Actress Kirstie Alley kept her Kansas connections, including owning a house in Wichita
"There's no place like home," Kansas farmgirl Dorothy Gale says in the classic film "The Wizard of Oz."
Native Kansan Kirstie Alley apparently felt the same way about her home state.
Even after becoming famous, the co-star of the TV sitcom "Cheers" and the movie "Look Who's Talking" continued to own a house in Wichita, her hometown.
"Snowed at my house in Ks last night," she wrote in a March 22 Twitter tweet, accompanied by a photo of that house surrounded by newly fallen snow. "Kinda pretty."
Here are seven facts about her Kansas connections for Alley, who died Monday at age 71 after a brief battle with cancer.
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'Over the Rainbow'
Alley made reference to her Kansas beginnings in a 2014 tweet congratulating the singer Pink on her performance of the song "Over the Rainbow" at that year's Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Alley wrote: "As a Kansas girl I just wanted you to know that NO ONE has EVER sung Over The Rainbow better !! Not even close ..shivers..xxxxooo."
New name not necessary
Alley was born in 1951 in Wichita, the daughter of lumber company owner Robert Deal Alley and his wife, Lillian Alley. She graduated in 1969 from Wichita Southeast High School.
Alley's last name stayed the same after her marriage in 1970 to high school sweetheart Bob Alley, as his last name and her maiden name coincidentally were both "Alley." They later divorced.
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Big dog, bigger shotgun
After the house she owned in Wichita was vandalized for the third time in two months in December 2011, Alley took to Twitter to warn that next time, the vandals would be met by "a big dog and an even bigger shotgun."
Wichita police responded by increasing patrols in the neighborhood. They said whoever was vandalizing the house might not realize who owned it because the house was generally vacant, though Alley had a caretaker watching it.
Santa's Village
Alley in 2007 began annually decorating the house she owned in Wichita for Christmas with a "Santa's Village" set she had saved from her 1993 movie, "Look Who's Talking Now," in which she co-starred with John Travolta.
The set appeared in a scene in which the character Alley played loses her job and finds employment working as an elf for a surly shopping mall Santa. Alley sent out a Twitter tweet featuring four photos of it in November 2018.
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A Jayhawk and a Wildcat
Alley attended college at both the University of Kansas at Lawrence and Kansas State University at Manhattan, according to the website of the Kansas Historical Society.
"She returned to Wichita in 1977 and began a battle against drug addiction," it said. "After she successfully completed treatment in California she looked for acting jobs and her talent began to come to the fore."
Historic Holton hotel
Alley is among celebrities who have been guests at Holton's historic Hotel Josephine, The Capital-Journal reported in 2011 as preparations were being made to sell that property at auction.
The hotel, built in 1889, has also played host to President Grover Cleveland, Vice President Charles Curtis and hatchet-wielding saloon smasher Carry Nation.
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'Looks expensive'
In a tweet last December, Alley asked for help locating a woman named Adina Varner.
She said a present meant for Varner had mistakenly been hand delivered to her home in Wichita, adding that it "looks expensive."
It wasn't clear whether she found Varner.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas native Kirstie Alley never severed her ties to Sunflower State
