The Eighties have not been a happy decade for Cheers star Kirstie Alley. She's had to overcome drug addiction, come to terms with the loss of her mother, ignore the malicious rumours that her marriage is on the rocks and/or that she and her husband Parker Stevenson are gay, and most recently - and most painfully - cope with the trauma of losing her first baby.

Things can only get better. And to see Kirstie in her home, a 32-room house set in two-and-a-half acres just outside Hollywood, is to realise that the feisty lady has a positive attitude that no trauma can deflate.

The place is crawling with animals. Dogs, puppies, geese, birds and even a baby possum have made themselves at home here. The possum is taking a lot of Kirstie's time at the moment, as having been rejected by its mother, Kirstie has been feeding it by hand.

Animals are an important part of the life of this versatile actress who's best known for her highly successful role in Cheers where she plays Rebecca Howe, the neurotic over-achiever.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, the second of three children, Kirstie hade her first stage appearance at six, when she played the sun in a school play. But according to close friend Sarah Campbell: "The closest Kirstie came to an interest in acting was when she read the movie magazines in my mom's beauty shop."

After leaving college, Kirstie became a freelance interior designer — and a cocaine addict. Luckily , she realised what it was doing to her and moved to Los Angeles. "I didn't end up on the streets, thank God, but it did put me in another extremely selfish world, and I wasn't able to give my attention to my friends and family."

After going on a drug rehabilitation programme, Kirstie then decided she wanted to act and did — in a lot of forgettable TV series and feature films.

Then in 1981, both tregedy and success struck. Kirstie's mother was killed and her father seriously injured when a drunk driver hit their car, and in the same week, Kirstie was offered a part in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Says Kirstie of that time: "Children have the idea that their parents will always be together, and I never completely adjusted to the fact that mine aren't anymore."

But as is often the case, happiness was just around the corner. Several months later, while dining out with her good friend Mimi Rogers, she saw her future husband, Parker Stephenson of Baywatch fame. "My insides growled a yes, yes, yes," says Kirstie. Two years later, Parker chased Kirstie until, as they say, she caught him. "I thought I was doing all the pursuing," says Parker indignantly. "In reality, though, she was calling the shots." They have been married for six years now.

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