'Cheers' star Kirstie Alley has died at the age of 71

Kirstie Alley, whose role as Rebecca Howe in the US sitcom Cheers propelled her to stardom in the 1980s and 1990s, has died from cancer at the age of 71 (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Kirstie Alley, whose role as Rebecca Howe in the US sitcom Cheers propelled her to stardom in the 1980s and 1990s, has died from cancer at the age of 71.

A statement from her family, posted on social media through her official accounts, described her as an “amazing mother and grandmother”.