comedies with the Look Who’s Talking series.
Alley plays Mollie, a woman who becomes pregnant and realizes that she has to raise the baby on her own. But when she meets cab driver James (played by John Travolta), her world is turned upside down and they explore a friendship that quickly turns to a romance. The movie was so popular with audiences that Alley and Travolta paired up two more times to continue James and Mollie’s story.
After Cheers, Alley didn’t leave television behind. In 1997 she starred in her own series Veronica’s Closet where Alley plays the head of her own company. The series lasted for three seasons, and it was known to poke fun at both the character’s and Alley’s real-life experiences with weight loss.
The actor didn’t leave competing on the television behind. She was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars for season 12, though this appearance did not come without controversy, with Alley blaming her pro dance partner for their inability to win the competition.
What is Kirstie Alley doing now?
Over the past few years, Alley has still been working in Hollywood. She has had guest appearances on television shows such as Flaked, Scream Queens, and The Goldbergs. In 2020, Alley starred in the television movie You Can’t Take My Daughter.
In her personal life, Alley has used social media to stir up a bit of controversy when it comes to her views on American politics. She made public her political affiliations with conservatives, saying that she voted for Donald Trump in 2016, even after backtracking an endorsement during the campaign.
In 2021, the actor spoke out about politics again, taking to Twitter to condemn those who participated in the Capitol insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Outside of politics, Alley also enjoys spending time with and talking about her grandson on social media.
