Steve Guttenberg Shares Tribute to ‘It Takes Two’ Costar Kirstie Alley: ‘The World Is a Bit Empty

Kirstie Alley’s It Takes Two costar Steve Guttenberg is sharing a fond memory of the actress one day after her Monday, December 5, death at age 71 following a brief battle with colon cancer.

In a heartbreaking Instagram post, Steve wrote, “Kirstie met me at her house with a tuna sandwich on my favorite bread. ‘Steve, I know all about you and your love of rye bread. Eat some tuna,’” he recalled about the former Cheers star next to a photo of the pair from the 1995 film.

“We were rehearsing It Takes Two, and every day she amazed me with her generosity of the tangible and with her soulfulness,” he continued, adding, “The world is a bit empty without Kirstie.”

The film featured Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as Amanda and Alyssa, two girls who discover they are each other’s identical double after meeting at summer camp. Steve played Ashley’s wealthy dad who was about to wed the wrong woman, which Alyssa was trying to stop, while orphan Amanda was on the verge of losing her caring social worker Diane, played by Kirstie, if she was adopted. The girls switched identities and helped Steve and Kirstie’s characters fall in love.

Steve isn’t the only one of Kirstie’s leading men to mourn her loss. John Travolta, who costarred with the Wichita, Kansas, native in the Look Who’s Talking film franchise between 1989 and 1993, wrote a moving Instagram tribute to Kirstie that he posted shortly after her death was announced by her children, True and Lillie.

“Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had,” John wrote about his longtime friend, adding, “I love you, Kirstie. I know we will see each other again.”

Fans were devastated when Kirstie’s kids, whom she and second husband, Parker Stevenson, adopted during their 14-year marriage from 1983 through 1997, announced their mother’s death.

“We are sad to inform you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered,” True and Lillie’s Instagram post to Kirstie’s page began.

“She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead. As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother,” they continued, adding, “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.”